Safe Rooms: A Disturbing Trend in Modern Homes

Just what exactly qualifies a room as safe? This question is a personal decision and really doesn't have a fixed answer. Most people associate the safe room with the movie Panic Room with Jodie Foster. The room in the movie was built more like a bunker than a safe room. The typical safe room is more of a fortified closet or bathroom built to either withstand a tornado or an home invasion long enough for law enforcement to arrive. What you want to achieve with your safe room will effect everything about it, especially costs. Generally a safe room has one way in and one way out with the other six walls reinforced.

If you want a safe room merely to survive a storm or tornado, you can modify an interior room with just a few supplies and a weekend of labor. If your goal is to survive a home invasion long enough for the police to arrive, you can achieve the same ends the same way. However, if your trying to survive a long term siege or a hurricane, the expense and construction time will be more substantial. First we will discuss the self-built variety and how you can achieve your goals with a minimum of effort.

First you have to choose a room worthy of being altered for your safe room. The room should be an interior room with no walls exposed to the exterior of the home. If your building a new home, the modifications can be done easily during construction and can be planned for in advance. To stop flying debris in a tornado or hurricane you will need to remove the outer layer of drywall or paneling, which ever the case may be. Once this is done, route in at least one electrical outlet and one phone outlet. If you need to be able to stay longer consider installing a mop sink and a toilet. This is where an interior bathroom has advantages over a closet.

Now that you have your utilities installed, cover the exterior of the room with at least one layer of chicken wire, preferably two. This will slow down debris such as two by fours which are routinely flying around in storms. It will also slow down an intruder trying to breach the walls. If you have the room add four or five layers of drywall over the chicken wire, for every half inch of drywall you will add a half hour of fire protection to the room. If you have to add two or three to the outside and two or three to the inside, this will buy you time if the intruder decides to set your home of fire to get you out. If your not sure what you need FEMA has specifications and even offers loans to add your safe room. What terms they set I am not sure, you will have to read their site to find out.

If you have the room, install a steel pocket door behind the exterior swinging door. A pocket door will allow you to lock it only from the outside and you can block all of the pry point of the door during construction. This will give you the standard look of the home and utility of the standard door with the added security of a steel barrier. The steel door should be at least 14 gauge, a modified solid core wood door with a layer of 11 gauge steel on the outside will also work. If you don't have the room for a pocket door you can install the door to swing out. If you have to install it in this manner add a stainless steel lap to prevent prying from the outside.

To prevent breach from beneath the home, drill holes through the floor at the outside corners of the room so that you can locate those points under the home. Now lay block or pour a solid concrete wall around this perimeter all the way up to the plywood sheeting so that the floor joists are not exposed. This will prevent someone or something getting under the home and accessing you or your property from below. In the attic or above your safe room, you can either wall it off much like the walls of the room or you can add a welded steel cap with four inches of lightweight concrete poured on top.

The space below your safe room can also be used as storage with the installation of a trap door. To really fortify it, you can have an electrician add a secondary circuit panel with a direct feed from the main so that the electrical in your safe room is secure and free from disconnect. You can also run your phone line directly underground to the main so that a pair of snips cannot disconnect you from the world. If your building your safe room inside a basement, it is advisable to pour a solid concrete wall all the way around and cap the top with at least eight inches of reinforced concrete. Many people seeking shelter in a basement have been killed when the storm has collapsed the block walls. You can also order a six foot hydraulic jack to help you escape if a tree or other item blocks the door.

If you are trying to survive a hurricane in a safe room you must consider the flood plain. If your home lies within a flood plain, you are much better off trying to evacuate rather than drowning inside a fancy closet. If your building a new home the costs associated with adding a safe room can be lessened considerably by planning ahead. FEMA estimates the cost of a safe room between $2500 and $6000, however the more elaborate the room the higher the costs. If your in danger of being kidnapped you should consult a qualified security consultant for the design and building of your safe room. Building a full fledged bunker should be engineered and constructed by professionals, however make sure that the builder is licensed and bonded. You might also want to have a background check done on the builders potential employees, remember these people will know the strengths and weaknesses of your system.

Now that you have your safe room built or at least planned you have to consider what to keep in it. First and foremost is communication so a land line phone with a back up cell phone are musts. All cell phones, even if they are not activated, are capable of calling 911 so you can purchase a pre-pay phone for your safe room without adding another expensive line to your mobile plan. Add a radio and a CB radio aren't too far out of consideration. A laptop can be handy as well, if nothing else you can entertain your kids with DVD's while you wait out a storm, it will help to keep them calm. The more nervous you are the more upset your kids will be. Keep enough supplies for at least seventy two hours, this means bottled water as even if you have plumbing you might not be able to depend on the utility systems to work.

If you try to stock your food from the grocery store, rotate your supplies to keep them fresh. Consider buying either MRE's or dehydrated foods so that you can stock them and forget them for a couple of years at a time. Add blankets and a cot if there is room, folding cots from the walls are a good idea if the room is dedicated for the purpose. If your room is small just keep the essentials, there are lists all over the net. Keep a list of contents and do a bi-yearly check to make sure your kids didn't take the radio or cellphone or that your batteries aren't dead. Your safe room will only keep you safe if everything is there and in working condition when you need it. All security systems are built layer by layer, one layer out of place or not working could be the one layer that you need the most. There is a lot of information out there, so before you build, do your homework.