Searched and read over and over still undecided..in the market for a storm room. I think we want an above ground unit in the garage but most on here seem to favor in the garage floor. The outdoor inground units are tried and true it seems but not sure how I feel about having to exit the house during a storm. Can anyone elaborate on why they chose what the did and any regrets. I'm north of tulsa and have a post tension slab if this matters. Thanks.
Post tension basically causes major problems of going in floor. After the concrete is cured the cables are tensioned to give it strength. At the same time releasing that tension causes stuff to go bad real quick. The concrete can almost literally explode.
Most of the time you will have a little advance warning on bad storms and you just make plans as a family ahead of time that when the storms are around you stay close and be ready to move. Going the ten feet from your living room to a shelter outside isn't a whole lot different than ten feet to something inside just that you have a little more rain with it and even then building next to a porch can solve most of that.
I grew up with basements and it was always be downstairs and in a protected corner and most of the time while in Lawton I had a huge basement to go to with a large concrete structure above it. Where I am at now I just sit in my chair and wait. . . no use trying to out run what will probably get me anyway.
If you can find the show "The Detonators" I believe episode 3 talks about a building that was post tensioned and how they originally attempted to take down a post cable tensioned building with machinery and someone got hurt from the flying debris and they ended up having to implode it.
Most of the time you will have a little advance warning on bad storms and you just make plans as a family ahead of time that when the storms are around you stay close and be ready to move. Going the ten feet from your living room to a shelter outside isn't a whole lot different than ten feet to something inside just that you have a little more rain with it and even then building next to a porch can solve most of that.
I grew up with basements and it was always be downstairs and in a protected corner and most of the time while in Lawton I had a huge basement to go to with a large concrete structure above it. Where I am at now I just sit in my chair and wait. . . no use trying to out run what will probably get me anyway.
If you can find the show "The Detonators" I believe episode 3 talks about a building that was post tensioned and how they originally attempted to take down a post cable tensioned building with machinery and someone got hurt from the flying debris and they ended up having to implode it.
After much research and then climbing down and sitting in the neighbors new in the garage floor style made by Flat Safe the wife and I decided on a 4' x 6' x 61/2' above ground safe room in the garage and had one installed by Ground Zero Jan. 24th......we're completely happy with our decision and like everyone else that has a shelter we hope we never have to use it.
Another factor that can make your decision for you is access. The "In ground" 2 piece concrete shelters usually need a septic truck with overhead trolly and a backhoe to dig and set in. I'm sure that there are way$ around this, but in the suburbs with fenced yards, access may steer you more towards a garage floor/ above ground shelter. As far as the distance in rain/ stormy weather- Not a big deal. And for us, the shelter being about 40' from our back door increases the likelyhood of nothing blocking our exit when a catastophic storm has passed.
Don't forget to register your shelter's location with your County's Emergency Management System.
Don't forget to register your shelter's location with your County's Emergency Management System.
I chose the big back yard model because I didn't like the idea of being in a room bolted to a slab of concrete above ground and those in garage underground shelters felt like a dang coffin. The big concrete septic tanks with a door also give me lots of room to store my storm preps in without really hurting my space.
We are also looking. I am waiting to see if I can get a rebate. It will be an above ground put out in the shop building. I am still researching, but so far I like the F5. If money was not a factor, I would have Bear Safe put one in for me.
In short, there are studies out there that have come to very ambiguous conclusions. In other words six/half dozen, you chose.
Some say the in ground in house are safer, some say the above is safer, some say the ones in the yard are safer. I talked to several people from FEMA after the one in 99 that I helped dig out several from different shelters.
Think of it this way, the ones in yards, unless you live very rural can get your house on them, the neighbor's house on them, same as the one in the garage floors, your house falls on it, or the neighbors junk piles on it.
