Adding a storm shelter

[QRTRHRS]

Although my home has a crawl space, there is an eight foot deep roughly 6x10x8 foot deep concrete block with poured floor shelter. to retreat to. I enlarged the double 2x4 T&G entry door to about 3x4 feet with a hasp on the outside that I put a clip on to prevent the hasp from locking. Inside are two sliding bolts.

Being the entry to the crawl space, there is a 2x8 "gang" plank to the crawl space. That gang plank offers some overhead protection. I have a sort of spiral staircase made from pallets to get to the bottom. We also have places to confine our pets if at all possible. The ceiling is just the joist/flooring to the home. We keep hard hats with chin straps handy.

On occasion, I vacuum the cobwebs to keep the spiders down to a dull roar.

I would agree that an inside shelter is the way to go but what we have is better than nothing. We do not get the severe weather in my area that often though a Cat 2 did happen about 2 miles away awhile back.

We are able to somewhat hear the tornado sirens, in bad weather we are pretty much relying the grace of God.

 

[lman]

I'll stick with my basement. If you can bury a storm shelter, why can't you have a basement?

 

[QRTRHRS]

I suppose that you could call it hard pan? My ground is what I would call clay/sandstone. I don't know if the builder/customer did not want to bring in an excavtor with a hammer on it? Having dug in fence posts with an electric jackhammer with three foot points as well as dug down the driveway area with a 580 Case, I can attest to the ground being hard.

 

[Oaktree]

I suppose that you could call it hard pan? My ground is what I would call clay/sandstone. I don't know if the builder/customer did not want to bring in an excavtor with a hammer on it? Having dug in fence posts with an electric jackhammer with three foot points as well as dug down the driveway area with a 580 Case, I can attest to the ground being hard.

Never really thought of that. Here the soil is rocky, but not hard, certainly not like you describe.
In parts of the country where it doesn't get cold enough so the frost line is very deep I'm sure it's a lot cheaper to just do a slab.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Anyway, those steel shelters that you bolt together intrigue me. I forget the company that sends me info on them but they offer a variety of sizes. My home's garage was closed off by the precious owner. We have thought about putting one in there bolted to the concrete slab.

 

[bdhsfz6]

It's not quite the same but this thread reminds me of the Cuban missile crisis of the 1960's. Many folks in the town where I grew up installed radiation proof underground bomb shelters. My mother wanted one but my father was more pragmatic. "You can't live in one forever. If there's a nuclear war, there won't be much left to come out to."

The same philosophy doesn't apply to tornadoes, since they are relatively short lived and fairly localized. The idea of having a safe place to go is the same though and the construction methods were much the same as being discussed here.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Duck and Cover

 

[3Ts]

When you are planning your storm shelter, keep in mind how you're going to get into it during a storm - ESPECIALLY if you have elderly people in your house that have limited mobility. We are in our 70's and have had mobility issues in the past. We have a large master walk-in closet we turned into a storm shelter.

 

[RSKY]

I have rejected ever plan I can come up with for a storm shelter. I have finally written down some criteria for what features it must have.

1) Easy to access. Won't do anybody any good if you can't get in it when a tornado is coming.
2) Seat 4 adults comfortable or 8 crammed in. We have grands staying with us all the time.
3) Sleep 2 comfortable or 4 in a pinch. Tornados sometimes strike after midnight.
4) Able to get out after storm. Slightly claustrophobic anyway, the idea of not getting out scares me.
5) Cheap. The big one.

All the plans I come up with usually fall apart when I get to #5.

RSKY

 

[3Ts]

Also consider putting in a wired internet port and power. That way, with cameras outside you can see what is going on and keep in touch with the rest of the world - until the storm takes out your internet router.

We use an inflatable bed in our storm shelter and keep it on a shelf in the shelter when not in use. Also have chairs to sit on. Standing gets old real quick. And keeping snacks and water have already been mentioned.