Safe room ideas

NickW85

NickW85

Joined
Jan 31, 2011
Messages
2,261
Likes
368
Location
Chicopee, MA
Feedback: 27 / 0 / 0
So I got the OK from the wife for building a safe room/gun room. I picked a corner of the basement and have an area about 3ftx5ft to do so. I am thinking cinder blocks with some sort of steel door. I do some construction on the side, so I can handle most things.

Anyone have a place where I can find plans? I figure its good to start with known structures.

Is there a local place within 100 miles of mass that does doors for such rooms? I like to see what I'm buying. I figure this is where most of my budget will go.
 
I would honestly forget any plans, go by what kind of door you can afford and then build around that. It will be custom anyway to your basement, now if it is going to be used as an actual "Safe Room" you would have to have it pretty big for your family to fit into. Also you would need to make it a completely sealed structure that would have power, phone or RF lines, and most important ventilation. now I'm not in the construction area at all and I have thought of some creative ideas and also all the things imaginable that could happen if we needed to use such a thing. Good luck to you and maybe you could post some pics in the future!

Charles.
 
Eastern Security Safe sells vault doors, you'd want to call and see if they have any in either showroom.

Like any safe, go twice as big as you think you need.
 
3x5 isnt much room especially if you are going to use it as a gun room as well as safe room. I would want at least enough room for 2 people to be able to lie down if need be. As others have said build around the door. YOu also probably want a door that opens in not out in case there is debris in the way. If money is tight look at the solid core steel exterior doors with steel frames. Upgrade the hinge screws, heavy duty deadbolts etc can be very tough to break down. Additionally, if you are inside you can install bars top bottom and middle and that door isnt coming down.
 
xtry51 said:
Buy the door first. Build around it.
Click to expand...
Good advise.

Blitz1 said:
Sandbags. Use them.
Click to expand...
Not sure what I am suppose to do with them?

Kevin_NH said:
Eastern Security Safe sells vault doors, you'd want to call and see if they have any in either showroom.
Like any safe, go twice as big as you think you need.
Click to expand...
Haha. I am going 10 times what I think I need in this case. Bonus is being able to stand in it if there was sever weather.

NewGunGuy said:
I would honestly forget any plans, go by what kind of door you can afford and then build around that. It will be custom anyway to your basement, now if it is going to be used as an actual "Safe Room" you would have to have it pretty big for your family to fit into. Also you would need to make it a completely sealed structure that would have power, phone or RF lines, and most important ventilation. now I'm not in the construction area at all and I have thought of some creative ideas and also all the things imaginable that could happen if we needed to use such a thing. Good luck to you and maybe you could post some pics in the future!
Charles.
Click to expand...
The idea for plans is figuring out the best way to construct a safe solid wall and utilize that concept. Cinder blocks and re-bar is what I am thinking. I can't think of anything else as resistant.
 
The room is too small once you add shelves an inward swinging door. Just buy a safe. Of you want a safe room then fortify the entire basement. Besides where are u gonna store the bucket of poo if you get stuck in the 3 x 5 room?
 
Nicole said:
I have no ideas but I have a question to add - what about the ceiling? How does one approach that?
Click to expand...

Given enough time anyone is going to get into the room. Floors arent that easy to rip up and take time. You have to get through the flooring, subflooring etc to get into the room. It could be shot through if the name of the game is just eliminating whoever is inside the room. If you are looking at it for nuclear protection then you can just sandbag the floor above. For a tornado have a heavy bench bolted to the floor/wall that you can get under.
 
coastie said:
Given enough time anyone is going to get into the room. Floors arent that easy to rip up and take time. You have to get through the flooring, subflooring etc to get into the room. It could be shot through if the name of the game is just eliminating whoever is inside the room. If you are looking at it for nuclear protection then you can just sandbag the floor above. For a tornado have a heavy bench bolted to the floor/wall that you can get under.
Click to expand...

Oh I know anything can be broken into given enough time/money/dedication. And the bar is lower if you just want to destroy/kill what is inside.

