Storm shelters?

[Wingshooter]

Well, spring will be here before we know it, and I'm still living in a house with neither a basement nor a shelter.

I looked at a product that Home Depot now sells. It's an above ground steel box that bolts to the floor in the corner of the garage. It seems very strong and sturdy. I'd prefer an underground shelter, but it would be nice not having to go outside into the elements to get into it. My next house will have a basement with a safe room, but all I have now is a 4' crawl space so an interior bathroom is our only real option :(

The Home Depot option is about $5300 delivered and installed with a 10year GPS locator subscription.

What's your shelter like? Any above-grounders? Edited February 18, 2016 by Wingshooter

[gomer pyle]

Ours is in little man's closet. We dug a deeper/bigger footer, laid block wall, filled and rebar reinforced, and a 8" concrete lid. I know that's not an option for you know but something to keep in mind on the next one.
We didn't want to go outside either, and honestly I probably would never use it if I had to go outside in the middle of the night. Some friends of ours have what your talking about, I'm not sure where they purchased. They had it bolted to their garage floor.

[TNWNGR]

If you have an attached garage then I suggest building a reinforced concrete block storm room in one of its corners. Anchor a reinforced strapped down cealing to it with a vented roof, put a heavy steel door on it, fit it out and don't worry. You'll be looking at the same or less overall money but have a better set up. Whnever you list the house it can be a selling point.

[Wingshooter]

If you have an attached garage then I suggest building a reinforced concrete block storm room in one of its corners. Anchor a reinforced strapped down cealing to it with a vented roof, put a heavy steel door on it, fit it out and don't worry. You'll be looking at the same or less overall money but have a better set up. Whnever you list the house it can be a selling point.

We have an attached garage. It's a little bit oversized, so something in the corner would still permit a car to park. Would a concrete room like you suggest be better than a bolted steel box?

Here's the one we looked at. It's in stock at Home Depot. It's also a few hundred dollars more (that must be the 'included' delivery and installation) http://survive-a-storm.com/sheltercube-extreme-8-person-above-ground-tornado-shelter/

[Omega]

I had seen these, and except for a flooding issue, feel this is better than above ground:

 

https://tornadotoughshelters.com/storm-shelters/under-garage

 

The damage I have seen with some of these tornadoes, I would not feel comfortable having vehicles tossed around like matchboxes while I'm in a box above ground.

 

[Gun Smith]

One of the contractors I work for in Murfreesboro installs these in his houses.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0crHkIdsuA8

[Wingshooter]

I really like the ones below the garage floor. It would be comfortable and safe to enter in the middle of the night with rough weather. The last thing I want to do is have to go outside. It would also be 100% tornado proof. My only concern about it is what if a car or other garage junk gets moved on top of the lid?


I just noticed that the site I was looking at also sells below garage floor shelters. http://survive-a-storm.com/garagecube-10-person-underground-storm-shelter/

[Omega]

I really like the ones below the garage floor. It would be comfortable and safe to enter in the middle of the night with rough weather. The last thing I want to do is have to go outside. It would also be 100% tornado proof. My only concern about it is what if a car or other garage junk gets moved on top of the lid?


I just noticed that the site I was looking at also sells below garage floor shelters. http://survive-a-storm.com/garagecube-10-person-underground-storm-shelter/

Entirely possible, that is why every shelter should be registered with emergency services and other people to make sure they can find you.  But regardless, I think these would survive an auto falling on it better than an above ground one.  Like I said, flooding is the only thing that would give me pause, but if you are well above the flood plain it should be OK even if you get a bit of water it shouldn't fill.  

[RED333]

I do not think you can build an above ground shelter that will hold up to a direct hit from a twister.

The idea is to protect your self from flying projectiles, ie, trees, metal and such.

No way would I build one below ground, house falls in on it, fire and rescue could be days away.

Flooding was talked about as well, a heavy rain could fill the space fast.

The Safe House sells a "room" that could go into the corner of a room or garage.

Made of steel to protect you from flying things.

Ours is above ground, imagine a steel re-bar cage in 12 " of concrete in the walls and 6" on the roof.

[Wingshooter]

Red, I didn't realize the safehouse sold them. I'll have to check them out

Entirely possible, that is why every shelter should be registered with emergency services and other people to make sure they can find you. But regardless, I think these would survive an auto falling on it better than an above ground one. Like I said, flooding is the only thing that would give me pause, but if you are well above the flood plain it should be OK even if you get a bit of water it shouldn't fill.

They don't seem to have a lot of ventilation either. Edited February 18, 2016 by Wingshooter

[TNWNGR]

We have an attached garage. It's a little bit oversized, so something in the corner would still permit a car to park. Would a concrete room like you suggest be better than a bolted steel box?

Here's the one we looked at. It's in stock at Home Depot. It's also a few hundred dollars more (that must be the 'included' delivery and installation) http://survive-a-storm.com/sheltercube-extreme-8-person-above-ground-tornado-shelter/

The concept is to use some steel framing in the construction, rebar will also work very well. You can either weld or use strong U-bolts for the frame and drill into the floor to bolt it all down. Bear in mind this is a four walled construction in a corner so if an exterior wall goes the shelter is still intact.

In tornados a combination of factors come into play, flying debris, wind, overpressure and collapsing buildings. A solid interior structure will do well in these but you need to allow for ventilation. Nothing is 100% perfect, so what you're doing is risk management based. The attached link should give you some ideals. Good luck to you.

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http://hackaday.com/2013/07/01/build-your-own-steel-reinforced-storm-shelter/

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[runco]

The storms of April 27, 2011 here in East Tennessee sure messed with my head.  The house we live now has a basement, and crawl space below ground.  There was some motivation to purchase this house due to 2011.  My old house had nothing for protection.  I like some of the garage shelters, if I still lived there, I would have done something similar. 

[Wingshooter]

The storms of April 27, 2011 here in East Tennessee sure messed with my head. The house we live now has a basement, and crawl space below ground. There was some motivation to purchase this house due to 2011. My old house had nothing for protection. I like some of the garage shelters, if I still lived there, I would have done something similar.

They messed with us too. We're still living in the same house that had one pass right overhead on April 27 and landed on a house behind us, obliterating it. We lost part of the roof, siding and other stuff around the yard. We took shelter in an interior bathroom, and the drains were whistling. Weird. If it had touched down on us... :death: :wave: The street we live on got trashed, and people across town died.

So, here I am 5 years later with no changes to our weather security. We have land to build a house on that will inclue a basement and solid safe room, but I need to fix it until that happens. I'm not content sticking out another spring/summer without somewhere to go. My kids deserve a better feeling of safety during violent storms. it only took me 5 years to take action I guess :shrug:

The hole in the garage is how I'm leaning now. It just seems cramped and like a potential tumb under a fallen house. Edited February 19, 2016 by Wingshooter

[Wingshooter]

The concept is to use some steel framing in the construction, rebar will also work very well. You can either weld or use strong U-bolts for the frame and drill into the floor to bolt it all down. Bear in mind this is a four walled construction in a corner so if an exterior wall goes the shelter is still intact.
In tornados a combination of factors come into play, flying debris, wind, overpressure and collapsing buildings. A solid interior structure will do well in these but you need to allow for ventilation. Nothing is 100% perfect, so what you're doing is risk management based. The attached link should give you some ideals. Good luck to you.
​
http://hackaday.com/2013/07/01/build-your-own-steel-reinforced-storm-shelter/
​

I like that concept a lot. I would rather be underground if given the choice, but I can see a lot of usefulness in a structure like that Edited February 19, 2016 by Wingshooter