Building a safe room for tornadoes in your home doesn’t require you to build the entire house from the ground up. If you’ve purchased an older home, or addition to your existing home, it is entirely possible to build an inner-center tornado safe room in your existing structure.
There was a time in American homes when the idea of a safe room or storm shelter was foreign. Tornadoes can and do occur in any state across the country, but it wasn’t until the spring of 1974 that tornadoes were responsible for over 100 deaths. Those storms brought with them the realization that not only did homes need to be constructed differently for tornado-prone areas, there needed to be somewhere safe to go if you were caught outside during a storm and things went bad. Today, building a safe room is part of any new home construction and many older homes have converted basements, garages and attics into safe rooms as well.
How to build a safe room in an existing home
If you live in a tornado-prone area, your home is at risk for damage from these destructive storms. One way to protect yourself and your family is to build a safe room in your home. A safe room is a reinforced room that can provide protection against flying debris and falling objects.
The first step in building a safe room is deciding where it will go in your home or garage. The next step is to decide how much space you need.
A safe room should be large enough for everyone to move around comfortably. If you have young children who need diapers changed regularly, make sure there are enough supplies readily available (diapers, wipes, etc.). You may also want to include some kind of entertainment like books or toys for the kids so they don’t get bored during the storm.
Once you’ve decided on the size of your safe room, it’s time to build! Here are some tips for constructing a safe room:
Make sure it has at least one exterior door that’s outfitted with hardware that allows it to withstand high winds (such as deadbolts). The door should also be able to open outwards so you don’t have to worry about getting stuck inside if it jams shut during a storm.
Choose sturdy
A safe room is a small, reinforced area of your home designed to protect you during an emergency. Safe rooms are typically built in the basement or on the ground floor, but they can also be built in an attic or closet.
Safe rooms are typically used as a shelter from tornadoes, hurricanes and other severe weather events. However, many people use them as tornado shelters as well.
Before building a safe room, you should make sure it will meet FEMA standards. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recommends that all homes have at least one FEMA-approved shelter room on each level of your home. The shelter must be able to withstand winds up to 200 mph and have enough supplies to feed and care for you for 72 hours.
There are two main types of safe rooms:
Basement safe rooms require reinforcing the foundation before adding walls and doors; however, these can be more difficult to install than attic or closet safe rooms because they involve significant construction work — often including digging deep holes in your yard — which can be difficult if you live in an apartment building or condo complex where you don’t own the land underneath your house or apartment building.
Attic and closet safe rooms don’t require any major construction work; instead
You can build your own safe room in an existing home. The first step is to find an area of the house that has no windows, doors or other access points. If you have a basement, choose one of the interior walls and make sure it has no windows or doors. If you don’t have a basement, look for an interior wall with no access points.
Next, create a hole through the wall that leads into the safe room. Make sure that the hole is large enough for you to get through without hitting any pipes or electrical wires. Then cut out some plywood and fit it over the hole so that it’s flush with the wall on both sides.
Finally, install wood beams across the top of your safe room so that they are directly above each other from end-to-end. Then attach plywood over top of the beams so that they are flush with each other on both sides as well (this will form your ceiling).
You can install a door on your new safe room by cutting out another piece of plywood and fitting it over top of your existing door frame (make sure it’s flush with both sides). You may need to add some trim around this new door frame as well (such as molding) so that
A tornado safe room, also called a storm shelter or safe room, is an enclosed, windowless area that’s built to protect you from tornadoes and other severe weather. Homeowners who live in tornado-prone areas often consider building a safe room as a way to protect themselves and their family members.
The National Weather Service recommends that all homes have a shelter designed to withstand a direct hit by an F3 tornado. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has published guidelines for building a tornado safe room.
A safe room provides the following benefits:
It protects against flying debris and falling objects such as tree limbs, which cause most injuries during tornadoes.
It offers protection against flying glass, which can cause injury or death if you’re struck by flying glass when you’re outdoors or in an unprotected structure such as your garage. The air pressure inside the shelter may remain relatively unchanged during the storm, although there will be some pressure loss around doors and windows due to the wind blowing into them. This pressure loss can cause windows to blow out of their frames and doors to blow open unless they have been secured with straps or chains. A crack or hole in the wall may allow smoke from fire outside the home into the shelter
Safe rooms are designed to provide shelter from tornadoes and other severe weather events. They are usually built underground or in a basement with concrete walls, steel-reinforced concrete roofs and doors, and shatterproof windows.
