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Vault Room/Safe Room

L1986

Gold $$ Contributor
In the early process of building a new house and amazingly enough got the boss to sign off on a vault room/safe room/tornado shelter in the plans! Not a huge space, really just like a walk in closet (plan is looking like a 6x9 area). Vault door will be in master closet. Any of y’all done one? Pros, cons, things you would have done differently? How would you lay it out(cabinetry and the like). I don’t want it to look just like the inside of a safe. I prefer a more finished wood look. This will also just be for storage, no reloading or cleaning or anything like that. Lots of pictures on the web but couldn’t really find any of a smaller space. Any ideas would be great! This is pretty much the only part of the house where my input actually matters haha so the wife said go nuts. Thanks in advance!!!
 
"First thing is to make it larger. You may as well also install an area of shelves for the Queens important stuff. Use that as the idea to make it larger."

Second on MGYSGT comments based on first hand experience. Easier to do it now than to cobble up more space later.
 
Bedroom is problematic. Greater men have tried and failed, but its hard to smuggle things in and out of there. If your wife is not into open purchases, better to pay the price for the private room. ;) Or go ahead and hire a good lawyer.

Ideally you want the access door to open
into your reloading room. Toting guns back and forth waste valuable time. And, there is always the new gun that your wife has not seen before; or in so long that she thinks that you bought a new one. :D
 
Lot of questions to figure out on this. I would assume that since you want to make it a tornado shelter also it is on the first floor . If so, is it going to be concrete ?If that is the case forming the room and tying it into the foundation should not increase the cost substantially,although depending where you live moisture may or may not be an issue, but should be a consideration. Vault doors are available premade with frames from a number of sources, although an inward swing,(which is a very good idea for a shelter door), may be more difficult to find. You might look at some companies that build safe-rooms if you haven't already. The door to the vault could always be hidden by a full length mirror door with a secret latch, which wouldn't look out of place in a bedroom I imagine. Just my 2 cents. Jim
 
Though it may be a bit expensive , you might consider lining the walls with some thin cedar as a moisture barrier . And it would be a great selling point when selling the house later on .
 
When I built mine into the house it was 12x12 and I ran out of room. If its a forever house do it right... otherwise you will never have enough room in that closet.. a closet isnt worth spending that much money on.
 
Building as we speak. Basement with 8’ clear headroom, custom vault door, 10’ walk-around concrete porch to serve as ceiling. Top of foundation wall is notched to accept 6” thick slab over the top #5 bar on 12” centers. Vault door in foundation wall, hidden in the basement. Opens to area under wall-around porch. Working on approval from the war department to bury about 300’ of larger diameter culvert/pipe straight out the back towards the property line.
 
Thanks for all the great info guys!! Keep it coming! First off I really wish I could make it much larger but it just doesn’t work in the floor plan. I might be able to squeeze a foot or two extra but that’s it. However the room will only be for storage (no cleaning, reloading, or anything else, I have other space in the house set aside for that). To answer a few questions. It is a foundation slab, no basement, and will be a full concrete room. I was planning on having heat and air ran into it. But the drain is a interesting idea as well. Planning on a true vault door and it seems there are a few that offer in swing ones(currently looking at the Fort Knox one).
 
We've used old GSA vault doors on the ones we've built. They don't open in, but that doesn't bother me as we put an alternate way out in mine. It's been a few years, but we've always found good used doors for $2K or less delivered. You just need to do some searching.
 
HVAC system plugged into the room. If using a ducted system, supply and return air. If using a ductless/split system, add a fresh air intake and exhaust fan. Floor drain is a great idea, but if the drain is tapped into the plumbing system with no air intake (makeup air), an exhaust fan could actually begin to suck sewer gasses into the room if it’s sealed (a bit far-fetched, I know, but I’ve seen similar situations in other applications. Just a thought). Don’t forget lightning and a guaranteed way out! Sure, your wife sounds real nice..... for now....:p:D
If space is tight and doing full concrete room, pour in some pressure treated firring strips at 16” centers into the concrete itself, so you can attach the wood directly to the walls/ceiling. It’ll save you a few extra inches by not having to add something to nail wood to.
 
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6x9 is too small to hide your guns and any equipment etc and what about emergency food and water along with some type of comms to get help if the need arises. I would make it as wide as possible. Remote exit is a really good idea with a locking steel door. One other thing air in and air out with emergency lighting ,flashlights and new batteries, a radio etc. I would put in a battery powered sump pump in case of a small flood too. They make water powered ones as well.
 
jonbearman said:
6x9 is too small to hide your guns and any equipment etc and what about emergency food and water along with some type of comms to get help if the need arises. I would make it as wide as possible. Remote exit is a really good idea with a locking steel door. One other thing air in and air out with emergency lighting ,flashlights and new batteries, a radio etc. I would put in a battery powered sump pump in case of a small flood too. They make water powered ones as well.
Click to expand...

I fully agree with this… consider the worst case (and the reason you built this) scenario. Think about this - You’ve sheltered during a tornado and are now safely secured, but also trapped in the safe room. Don’t tornadoes often leave piles of debris sometimes trapping folks for days? Your exit door could be blocked for a long time. As far as room size goes wouldn’t you want, at the very least, enough space for your family to lay down and sleep? Space to store essential supplies until a rescue team finds you? An alternative exit that is less likely to be covered by debris is also a consideration to make if possible. Of course I live no where near a tornado threat, but if I had to shelter with my wife and 2 kids for any extended period of time I would want the space to lay down without being stacked on top of each other while we wait it out.
 
Only private vault I have seen was owned by a naval officer(since has passed). Walk in through a bank vault door, room about 2 bedrooms in size. Was located in the basement of a large home. He had some very nice toys that had sailed the world with him.
 
A commercial steel door frame with steel door, Commercial dead bolt, simple handle to pull the door closed is priceless. They will NOT kick the door in.

Windows in the room, put a double thickness of 3/4" plywood over the windows with plenty of 5/16 lag screws into the window frame on the inside, or steel bars over the window on the outside if you wish to open the windows at times.
 
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