Building A Safe Room For Tornadoes

Stock the safe room with non perishable food and water in case you re stuck for an extended period.

Building a safe room for tornadoes.

A tornado is usually a short lived event so if you are in a tornado prone area building a safe room for your family would dictate roughly 5 square feet per person to be protected. A safe room typically costs about 2 500 to 5 000 to build a small price to. In 2012 tornadoes ravaged parts of the dfw metro area causing numerous builders to contact us and inquire about safe rooms to build into their projects. If you re interested in installing a custom storm room in your existing home the foundation of your structure will need to be looked into.

There are 5 levels of tornadoes and 5 levels of hurricanes for instance each demanding different levels of protection. Recent natural disasters highlight the need for tornado shelters inside or close to homes in tornado prone areas. Your guests may never know the difference. After some research we came to the conclusion there were only a few options out there to satisfy a need for a builder friendly safe room that allows retro fitting into an existing home.

Be sure you understand these factors as you plan and build the safe room. The construction is made of reinforced walls and doors. The safe room s construction and design must be reinforced and built to withstand storms and threats of attack. Keep in mind that building a safe room in an existing home can cost up to 20 more on average than building a storm shelter or safe room in a new home that is under construction.

Safe rooms not only provide protection for the homeowner from intruders they offer shelter from tornadoes and other high wind storms. Individuals considering purchasing or installing a safe room should contact their local building official about building code requirements but should bear in mind that the extreme loads generated by tornadoes are not covered under model building code requirements. Obtaining proper building permits and inspections is important for all construction. If a basement is not available build the above ground safe room and use it as a walk in closet.

On december 3 2003 the president signed into law the tornado shelters act public law 108 146 which amends the housing and community development act of 1974 authorizing communities to use community development block grant funds to construct tornado safe shelters in manufactured home parks. A safe room is a place where you can feel safe. You can build a safe room for a diy project or you can hire a building contractor to build it.