Gun Vault / Safe Room

[Parks 788]

My wife's cousin who just build a massive home right off the 44 in Sapulpa has a huge above ground shelter in her garage. It was built while the rest of the home was being built and has walls that are concrete filled 12" CMU block with approx. 18" poured in place concrete roof. Has venting, storage for supplies, you name it. I can't imagine the additional cost being to much for what you get. My sister in law had an inground shelter put in her garage in Edmond and to me that is just a less fancy tomb. No way in hell would I ever go that route.

 

[dennishoddy]

My wife's cousin who just build a massive home right off the 44 in Sapulpa has a huge above ground shelter in her garage. It was built while the rest of the home was being built and has walls that are concrete filled 12" CMU block with approx. 18" poured in place concrete roof. Has venting, storage for supplies, you name it. I can't imagine the additional cost being to much for what you get. My sister in law had an inground shelter put in her garage in Edmond and to me that is just a less fancy tomb. No way in hell would I ever go that route.

People have drowned in those in-ground garage shelters.

 

[MacFromOK]

People have drowned in those in-ground garage shelters.

People have drowned in bath tubs too. Not sure that's an arguable point unless it's built in a flood zone...

However, I would also rather have an above ground shelter (preferably poured/reinforced concrete IMO). Even a couple inches of water can do a lot of damage to stored items, and that's always a risk with anything built underground.

 

[TwoForFlinching]

People have drowned in bath tubs too. Not sure that's an arguable point unless it's built in a flood zone...

Sometimes,even outside the flood zones, when pipes burst with unregulated city pressure, below ground shelters can fill up. Such was the case at Plaza Tower in Moore when all those kids drowned.

 

[dennishoddy]

People have drowned in bath tubs too. Not sure that's an arguable point unless it's built in a flood zone...

However, I would also rather have an above ground shelter (preferably poured/reinforced concrete IMO). Even a couple inches of water can do a lot of damage to stored items, and that's always a risk with anything built underground.

What happens is that a water pipe breaks and the people are trapped in the garage level shelter when they can't open the door because of debris.
It's happened more than once, but is not a common incident.

 

[yukonjack]

Yeah if you get an F5 (r 6) walking right on top of you, your chances are going to be pretty slim regardless. Short of a Cheyenne Mountain-type of shelter, I think it's reasonable to go to whatever expense you're comfortable with. The odds of a direct hit from a monster tornado are pretty astronomical.

I've lived in OK for most of my 43 years and have yet to even lay eyes on a tornado, even when I've gone looking for them.

In May of 2011 an EF-5 tornado hit Piedmont destroying hundreds of homes. I took pictures of 5 houses that had above ground safe rooms. In all 5 of them the safe room was all that was left of the houses. These houses had been stripped all the way to the slabs. Two safe rooms had good sized dents in the doors but they held fast. 4 of those were concrete and one was metal.

In was interesting and eye opening but I'd have no problem with getting inside a safe room. They are very useful for people with mobility issues.

 

[Shakel65]

Whorton Welding in Choctaw

 

[saddlebum]

Yeah if you get an F5 (r 6) walking right on top of you, your chances are going to be pretty slim regardless. Short of a Cheyenne Mountain-type of shelter, I think it's reasonable to go to whatever expense you're comfortable with. The odds of a direct hit from a monster tornado are pretty astronomical.

I've lived in OK for most of my 43 years and have yet to even lay eyes on a tornado, even when I've gone looking for them.

For contrast I live in Moore and my old house got hit 3 times between 1999 and 2013

 

[saddlebum]

I would have OZ safe rooms pour a concrete safe room as part of the house build