Bomb Shelter/Tornado shelter

[okclumberjack]

I have been pondering to build my own above ground storm shelter, yep above ground what do you think. the main reason i dont want to have one of them put in my garage inground is i have 2 100 pound dogs that there is no way without a hoist to get them down there & also i have a older relative living with me that maybe now they could get down in one but 4-5 years from now Iam not sure. so here is my idea. i have a spot thats about 3 feet elevated, thinking build into this, the shelter will @ present time be 5wx7Lx6tall 3 sides will be in the elevated area with app. 3 feet above ground the open face of the shelter will be facing SW unfortuntaly where most of oklahomas tornados come from so i figure the facing needs to be capable of withstanding a car hitting it @ 200 miles an hour(flying in the tornado) the 3 sides built into the BERM area will have 4 inch concrete walls with wire mesh & probally some rebar, the facing will be 6 inches thick with mesh & plenty of rebar, the door & roof will be steel 1/2 thick piece Iam thinking. I need too add it up again but Iam thinking i can build this for 1500 1700 dollars??? am i nuts ???

 

[Redneck in training]

I am going to build a storm shelter bolted to floor by Hilti anchors in my garage. My will have more or less triangular shape so it will not restrict the space in the garage too much. I will insulate it and made it into sauna. The problem with outside shelter is that when you decide to go there it is already too late or impossible to get there.

 

[NHmitch]

Just be careful if you do, and make sure people know that you have it, because in the worst case senario, your house comes down on it, you don't want to be trapped without help. I would put a something in it to signal for help, because the worst think you want to do is survive the storm, and then be trapped in a box. You may want to think about making outdoors. There are some good ideas here, https://www.google.com/search?q=abo...A&biw=1439&bih=678&sei=ldiPT7XSNofA0AGJ9bCTBQ. Just make sure that you store some water and MRE's inside, and a way to signal for help if you need to like a boat air horn. You may also want to consider a second exit from the shelter, like out the back out wall of that garage, Let us know how it turns out. Also, These guys offer one for about $3200. installed. http://www.newdaytornadoshelters.com/

Mitch

 

[Gary Fowler]

I had one of the above ground shelters installed in my garage last year due to all the storms that we were having, my wife was needing something to calm here nerves when the storms came thru. These shelters are built in Oklahoma and certified to withstand 200 mph winds and 2x4 hitting it at 200 mph will not dent it. It is made of 1/4" plate with proper ventilation louvers that are designed in a manner than foreign objects wont come thru. The cost was $4500 installed with Hilti anchors one 12" centers around the perimeter. I decided on inside due to what others have mentioned here about going outside in a storm to get to the shelter. States offer $1000 rebate thru federal government (I have yet to receive it but name is on the list if money is ever appropriated) The door has 3 lock,middle top and bottom as required by the design. It is a 4'x6' and supposed to hold 6 people but I would say it would be awfully tight even with 4 but the 4x4 is supposed to be for 4 which would be a little tight for just the wife and I.
I priced out the materials and welding rods to built it myself (just the steel and no paint or hardware for the door last year and making 2 of them, one for me and one for BIL and his wife, the material alone was almost 3000. Unless steel has fallen in price since then or you can get access to scraps you wont built it for anywhere near $1500. You have to have a 2x2 angle iron frame, top bottom and corners, plus the plate, hinges, locks, stops vents etc. I decided that it was just a cheap to have it built, painted and installed .
I even discussed this with my builder when I built my house and a 10x10 room was going to cost me $11K and it would have been build under my elevated patio shielded on 2 sides by dirt. The walls and roof had to be made of 6" thick reinforced concrete which made it to expensive for me at the time and he had to buy the special tornado proof door that was over $1000 without locks. There are guidelines that are published with designs approved by FEMA that you can follow for this if you want to build it yourself. Just google approved tornado shelters.

 

[Redneck in training]

Just be careful if you do, and make sure people know that you have it, because in the worst case senario, your house comes down on it, you don't want to be trapped without help. I would put a something in it to signal for help, because the worst think you want to do is survive the storm, and then be trapped in a box. You may want to think about making outdoors. There are some good ideas here, https://www.google.com/search?q=abo...A&biw=1439&bih=678&sei=ldiPT7XSNofA0AGJ9bCTBQ. Just make sure that you store some water and MRE's inside, and a way to signal for help if you need to like a boat air horn. You may also want to consider a second exit from the shelter, like out the back out wall of that garage, Let us know how it turns out. Also, These guys offer one for about $3200. installed. Tornado Storm Shelters Family Home Tulsa Oklahoma Above Ground Steel

Mitch

Those are good ideas. I am planning on placing a toolbox with axe, spanner, hammer, saw etc inside. Since it will have double door with sauna door open inside and the steel door open outside I will built in a 3'X3' window that would open inside and will be bolted in with toolfree fasteners.

 

[BrianDT]

Do you guys have basements?

Seems to me it would be easier and cheaper to istall a structure like this in a basement. (possibly safer?)

 

[BHD]

this is in the ground, but this is my storm cellar,

 

[monckywrench]

You can also put Hesco barrier material or equivalent to make berms around anything you wish to protect. Leave some standoff distance in case they are disrupted.

Google "hesco bastion".

 

[XxLT250RxX]

I am from a little town in north Alabama called Hackelburg. The town was completely wiped off the map on April 27 2011. It took a direct hit by an EF5 tornado that flung cars, trucks and school buses like they were toys. Some of were tossed hundreds of yard. We drove by one for 2 days and did not realize it was a car because it was so badly mangled. Notice the cars on top of what is left of some of the buildings. The last picture is of the hallway of the school where students usually go when bad weather is expected. The goodness the superintendent dismissed school that day or hundreds of kids would have died in that hall. I am no engineer but there is no way in **** I would be in an above ground shelter.

 

[Groo]

you are nuts if you think you can do it for $1500. mounding dirt around and over a school-bus or multi modal container would probably be the cheapest way of doing it, but take much more space than you have.