Wood Frame and Steel Sheathing Tornado Safe Rooms

A tornado safe room made from wood frame and steel sheathing can be made from common construction materials and finished similarly to any other wood-frame structure with sheetrock, texture, or paint.

[@clayvance4843]

Would be VERY helpful if Simpson strong tie would list the products and #'s that are used in this tornado shelter.

[@Nonyabusiness911]

All rooms in the home should be this way. It should be code. Just like homes built in hurricane areas have all the extra code.

[@mmabagain]

$8000 - $9500??? That kind of money can buy a darn good steel tornado shelter. Mine was $4000.

[@The413watcher]

Good luck finding those ties, Simpson blew it in not identifying the ties. Lowe’s and Home Depot could not find them when I showed screen shots. Hello Simpson, any chance you could let us know the models of the ties and where to buy them?????

[@scottwhite2123]

What about the door?

[@StuartHollingsead]

If you have a semi truck being tossed about in the wind, and it hits this "shelter" you will not be safe. The only safe place is underground. That "shelter" will protect you from the majority of tornado's. But not from the Moore tornado. If you want a tornado proof room, here is how you do it. Dig a basement for your house. Have concrete block walls for the basement. Preferably ICF. But regular cement block will do. Fill the block with cement and rebar. Install bolts sticking up from the concrete that are tied to the rebar in the concrete. Now buy steel plate and install it so that it spans the basement and bolt it down to the solid concrete block walls. Now you have a basement that is protected. That is where you sleep at night. That is where your children sleep at night. That is where your safe is and your photographs of family and friends. Your car and fridge are upstairs. Those can be replaced. Family can't. You will want the entire basement to be covered and below ground level. You live in safety. You sleep in safety. You do not want to count on having 15 seconds to get into the "shelter". Obviously you will want to protect against flooding and fire, so you need escape routes up and out of the basement, as well as 2 sump pumps with back ups. Dehumidifiers and good AC for the basement. It is a regular maintenance schedule that must be paid attention to. But worth every minute of effort. Why do you want this? because an old farming couple got into their basement for a tornado and the fridge fell through the ceiling squashing them.

[@charlesterrizzi8311]

Unclear instructions, dug basement in Florida, now have indoor pool

[@leveragecomics5067]

Thank you for your time in advance! I have a fAmily of 4 and We are looking to reinforce a small Closet under our stairs in Raleigh NC and are looking for someone to help, can you make any recommendation?

[@radamson1]

I have a house above a crawl space. I wonder if one could build a safe roof with the same type of floor as the wall and roof have, and anchor it in place with concrete piers dug into the ground and very strong steel cables tying the two together? Pleas if anyone knows let me know if it is possible or safe.

[@chuckkeller5619]

Hello My company is going be building one of these n we are needing the Numbers off the Simpson Strong tie

[@tomloper9984]

I might be like others-- how safe and how expensive?

[@keiberlaw]

The video claims 250mph winds at a cost of $8-9.5K for an 8x8

[@siriosstar4789]

ridiculous . build all exterior walls out of eight inch thick or more reinforced concrete. cheaper and faster or do like they use to do and have an underground storm room . being under ground is the only truly tornado proof structure .

[@user-lb9lb1sg6f]

None of this accounts for flying debris. Better be under ground. Don’t listen to Randy

[@protonneutron9046]

if you are building a house just make the entire thing tornado proof to begin with. Costs the same as a custom wood frame house.

[@firstcavtanker]

Not in todays market, it absolutely won’t cost the same.

[@charlesterrizzi8311]

This is a very inaccurate statement.

[@pedrofmc0000]

I'll never understand the way Americans build their houses. Huge, too huge for what they really need but weak too weak. In Europe, we build most of our houses with concrete, steel and double brick walls with insulation inside and all this without having tornadoes. Yes, our houses are about 100 square meters a little more or a little less depending on the budget of every person and we usually live in flats or apartments but they last for generations in a good state and are really safe against fire or strong storms. Even after heavy flooding they remain standing with minor cosmetic damage. I also don't understand those urbanizations with huge houses but separated by 3 or 4 meters at most from the next one. I prefer a smaller house and enough garden space to enjoy and have a little privacy.

[@buddyalbert5808]

I must say I agree. Especially living in an area of the United States that has numerous Tornados every year.

[@bensavedbychrist]

Most Americans are used to houses not being a generational thing. They are built to be affordable and disposable, and the next generation is likely going to want to have their "own place" anyway, so the parents are going to be "downsizing" after the kids leave. If you want to see what a large, strongly built American house is, look to the Amish (German-American, sorta). Those houses are built to last generations and use entire trees as the studs and joists. They're not built in tornado country much, but that's a smart decision, too. The first three rules of real estate...

[@odahithedubious2017]

There are many, many different types of homes in the US. Some people have much land and huge homes, others live in tiny houses in the woods, some live in high-rise apartments in cities or single-family homes on an acre or more in the suburbs. There are even people living in earth shelter homes, straw bale homes, caves, and even an occasional tree house. As a point of perspective, there are 60 counties in the US that are larger than the ten smallest countries/principalities in Europe. There is much less homogeneity in the US than others might think. Compare any large coastal urban area here to places in southern Florida, rural Arizona or New Mexico, mountainous Colorado, the plains in Kansas and Nebraska, the river cities along the Mississippi River, and the list could go on. They live in everything from brand-new mini mansions to houses that were built during the early settlement of the continent. The US has a pretty amazing amount of diversity.

[@vermontmike9800]

Why don’t Americans use concrete? One word, earthquake

[@pedrofmc0000]

@@vermontmike9800 Buildings built with reinforced concrete and designed by good architects are the most resistant to earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, etc... Look at the Japaneses...