I’m not in the process of doing this but I’m curious how you’d approach this:

You can’t afford to build a custom safe room with rebar and concrete walls and a 15k door. But you want something to gather your family in, or a way to keep the vermin out until the cavalry arrives.

Two initial thoughts; first is beefing up a room/closet, second would be shutting off living quarters from the rest of the house, as my house has a hallway that separates bedrooms from any other part of the house.

FEMA guidelines are quite clear how to build a storm shelter in the home. Is that enough? Is that not enough? Keep this in line with what the average Joe is living on and would build himself, not with the income of Minneapolis daycare owners.

Check with the folks in Venzuela. Slightly used.

Lots of fallout shelters were built during the Cuban missile crisis. We all knew Chicago was on the Russian hit list. There are many in your area but may need some upgrading. Some were built under concrete driveways.

Triple 2x4's, 8" on center, with a steel framed garage door with deadbolt for access

Without concrete, a bit of gasoline and a match turns your safe room into a smoker.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Without concrete, a bit of gasoline and a match turns your safe room into a smoker.

Exactly . Don't want to open the door ?
Yeah , you'll open it ..

Also it should be elevated, so the perps cannot spill gas on the floor where it would drain into your safe room.

A fire extinguisher system, possibly controlled from inside the safe room. Hidden ventilation. Assume the perps have an hour to get to you, they can do a lot in one hour.

Concrete with steel is the hardest to cut through. Lots and lots of steel would be best.

If they want to smoke you out, there's no way around it without either a lot of concrete or an escape tunnel. But if all OP wants to do is keep away from the bad guys while they ransack the house, there are probably alternate more affordable solutions.

Lowest threat would probably be just keeping the BGs from getting to you, in which case multiple 2x4s and layers of plywood would be good (and a good way of securing the door, of course, which could also be hidden, to make it less obvious to the BGs). If OP wants protection against random or targeted gunfire, options get more expensive.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Without concrete, a bit of gasoline and a match turns your safe room into a smoker.

Your post raises two bigger points in the topic of safe rooms:

The decision on whether or not to build a safe room starts with a threat assessment. Are you a jeweler with several million dollar inventory or a 75 year old woman with an extensive cat collection? Question like that impact whether or not you're likely to be a home invasion victim. From what I've read, most home invasions are drug related.

The decision on how many features a safe room needs includes factoring in response time for police and fire. If you live 0.9 miles or 29 miles from a police/fire station is two completely different scenarios.

I have been familiar with several safe rooms and the sky is really the limit. The most "reasonable" one I saw used a IIIa rated material the came in 4'x8' sheets. Cut it with a circular saw fitted with an abrasive blade. They reinforced the master bedroom by using this on all interior walls. The trim carpenter sandwiched a sheet between two solid wood doors and they added deadbolts to all four edges of the door which was set in a steel frame. Above average camera system viewable from their smartphone and a more elaborate alarm system. Situated in an area with full time police coverage and a respectable response time. I always thought it made for a reasonable and cost-effective approach. It obviously does not address the fire risk or extreme measures driven by a targeted attack but it went a long way in providing additional time against a more common risk.

IIIa Panels

It occurs to me that when the shit hits the fan, you might want some place to flush it. Same with drinking water. If the contingency is to spend more than a few hours in there, you probably ought to have some plumbing.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Without concrete, a bit of gasoline and a match turns your safe room into a smoker.

But concrete stretches beyond the scope of what was asked. As does fire suppression systems.
Think surburbia with 7-11 minute response time. Sandbags can defeat the average 9mm.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
...
Your post raises two bigger points in the topic of safe rooms:

The decision on whether or not to build a safe room starts with a threat assessment.
...

Kind of where I was going, but you stated it much more succinctly. In my world, it's called a "vulnerability assessment".

Double concrete board on walls ceiling and floor. Small steel package door behind a shoe rack in a closet. Secret/hidden is part of the equation.

A solid core door on a master bedroom closet can give you time for help to arrive.

If your not a gun person having a golf club, bat or hockey stick to keep some space between you and the bad guys might help.

7-11 minutes until the calvary gets there and how long will you be stuck in your safe room during the hostage standoff?

Besides, if you aren’t willing the spend for concrete for a small room, it probably means the armed attackers can easily break into your house while you are asleep and get to you, before you wake up, wake the family, and get everyone in the safe room.

There’s just so much more to it than having a safe room and the parts that keep people out of the house giving you time to utilize the safe room cost money.

Let’s start with something that lets you know people are outside before they get inside. This could be a dog that barks at everything, a camera system that sets off an alarm when it detects motion in areas you’ve told it to watch, or whatever. Then you need bars on the windows, laminated glass, even thorny bushes outside the windows along with reinforced doors. Next would be an alarm system. Now you have to consider your home’s layout. A ranch with the master bedroom on one side and the other bedrooms on the other side sucks. The bad guys are in the middle and the kids rooms are your backstop. Two stories with all the bedrooms upstairs is better. Once you have all that you can start planning your safe room.

The reality is the average Joe doesn’t have to worry about being targeted by armed attackers breaking into his house while he’s asleep. Instead, he has to worry about people breaking into his house when no one is home to steal his stuff.

I understand that there is a lot more to it. I’m not asking about every scenario. Just what I stated. Just read the original post again. This is a better than nothing thread, not how big of a threat can I afford to stave off thread.

It’s the only scenario you’ve allowed with your original post.

Better than nothing is every bedroom has solid core doors with reinforced frames and deadbolts. The plan could be the same as for a fire, everyone goes out their windows, and meets up at the neighbor’s house or other designated place. Still need an alarm system to let you know someone has broken in. Fight, flight, hide. Hide and wait to be rescued is not an option I’d choose if I couldn’t do it right.

You’ve made your point clear, now I’m asking you to stop.

“Beefing up a room” if you must. But I personally prefer to be ready, surprising and letting them have it. Running and hiding would be the last option.

To be bluntly honest, we are a retired couple with no kids in the house (except periodically when grandkids visit), so my defense is a vicious armed defense. You break into my home, I have nothing to lose making holes in walls, floors, ceilings. Due to the terrain and large lot sizes, the odds of a round penetrating a neighbor's home are very small.

Solidly hardened external doors and windows are important to keep out the unwanted. But once they're in, it's game-on.

There are some specific places which would provide somewhat hard cover in the house, as well as a few ambush options.

We aren't sleeping through a break-in attempt. The dog is protective of her domain.

That’s ideal Q. I just wonder how financially ruining that option is. I would have to assume that defending yourself in court is more likely than not. That might make another good thread by itself. The cost of defending yourself in your own home. I could see that varying a lot depending on location.