User Panel
Posted: 4/28/2022 9:46:42 AM EDT
Right off the bat let's have some basis in reality. A bullet proof house isn't reality. As well this needs to be a home that people can afford that are middle class. I will throw out a few of my ideas to get started but maybe others have some thoughts that would be a good addition. Keep in mind there are real challenges here when it comes to the reality of building today. Windows must meet egress and they must be present. So that makes security tougher but what if they were accesses by a deck design that could be removed in a necessary situation? This needs to be a home design so people can live in it today without it looking weird, not a home for a Mad Max scenario.
-A large pantry room with an area for canning -A centralized wood burning stove or perhaps several smaller. -A dedicated space for solar components (possibly in basement) -High windows that can be opened on top to facilitate hot air to escape -A sally port designed as a foyer. -360 degree visibility from inside while also limiting access -A large mud room/laundry with floor tubs and drains -Access controlled by elevated decks that are modified easily -At least a partially in ground basement for an additional pantry but you will need to have a way to secure the basement access if it is a walkout -A garage that could be converted into an airy kitchen if need be What else would be appealing to you as a perspective buyer? |
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A large walled yard with a drive through remotely operated solar powered gate
wired for cameras |
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I would think you want at least part of the basement completely underground to work as a bomb shelter.
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Real shutters made of 1/4 ar500, made to look normal and can be secured from the inside. Like swing them closed and bolt on a cross bar to secure. Only really need them on the first floor.
A widows walk with a hatch, and a armored "tunnel" to the hatch, so when the person sticking just their head out can't get shot thru the roof. Same with all the first and second floor windows, just a piece of ar500 either built in the walls, or stored so it can be put in place below the window. So you cant be shot thru the wall when looking out the window. Yes fully armored walls would be pricey but just doing under each window would not be too bad. |
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ICF poured concrete would make the walls fairly bullet proof as well as helping with cooling/heating. Roll down hurricane shutters would not look out of place in most of FL.
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I should add that I am going to draw this plan out in actual prints. As usual in my more off the wall threads I am rolling something around in my brain.
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Lots of clear fields of fire:
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I U shaped exterior entryway with the front door at the bottom of the U so that the person coming to the front door is surrounded on three side by building.
With the front door tucked into the home it forms a "fatal funnel" on the other side of the door for the bad guy(s). |
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Geothermal heating/cooling with the system powered by solar or better yet, a mini-mill on a year-round running stream.
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Quoted: Lots of clear fields of fire:
View Quote If you were looking at property and part of it was already tilled and prepped with possibly a cover crop or maybe corn would that influence you as a potential buyer? Would having a chicken coop and animal yard prepped be appealing? I would need to be mindful of costs so you cant get to extravagant, plus people have their own ideas. |
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have a read of Jeff Cooper's book "To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth" and check the section on "Notes on Tactical Residential Architecture"
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Security shutters.
In California I had pre-cut 3/4" thick plywood to cover the front facing windows. I screwed the planks to the top of the garage ceiling. |
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Fresh water supply, one way or another. Stream, lake, well. Rain barrels and stored water at a minimum. The more potable the better, to reduce reliance on purification.
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Apart from the home, in a SHTF situation I'd want to live out in the country for starters, and we do. Ideally the home would be located on high ground with open views in every direction to be better able to detect anyone with bad intent incoming. A stone or concrete home would be most resistant to gunfire, and bulletproof windows, while not impervius to gunfire, would at least avoiding shattering.
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-Large cistern and gutters designed to direct rain water into it.
-Large propane tank. -Tri-fuel generator. -Wood stove. -Wood gasifier. -Solar array with battery storage. -ICF construction. -Thick raspberry bushes around the perimeter. |
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Quoted: If you were looking at property and part of it was already tilled and prepped with possibly a cover crop or maybe corn would that influence you as a potential buyer? Would having a chicken coop and animal yard prepped be appealing? I would need to be mindful of costs so you cant get to extravagant, plus people have their own ideas. View Quote An existing greenhouse would be very appealing in most/many climates. I bought 10-months ago. I shopped many properties that had animals. There's a number that's too many, if the property is dedicated to the animals, that's more than as a homeowner I want. 2-10 horses on my 40-acres is fine. 175 cattle, not so much. Water was a big concern of mine too. I wanted a place with a shallow water table or surface water. I got both. |
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Quoted: An existing greenhouse would be very appealing in most/many climates. I bought 10-months ago. I shopped many properties that had animals. There's a number that's too many, if the property is dedicated to the animals, that's more than as a homeowner I want. 2-10 horses on my 40-acres is fine. 175 cattle, not so much. The property I bought used to be a part of a pre-1900's farm. I found the hood off of a Ford Model T yesterday near where the old farm house was located. Water was a big concern of mine too. I wanted a place with a shallow water table or surface water. I got both. View Quote I was thinking about that last night. I was considering if it would be beneficial to be attached to the home or separate. The biggest negative is that a good greenhouse will increase the initial price pretty significantly. |
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In door shooting range underground.