But assume the vault is a replacement for a gun safe and you wanted it to be at least as good as the safe for theft deterrence. What would you do to the ceiling? Nothing?
 
floors in most cases are pretty thin, I think it's 2x6 in my place, that's pretty easy to hack in 15 min tops with an axe. Also cinderblocks are pretty wimpy, you don't even need a sledge to break through them. Putting some reinforcing bars and pouring concrete would get you bulletproof for a long while, but again, no matter how strong the doors are to the safe room, if it takes to fart into the vent duct to get people running, that's your weakest spot.

I'd suggest that for safe room you consider digging down, soil allowing.
 
If you can, have concrete and rebar for the ceiling. That will also allow it to function as a fallout shelter. It may sound a bit much, but you'll need it eventually... No way can mankind plod along without the inevitable nuclear exchange.
 
Some new development in my safe room plans. Decided to make the room 4'x12' just because of the area available and how my basement is shaped. I do plan to do cinder block reinforced with some re-bar. The roof is looking like 1/2" plywood, wire mesh, and concrete board. I plan to run electrical and an Ethernet cable to the room as well. This will be a cool project for the next couple months.
 
I'm eager to hear how it goes. It is something I was hoping to do in the past, but that house had a walk-out basement so the foundation was only 4' high (so a separate concrete "room" would have looked ridiculous.) I don't have that deficiency today, perhaps I'll get back to thinking about the project again someday.
 
Nothing to add except that this is all fascinating to me. I have the mechanical abilities of a monkey and was wondering how the ceiling security should be approached too. Reading people sound off on how to approach this is making me wonder if I could ever dare dream to try something like this. And then I clang my cymbals and remember its best to keep reading and eat my bananas.
 
First, define what you really want: Is it a room to act as a safe (vault), or a "safe room" that you will store stuff in, and be ready for you to shelter in, when needed?

There's a huge difference.

If it's a vault, then the primary purpose is to protect things, and the thinking has to revolve around that. If it's guns, you need a dehumidifier (preferably one that drains outside the room), and power, and security for the contents.

If it's a safe room, you have to decide what threat you're retreating from. If it's weather, your occupancy time will be 1 hour or so, tops (unless your house collapses on you - think tornado). If it's civil unrest, or NBC issues, your time in the room will be greatly increased. Then, you need food, water, filtered ventilation, sanitary facilities, auxiliary lighting, bedding, etc.

In one respect, this is like buying a vehicle - you have to decide its primary purpose, before you can decide on a car. A construction worker that has a job box to lug around has different needs than a 40-mile-each-way commuter, or a family of six.

Also, chalk out the dimensions of the room; if it's the exterior, chalk another line 8 inches in (or what ever the thickness of the wall material will be). Then, if you're planning on shelving, figure the depth of those, and chalk in from there. Decide what else is permanently going to live there, and dedicate the floor space for that.

Now....hang blankets from the ceiling to make "walls" at the furthest-in points that you've laid out. Go in, and see how much room you actually have.


Not trying to be a kill-joy, but space vanishes a lot more rapidly that many think, and if you're planning on bugging in to this, this needs to be addressed, IMO.


Keep us posted.
 
Bury a shipping container up against your foundation perpendicular to one of the foundation walls. Then have the security door installed in the wall of the foundation. That would be cool... Oh and don't forget to hide the ventilation in a tree stump near the house...
 
Wrench75 said:
Bury a shipping container up against your foundation perpendicular to one of the foundation walls. Then have the security door installed in the wall of the foundation. That would be cool... Oh and don't forget to hide the ventilation in a tree stump near the house...
Click to expand...

+1
 
NickW85 said:
Some new development in my safe room plans. Decided to make the room 4'x12' just because of the area available and how my basement is shaped. I do plan to do cinder block reinforced with some re-bar. The roof is looking like 1/2" plywood, wire mesh, and concrete board. I plan to run electrical and an Ethernet cable to the room as well. This will be a cool project for the next couple months.
Click to expand...