A safe room can be built into your home or added as an afterthought. If you’re building a new home, it’s best to plan for one from the beginning. If you have an existing home and want to add a safe room, it’s possible but not ideal.
The first step is choosing where to locate your safe room — ideally somewhere near your main entrance so that emergency services can find you quickly in case of an emergency. A basement is ideal because it has little exposure to wind damage, but if you don’t have a basement then consider placing it on the ground floor in front of the garage door or in an area that has access to both sides of the house (such as near a storage shed).
How to Build a Safe Room for Tornadoes
A safe room is a reinforced place to hide from tornadoes, hurricanes and other disasters. These structures can be built in a basement or interior closet, or they can be added to an existing home. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recommends the following types of shelters:
Basement safe rooms: These are the most common type of safe room. A “strong” room should have 3/4-inch plywood walls and ceilings, 2×4 studs 16 inches on center and 6-mil polyethylene plastic sheeting secured over the plywood walls and ceiling. The floor should be at least 18 inches above grade and should have a concrete slab that’s at least 6 inches thick. This will help keep the structure from moving around during an earthquake or tornado.
Interior closet safe rooms: Closets are also suitable for building a safe room as long as they’re on a wall opposite from exterior walls that could allow wind to enter through windows, doors or other openings in the house. This type of shelter should also have 3/4-inch plywood walls and ceiling, 2×4 studs 16 inches on center and 6-mil polyethylene plastic sheeting secured over the plywood
How to Build a Safe Room in Your Garage
1. Create an interior wall by installing 2×4 studs 16 inches on center, with top plates at the same height as the bottom of the garage door opening. The studs should be set back from the edge of the garage door opening so that there is no obstruction when it is open.
2. Hang planking or sheetrock over this wall, leaving an opening for your garage door to slide into place. This will create a barrier that can protect you from flying debris and falling objects during a tornado.
3. Install a window in one side of this wall so that you can still see out if necessary.
4. Install two more walls — one perpendicular to each side of the existing interior wall — using framing lumber in the same way as before, along with another window cutout on each side and a door in one end (or two doors if you prefer).
A safe room is a special room or area of your home that you can use to protect yourself and your family from tornadoes. A tornado-safe room is different from a tornado shelter because it is typically smaller, has no electricity and requires no construction before use.
Tornado-proof shelters are usually built in the basement of homes or businesses and are designed with concrete walls and steel doors that can withstand high winds. Safe rooms are typically located on the first floor of buildings and should be able to withstand winds up to 200 mph (320 kph).
In order to build a tornado-proof safe room in your garage, follow these steps:
1) Find an unused corner of the garage that is away from doors, windows and power lines. The area should be at least 10 feet (3 meters) away from any door or window leading outside so that debris won’t blow into the room if there’s a tornado outside.
2) Cover all exposed surfaces with plywood or particle board sheets measuring at least 4 inches (10 centimeters) thick. Use construction adhesive to glue the sheets together so that they don’t come apart during construction or after installation. These sheets will make up the walls and ceiling of your safe room.
Some people choose to build their safe room in the basement of their home, but this isn’t always possible or practical. If you’re building a new house and have the option of choosing where to locate your safe room, consider placing it as far away from the main part of your house as possible — ideally, at least 10 feet away from any exterior walls. That distance will help ensure that your safe room doesn’t suffer any damage during an EF5 tornado.
If you already live in a home with multiple stories and there isn’t an unused basement space available, another good option is to build a separate structure on your property that can serve as a safe room. This might be an outbuilding like a shed or garage, or it could even be an enclosed porch attached to your home’s exterior (as long as it’s not attached directly to an exterior wall).
If you live in an area where tornadoes are common, you may want to build a safe room. A safe room is a small space that protects people from the dangerous winds of a tornado. It can be in your basement, inside an interior closet or bathroom, or even in your garage.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recommends creating a safe room by following these steps:
Find a location inside your home that meets the following requirements:
It’s on the lowest level of the house possible, preferably under ground level.
It has no windows or doors that open to the outside of your home.
It’s away from fuel tanks and electrical switches and outlets.