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Earthquake, Tornado, Safe Room
In the DIY forum I started a thread on Building A Safe Room in Your House. That got me to thinking about the level of damage and loss of life in the recent disasters.
Most homes and building seem to be standard frame construction that can be blown to bits by any tornado. I understand that, in addition to the force of the wind, most of the damage is caused by flying debris. In an area that is leveled by a tornado, there may be two or three buildings that remain standing.
I can understand why homes in Tornado Alley are not built to be tornado proof as that would cost a fortune. But, it seems to me that homes in those areas should have one room that is built to withstand virtually any tornado. Although it is easier to construct such a room during the initial home construction, a tornado safe room could be built into any existing home. The best place to build it would be in a basement, but if the home doesn’t have a basement, any ground floor room would do.
Standard home construction is a 2x4 stud frame on 16” centers, covered in sheet rock on interior walls and OSB on exterior walls. To reinforce an existing room, the interior sheetrock can be removed and two additional 2x4 studs spaced between the existing studs. Doorways can be reinforced with additional 2x4’s over the top plate and additional 2x4’s screwed to the existing stud door frame.
Over that add ¾ inch plywood, attached to the studs with construction adhesive and 3 inch #10 deck screws. Over that add another overlapping layer of ¾ inch plywood, bonded to the first with construction adhesive and held on with 3 ½ “ #10 deck screws every 6 inches.
The hard part is the ceiling. The strongest way is to go into the attic and add a layer of ¾” plywood over the ceiling joists. Then add 2x6 ceiling joists every 6 inches over that and an additional ¾” plywood over that. Alternately, from inside the room, the sheetrock can be removed, additional ceiling joists added between the existing joists, with ¾” plywood over that just like the walls.
Replace doors with steel doors, and add heavy shutters over the windows.
A room like this should be able to survive any tornado or earthquake.
In the DIY forum I started a thread on Building A Safe Room in Your House. That got me to thinking about the level of damage and loss of life in the recent disasters.
Most homes and building seem to be standard frame construction that can be blown to bits by any tornado. I understand that, in addition to the force of the wind, most of the damage is caused by flying debris. In an area that is leveled by a tornado, there may be two or three buildings that remain standing.
I can understand why homes in Tornado Alley are not built to be tornado proof as that would cost a fortune. But, it seems to me that homes in those areas should have one room that is built to withstand virtually any tornado. Although it is easier to construct such a room during the initial home construction, a tornado safe room could be built into any existing home. The best place to build it would be in a basement, but if the home doesn’t have a basement, any ground floor room would do.
Standard home construction is a 2x4 stud frame on 16” centers, covered in sheet rock on interior walls and OSB on exterior walls. To reinforce an existing room, the interior sheetrock can be removed and two additional 2x4 studs spaced between the existing studs. Doorways can be reinforced with additional 2x4’s over the top plate and additional 2x4’s screwed to the existing stud door frame.
Over that add ¾ inch plywood, attached to the studs with construction adhesive and 3 inch #10 deck screws. Over that add another overlapping layer of ¾ inch plywood, bonded to the first with construction adhesive and held on with 3 ½ “ #10 deck screws every 6 inches.
The hard part is the ceiling. The strongest way is to go into the attic and add a layer of ¾” plywood over the ceiling joists. Then add 2x6 ceiling joists every 6 inches over that and an additional ¾” plywood over that. Alternately, from inside the room, the sheetrock can be removed, additional ceiling joists added between the existing joists, with ¾” plywood over that just like the walls.
Replace doors with steel doors, and add heavy shutters over the windows.
A room like this should be able to survive any tornado or earthquake.
