Has anyone built a safe room or gun room? I'm researching building a new house and one thing I would like to have is a secure area to store my guns and a place to ride out the occasional extreme bad weather. The room would be built in a basement. I'm looking for suggestions and ideas from someone who has built one of these. What did you do, what worked and what would you do differently? Thanks.
- Thread starter Caterpillardoc
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Just make sure you have a way to get out of it if need be. I was a recovery diver for 29 years and I once recovered a women that ran down into her safe room to escape a tornado which was good; however, the subsequent flash flood filled the basement and she drowned trying to get through the door of the safe room. Found her with half her body still stuck in the door. Had another friend who had a similar setup but he created a secret door under his desk on the next floor that he could open from the safe room side if he needed to bug out quickly.
Sounds like a great idea if you plan it correctly, especially if you are building the home. Drainage is key, keeping dampness out will be full time depending where you live. I fought a fire in a home that had a basement room that had cinder block walls and steel door. Big fire, lots of water that ended up filling that room up. Hard to plan for but something to think about. You might be able to do pre cast panels and basically make it water tight. Second way out is a great idea. If you are thinking wood frame, there is a sheet rock out there that has an aluminum sheet core, that is really hard the get through without the right tools. You could frame a wood floor over the concrete, with vapor barrier and insulation, giving you a built in insurance policy over the occasional heavy rain, broken pipe etc., dehumidifier, ventilation, heavy door. That stuff is all,out there, especially for a safe room/ shelter.
My wife and I looked into this as opposed to a large fire safe. If you're handy and you build yourself, it could be a wash in price. I've seen safe room doors for a little over a thousand. A nice big fire safe will cost substantially more
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my dad does real estate appraisals for a living, and he and I have discussed this.
Many decide to do these types of rooms under concrete porches, that way the perception of space is not skewed (the feeling of "there should be a room here"). One home set up like this had a 6x3 tunnel that was poured under the existing sidewalk, connecting the garage to the basement, that way the homeowner could move from home to separate garage without being observed.
Ideas to think on...
Many decide to do these types of rooms under concrete porches, that way the perception of space is not skewed (the feeling of "there should be a room here"). One home set up like this had a 6x3 tunnel that was poured under the existing sidewalk, connecting the garage to the basement, that way the homeowner could move from home to separate garage without being observed.
Ideas to think on...
I helped pour an ICF house that the owner had designed one in. It was under an exterior patio, so there was no appearance that there should be a room there.
It was ICF, 8" thick concrete with 2 1/2 inches of foam on inside and outside. 12" concrete roof, covered with a single piece membrane roof with a deck installed over that. The deck extended into the yard and appeared to be a regular deck.
Inside was a safe door, opening _inside_ (for storm egress).
I'd love to do this some day, I thought it would be cool to have a wine cellar/bar with faux rock walls, and a wall that would rotate on a pivot to reveal an armory, all inside the vault. small tunnel to exterior outbuilding for 2nd egress.
It was ICF, 8" thick concrete with 2 1/2 inches of foam on inside and outside. 12" concrete roof, covered with a single piece membrane roof with a deck installed over that. The deck extended into the yard and appeared to be a regular deck.
Inside was a safe door, opening _inside_ (for storm egress).
I'd love to do this some day, I thought it would be cool to have a wine cellar/bar with faux rock walls, and a wall that would rotate on a pivot to reveal an armory, all inside the vault. small tunnel to exterior outbuilding for 2nd egress.
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