Tornado Shelter questions

Jabin

5:48p, 5/6/24

I live in Arkansas which is now dead center in what's called the "Dixie Belt", an extension of tornado alley. I'm thinking of buying one of the metal safe rooms that you can put in your house or garage and that bolts to the slab.

The problem I've got is distinguishing between the companies that have quality products and which are BS. I've reached out to several and asked for specs and the like and all that I get in return are mainly vague generalities. They all claim to be "FEMA Compliant", etc., but there's no testing procedure I'm aware of to establish that claim as fact.

If I spend the money to buy and have one of these installed and am going to trust the lives of myself and my loved ones to it, I darn sure want to know that it will work.

I think some of you guys have gone through this before. What did you do? Any suggestions?

BenTheGoodAg

6:29p, 5/6/24

It's been a couple of years since we went through our installation, but I've done one in each of our last two houses.

First of all - I'm assuming you're reaching out to local companies that install the shelter, and you may have better luck with the shelter manufacturer about how they are listed. We installed these in ground garage shelters (Link), but this was done through a local installer (Link). At the time, these were listed by TTU's wind laboratory (Link), but it appears that they no longer offer this testing according to their website, and defer to UL & Intertek who offer those services. That TTU site still has some good info for standards information.

Secondly - For both of ours, we were able to take advantage of a federally-funded, locally managed rebate program (Link). I don't know what's available in your area, but this is worth some research. $3,000 savings each time. Also, this funding required the shelters to meet the FEMA guidelines (FEMA P-320 & P-361), and this documentation was submitted by the installer to the program, so there's additional incentive to look for a similar program in your area.

Thirdly, we really like the in-ground shelter, as opposed to the surface mounted ones. It doesn't take up any floor space, and the ground offers better storm protection. Plus, it was cool to see how they can install them. It may not work for you, but it's an option to be aware of if you haven't considered it.

BQ2001

6:23a, 5/7/24

When I lived in OKC we had one installed in ground in the garage. Could still park in the spot and get into the shelter with the car parked there. We got an 8 person one and fit 5 people and 2 dogs in it once when we had a tornado close and it wasn't terrible.

Jabin

8:03a, 5/7/24

In reply to BenTheGoodAg

Ben, I can't seem to find where on the TTU site it has shelter standards. Can you help an old guy out in finding it?
Thanks.

tgivaughn

8:22a, 5/7/24

In reply to Jabin

I do have the "retired" TT report in PDF
but it would not post to my facebook page ala the other images were allowed.
Email me if you want it.
Address EZ to find via Google.

IMHO and am sticking to it

dudeabides

8:47a, 5/7/24

Jabin,

These links might be useful:

NSSA Overview of Industry Standards

FEMA 320 (which includes designs created by TTU)

ICC/NSSA Storm shelter design and construction standards

BenTheGoodAg

5:58p, 5/7/24

In reply to Jabin

Jabin said:
Ben, I can't seem to find where on the TTU site it has shelter standards. Can you help an old guy out in finding it?
Thanks.

You bet. I accidentally stumbled across something even more useful than I originally posted: Link

This lists the standards and testing methods TTU used for qualification. It also shows all the above-ground shelters that TTU has listed. Even if TTU is no longer in the business of testing/listing them, any of the models on this list will still be qualified to FEMA 320 (linked by dudeabides above).

Jabin

11:05p, 5/7/24

In reply to BenTheGoodAg

BenTheGoodAg said:
Jabin said:
Ben, I can't seem to find where on the TTU site it has shelter standards. Can you help an old guy out in finding it?
Thanks.
You bet. I accidentally stumbled across something even more useful than I originally posted: Link

This lists the standards and testing methods TTU used for qualification. It also shows all the above-ground shelters that TTU has listed. Even if TTU is no longer in the business of testing/listing them, any of the models on this list will still be qualified to FEMA 320 (linked by dudeabides above).

Unless the manufacturers have changed the design or construction of the model since the test. People have been known to do such evil and nefarious things. Build an expensive, high-quality model to test, and then sell a cheaper and lower quality model. One of the manufacturers I spoke to today said that is not uncommon in this industry.

BenTheGoodAg

6:33a, 5/8/24

In reply to Jabin

Yep. Unfortunately, there's a nugget of that in every listing business, but it would much harder to police here.

StockHorseAg

12:38p, 5/8/24

In reply to BenTheGoodAg

What was the ballpark cost of getting one of those below ground installed? I just saw them on facebook the other day and want to eventually get one installed.

BenTheGoodAg

1:50p, 5/8/24

In reply to StockHorseAg

It cost $6k in '21 - $3k out of pocket and $3k on the rebate. He did say prices were going up at that time.

StockHorseAg

7:52a, 5/9/24

In reply to BenTheGoodAg

Sweet, Thank you!