by Blake Lee | Dec 10, 2014 | Installation Projects
Over the years, above ground safe rooms have started to become more and more popular all throughout Tornado Alley. For people who are not familiar with safe rooms, think of them as a steel closet that is bolted into your garage floor. To many Oklahomans, the thought of being above ground during a tornado could sound terrifying, but after much testing and investigation, safe rooms are statistically just as safe as being underground as long as they meet certain criteria. Nobody has been injured or killed in an above ground safe room that has received a passing grade from Texas Tech Universities Wind Institute in Lubbock, Texas. Our safe rooms passed these test and you can watch video of this on the video portion of our website. FEMA also has a set of guidelines that you must meet when building a safe room. We exceed FEMA guidelines by 50% or more throughout every aspect of construction. We use thicker steel then is required, more locking mechanisms, more ventilation cutouts, and probably most importantly, more bolts anchoring the safe room into your slab.
Like we said previously, safe rooms are becoming a lot more popular. This type of storm shelter is great for elderly couples who maybe can’t get down steps as easily or as quickly as may be required in order to seek safety inside an underground garage storm shelter or outdoor storm cellar. They are also very popular options for families with a member with a disability or in a wheel chair. Just think for a moment, if you had a child in a wheel chair home by themselves during severe weather, what would you do? An underground storm shelter could be useless in this scenario. Some people feel more claustrophobic being below ground, thus, above ground storm shelters may offer more comfortability. Safe rooms are also great because they have the abilty to be moved. If you move to a new home sometime in the future, you can take the safe room with you if you choose. One of the big drawbacks we hear when discussing safe room options is that many people fear they will lose too much space in their garage. For this concern, there is an easy solution, bolt together safe rooms.
Our bolt together above ground safe rooms are great because they allow people that are in an existing home to install their safe room inside of the house. A lot of companies only build pre fabricated safe rooms, meaning, they are already built when they show up for install. These type of safe rooms offer limited options on where they can be installed. It’s pretty much either inside of your garage or maybe a backyard patio. Bolt together safe rooms come in panels that our installers will put together at your house. The installation is easy and is a one day job. We can put these anywhere inside your home so that you don’t lose any space inside the garage. Most people usually elect to install them inside of a closet or spare bedroom. If you have any other questions or want more information, call one of our showrooms in either Oklahoma City or Tulsa. We have sales reps that would be more then happy to assist you!
F5 Storm Shelters OKC (405) 824-7209
Tulsa (918) 970-4770 Stay Alive, Call F5!
Inside of a bolt together above ground safe room
This is what our bolt together above ground safe rooms look like from the outside. They are just as safe as being underground.
by Blake Lee | Nov 17, 2014 | Installation Projects
Are you thinking about building a new home or even in the process of building? Have you been putting off buying a storm shelter because you have known the passed few years that you were not going to be in your current home long term? If any of these scenarios describe your current situation then F5 Storm Shelters has an idea that may be of interest to you. If you are about to start building and are interested in putting in a storm shelter then a really smart idea is to do a pre-construction installation. You may be asking yourself, ‘what does this mean?’ The answer is this, a pre-construction install (or, as we like to call it, a Dig and Stick) is done right before your builder is planning on pouring your slab.
This time of the year is a perfect for pre-construction jobs because we are not as backed up as we are in the Spring and Summer seasons so they are a lot easier to plan and coordinate. We can coordinate with your builder when he/she is planning on pouring the slab for your foundation. Once we know the date and as it gets closer to that time we will talk with your builder and make sure they are on schedule and ready for the tornado shelter to be installed. These jobs are pretty similar to a regular job in the fact that when we show up we will dig out the area you and your builder have marked for where you are wanting the storm shelter. WE dig the hole and once it is level, we put the shelter in the ground. We tell the builder ahead of time to mark on the stem wall were they are planning to pour the slab to and that marker gives us the area where we need to set the shelter to.
Once the shelter is properly in place, we will back fill down the sides of the storm shelter with some of the dirt we dig out. Tamping this dirt will insure that the shelter will not move prior to the pouring of your foundation. We will wrap up the lids with plastic wrap just in case in rains before they have all the framing and roof done. This will help eliminate any water or debri from getting inside. Within a few days, the foundation will be ready to be poured and they will pour wet concrete down the sides of the storm shelter, anchoring the shelter into the grounds. After this is completed, you have yourself a fully installed storm shelter. It’s just that easy.
Why install it this way and not just worry about it once the house is completed you may be thinking? Well, there are a few reasons. First of all is money. This type of installation is cheaper for the customer. At F5 Storm Shelters, you can save $150 by getting your shelter installed pre-construction because this type of install takes a lot less time. Typically, we can complete a pre-construction job in an hour and a half to two hours. Normal installs take anywhere from four to eight hours depending on size. WE also don’t have to worry about doing any of the concrete work because the people that pour the foundation will be taking care of it. Another reason to install your storm shelter pre-construction is because of placement. WE can put these shelters anywhere in the garage or house. We typically install tornado shelters about a foot in from your garage door and then about two and a half feet in from the exterior wall. We have a lot more freedom with pre-construction installations because there are not any obstacles in our way and we don’t have to worry about hitting any of your property. We have installed underground garage shelters in bedroom closets and underneath future stair cases by doing this type of installation.
If you have any questions or want more info about pre-construction installations, call one of our two locations.
F5 Storm Shelters OKC (405) 824-7209
Tulsa (918) 970-4770 Stay Alive, Call F5!
Pre construction storm shelter installation
Storm shelter installed in back of garage
