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A safe room is a versatile addition to the modern home. Many misunderstand the concept of a safe room, equating it with unfounded paranoia. However, not every scenario is as far-fetched as some believe, which brings up the topic of a safe room’s purpose.
A Safe Room’s Purpose
Safe rooms are areas of a home where individuals can take refuge. They can also be used to store important documents, expensive property, or other items that need to be secured. When you’re setting up your safe room, consider whether you’re worried about keeping important belongings safe during a break-in or if you need to be prepared for something like a tornado. The purpose of this room will significantly impact where the room should be and how it should be stocked.
Types of Safe Rooms
Opened Secret Door Inside Library
There are two types of safe rooms: obscured and hardened safe rooms. Obscured safe rooms are secure areas of the house whose primary method of protection is not looking like a place of refuge. This is usually done with a door that looks like a bookcase or another piece of a wall. The goal is to hide.
A hardened safe room is one where protection is in mind. A storm shelter, for example, should be a room with no exterior walls. It is on the lowest level of the home, preferably underground. This room is designed to keep you safe from outside threats, whether that’s an intruder or a storm.
Safe Room Walls
The walls of a safe room can either take advantage of unused space in the home for an obscured safe room or use something like concrete for a hardened room. Using concrete, kevlar sheeting, or some other bullet-resistant materials is the better option if the concern is an armed home invasion or violence in the general area of the home.
The use of normal drywall or sheetrock is still a viable option, even for a storm shelter, if the room is underground or has no exterior walls. These materials do not provide as much protection from physical threats.
Door Selection
Selecting a door for a safe room comes down to how secure the room needs to be. Is the goal to create a secure space for important documentation and valuables in the event of a break-in? Generally, a stronger locking mechanism than a normal residential door is necessary, and a stronger door frame will help ensure that the entrance to the room is secure. The door should open outward and have hidden hinges to prevent it from being kicked in or easily opened from the outside. Additionally, the door itself should be reinforced metal or solid wood, depending on the location and budget.
Ventilation
If the safe room is being built from scratch, it should have its own ventilation. This ensures that carbon monoxide does not build up if one or more individuals have to stay in the room for extended periods of time. This often overlooked feature is important even if the room is purely used as a storm shelter.
Electrical
If a safe room is being built to the fullest extent it can be, the house’s electrical control panel or at least the electrical controls for the safe room should be located within the safe room itself. Using a control panel to shut off power to the room can impact the ventilation and communications of the safe room.
This could lead to individuals either getting carbon monoxide poisoning, depending on how sealed the room is or delaying rescue due to a lack of communication ability.
Food, Water, and Sanitation
There is no telling how long a safe room will have to be used. Storing food, water, and sanitation equipment, in addition to normal disaster preparedness supplies, can make the difference between an inconvenient stay in the room and a health risk.
Some safe rooms can have working sinks and toilets in them for extended use, essentially turning the room into a mini-bunker. However, this must be determined during the design phase to allow for how long someone is expected to stay in the room during an emergency.
Communication
Being able to contact help is important in an emergency, especially for something like a home invasion. Having hardwired internet, radio, or phone capabilities in the safe room will make outside contact easier. Hardwiring is better than relying on wireless because concrete and steel reinforcement can affect wifi and other radio signals.
Home Defense Items
If the purpose of the safe room is primarily against home invasion, keeping a number of home defense tools in the room can be beneficial. This can be a simple handgun, an AR-15, a Taser, or some other method of defense. If young children are likely to take refuge in the room and firearms are being stored there, properly teaching the children gun safety becomes a priority.
Proximity to firearms, especially in an emergency, requires a lot of forethought and planning to ensure there are no unnecessary risks involved.
By Jordan McDowell
who is a writer and second amendment rights advocate. As a proud advocate for responsible gun rights nationwide, he writes about recreational hunting as well as the latest developments in state and national legislation. He is also an automotive enthusiast and is a content writer for B2B and B2C digital companies.
Member since April, 2024
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