I have never been a fan of the above ones at all. I could not imagine what a Tornado that has the capabilities of picking up semi trucks, picking up a one ton truck down the road and slamming it into an above ground shelter. Hence why I like the underground fraidy holes! LOL!
Fema people touring the neighborhoods I talked to really leaned towards the ones in the garage as being safer, they stated people usually waited to long and get injured trying to get to the ones in the yards, with the hail, blowing debris and such. But I can see drawbacks and pluses for each of the two. I just wouldn't suggest above ground. Our choice has always been underground.
We owned one home years ago, that had a huge one built into the side of a hill, it was a walk in. I really liked it, it was like a mini bunker, had two rooms, thick steel doors. If I were to have a hillside close by, I would do a walk in one. So easy to use, people with wheelchairs and such. Good luck with the ones you chose to go with. I also think they are like workshops, bigger the better if you can afford to.
Some say the in ground in house are safer, some say the above is safer, some say the ones in the yard are safer. I talked to several people from FEMA after the one in 99 that I helped dig out several from different shelters.
Think of it this way, the ones in yards, unless you live very rural can get your house on them, the neighbor's house on them, same as the one in the garage floors, your house falls on it, or the neighbors junk piles on it.
I have never been a fan of the above ones at all. I could not imagine what a Tornado that has the capabilities of picking up semi trucks, picking up a one ton truck down the road and slamming it into an above ground shelter. Hence why I like the underground fraidy holes! LOL!
Fema people touring the neighborhoods I talked to really leaned towards the ones in the garage as being safer, they stated people usually waited to long and get injured trying to get to the ones in the yards, with the hail, blowing debris and such. But I can see drawbacks and pluses for each of the two. I just wouldn't suggest above ground. Our choice has always been underground.
We owned one home years ago, that had a huge one built into the side of a hill, it was a walk in. I really liked it, it was like a mini bunker, had two rooms, thick steel doors. If I were to have a hillside close by, I would do a walk in one. So easy to use, people with wheelchairs and such. Good luck with the ones you chose to go with. I also think they are like workshops, bigger the better if you can afford to.
Welcome to the biggest debate in Oklahoma! "What's the best storm shelter?" It's the ultimate conversation starter. 
We have an outdoor/inground and wouldn't have it any other way. It won't rust, I don't have to move the car, and it would be very hard for our house to collapse on top of it.
I, too, worried about running through the yard to get to it in a storm. Hail usually precedes a twister. But, IMHO, the benefits outweigh the danger of the "hail run". By my backdoor, we have a weather radio, an emergency light and a heavy umbrella. (At a golf store once, I found a huge umbrella that's extremely tough.) When the weather people start pointing at dark clouds in the west, I go unlock the shelter. When the evil thing is thirty minutes or so away, there's usually a meeting in our cul-de-sac of all our neighbors. We have six houses and three shelters, so we decide who is going where.
We've never had to dive into the thing yet, but we came very close last year. Matter of fact, a TV helicopter was hovering over our house filming a good sized twister coming right at us. Just before it got here, if lifted off the ground and then sat back down behind us with no damage to us at all.
We have an outdoor/inground and wouldn't have it any other way. It won't rust, I don't have to move the car, and it would be very hard for our house to collapse on top of it.
I, too, worried about running through the yard to get to it in a storm. Hail usually precedes a twister. But, IMHO, the benefits outweigh the danger of the "hail run". By my backdoor, we have a weather radio, an emergency light and a heavy umbrella. (At a golf store once, I found a huge umbrella that's extremely tough.) When the weather people start pointing at dark clouds in the west, I go unlock the shelter. When the evil thing is thirty minutes or so away, there's usually a meeting in our cul-de-sac of all our neighbors. We have six houses and three shelters, so we decide who is going where.
We've never had to dive into the thing yet, but we came very close last year. Matter of fact, a TV helicopter was hovering over our house filming a good sized twister coming right at us. Just before it got here, if lifted off the ground and then sat back down behind us with no damage to us at all.