I'm hoping to build something like this (more along the lines of a walk in vault for firearms) when I finish my basement. Hopefully, you'll post update photos that I can "borrow" for inspiration. [smile]
 
I built a panic room and the whole thing cost me more than three times what a small apartment of the same square footage in my area would run (500 square feet/Back Bay). I'm not exactly going to share my plans with you but I went through the whole really long and ridiculously expensive process so if you have any questions feel free to pm me. I can tell you about different safety solutions and strategies. I'm sure I can save you some time and money.

According to our safety consultant the 5 most important things are ventilation (room is air tight), communication (cell phones won't work down there), escape, survival (sanitation mainly), and redundancies in that order. Ours is mainly for short term but is also designed to shelter us in case of an act of God type of disaster. Meaning it will keep us safe and alive for 2 weeks if the whole building falls on top of us. The idea is that it should be enough time for help to arrive and pull you out by then.

The most expensive stuff was obviously installing what is essentially a modified bank vault in the city. If you guys frequent Boston and saw the scaffolding in Beacon Hill for about a year you probably know where I live. Next was the ventilation, 6x redundancy. Then electronics/power, 3x redundancy. Everything after that was a fraction of the first three.

What you're trying to keep out and what you're trying to protect are what's going to determine how complex your panic room will be. I have a wife and 3 kids. The kids required quite a bit of extra square footage.

Now if you're talking walk-in safe then get a great door and try not to make the walls so thick they eat up all your square footage. Some of these vault doors weigh tons. Literally. So if you are going with a vault door get one with a good pulley system so it can be opened with ease. Some of the older vault doors do not have these systems. It's like pushing a car in neutral whereas mine can be opened by my 4 year old. If you use it a lot you'll thank me.

Again. If you have questions send me a pm. If it helps I could send you a pic of my ante door during construction. 2 inch thick vintage bank steel door to get to the main panic room door. I'll explain what it's for via pm if you want.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2
 
Nicole said:
I have no ideas but I have a question to add - what about the ceiling? How does one approach that?
Click to expand...
Ideally? reinforced precast concrete slab jacked into place.

On a budget? Metal studs. 3/4" plywood, vapor barrier, covered with metal lathing and mortar. (depending on span , make sure it is properly supported.)
 
Wrench75 said:
Bury a shipping container up against your foundation perpendicular to one of the foundation walls. Then have the security door installed in the wall of the foundation. That would be cool... Oh and don't forget to hide the ventilation in a tree stump near the house...
Click to expand...

I have a buddy that has a precast concrete pipe (40-50"?) 25yds long leading from one corner of his basement. The pipe leads to a precast vault (septic type) all vented. opens from the inside. Designed as an indoor range, but useful and an escape tunnel/ bug in area.
Muli-Panel-Vault---Exploded.jpg
 
You could look into some companies that deal with solid steel doors like what you'd find in a commercial building. Probably a hell of a lot cheaper and easier to mount than a vault door. There's information on the interwebs that tells how thick a material needs to be to give a certain amount of protection from nuclear fall out. Ultimately it all comes down to what it's primary function is. If you're going to be living in there for any amount of time, remeber a jail cell is 10x10. 4x12 is pretty small especially when filled with stuff. Obviously you have deal with whatever space you can spare. Cinder blocks are pretty weak. Again depending on purpose and budget, maybe cinder blocks reinforced with rebar and poured concrete.
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

Electronic Safe Lock
Replies
16
Views
705
Buck F
Buck F
Wearable Safety Light
Replies
3
Views
474
STEED
STEED
Ideas to improve drinkability of emergency water supply?
2
Replies
33
Views
6K
Knob Creek
Knob Creek
One room cabin solar power ?
2 3
Replies
63
Views
19K
OutdoorFanatic
O
Safe deposit box for SHTF
Replies
26
Views
8K
clr8ter
C
Back
Top Bottom