A butcher room complete with water, drains, showers, and refrigeration to age store meat. |
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A castle on top of a mountain that has a nuke proof bio-dome and an underground bunker for armory and food storage.
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The place that the guy from Demolition ranch built would be perfect.
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ICF, airlock doorway, rainwater cistern, courtyard garden, solar power, etc.
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Large windows that can open all the way
Wood burning stove Outdoor kitchen with wood burning oven or old school wood burning stove Fresh water source Interior room from ICF or other type of concrete... 4x6 instead of 2x4 construction 1000lb lp tank Whole house generator |
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Bullet proof walls are neither difficult nor expensive . Just use three foot thick rammed earth construction.
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My recommendations.
Ground level includes garage- The reason is so you don’t have a giant wart on the side of your main structure that cuts off view. All doors must open out- Have provisions for steel bars on the inside. If possible, do accordion doors for garage. If it is an overhead door, design interior steel shutters. At least one below ground level floor. Root cellar, pantry, reloading/safe room. If possible, have escape tunnel. Heavily secure the lower level, with short hallway as only entrance. Create a fatal funnel, and have angles firing ports in the poured wall. Protect all food storage, ammo, guns and survival equipment in the underground bunker All windows should be above 8 feet from the ground. Any windows closest to the ground, steel shutters on the inside. Turret corners if the budget allows, but this would be extravagant. And look a bit odd in less you tried a castle motif. If you can’t see the sides of your house without sticking your head out, you will lose. Cameras. Incorporate them in the initial build and armor them as best you can. No flammable building materials accessible from the outside. Steel roof, metal siding or stucco. |
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Bird houses elevated on poles; hardwired to the house concealing remote operated belt fed 50 cals
Basement attached bomb shelter with electricity, water, bathroom, and fresh air filtration. HAM antenna tower Drones for surveillance and to drop ?? -P |
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I daydream about this all the time.
Impact resistant laminate on all windows All doorways reinforced hidden room or at least hidden gun storage areas "safe" room perhaps a hidden door leading to a tunnel and a bomb shelter type spot located away from the house. Fully stocked, lockable, and also maybe a hidden door for escape. Solar power for crucial systems (depending on location) Location - fresh water, clean air, good clear lines of sight, no (or as few as possible) environmental threats. |
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Septic, propane tank, and a clean(ish) water source.
Walk out basement. Our house has a concrete box under the front porch 24’x4’, perfect storm shelter. Wood source nearby for your stove. |
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Mud room with both the interior and exterior doors being reinforced would be a good idea.
Hardwired cameras. Windows and largely plywood are not stopping someone with a hammer, never mind bullets. ICF would protect the wall and doubling up overlapping the plywood would help to give more time vs a determined person. Window laminents or smash resistant help that aspect and are becoming more readily availible for not too much of an upcharge. |
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3.5K sq ft steel reinforced concrete stilt house in the middle of a 400 acre treeless pasture with retractable aluminum stairway. 8' square "Cupola" on roof top made out of 3/4" steel with sniping ports. Roof mounted solar system and well/pump underneath as well as a tidy basement bunker under the ground level slab. A few 1K gal underground propane tanks to run the whole house genny to keep all the dead animal carcasses in the 7 big chest freezers GTG.
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Artesian well
Reinforced concrete room Backup wood heat with supply of wood. My place has all of these. |
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Solar.
Basement. Accommodations for a dozen or more people, because if it gets bad you’re not going to want to spend years pulling 50% security with 4 people. |
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Plenty of inviting places to shelter in ditches and shrubs, for the fougasse projectors.
Glare lighting at ground level. LED IR emitters arrayed throughout property for easy passive observation. |
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I have 3 street facing windows that I inset 3/4" ar500 panels underneath each one, hidden by drywall. Another one on the back view, same treatment. All low sitting, perfect prone position.
Remodeled an unused closet for food storage. I collect rain water in three 55gal drums. Live within a 10 minute walk to 2 creeks and several ponds. Have ground and raised beds for plants (all booming right now). Have 2 kerosene heaters and ample fuel. Lots of candles. Coleman stove and lanterns, ample fuel. |
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I think what you ment to say is you want to plan the decoy, and the real place is 100 yards east, buried and the entrance is through the trunk of an abandoned car.
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Quoted: Plenty of inviting places to shelter in ditches and shrubs, for the fougasse projectors. Glare lighting at ground level. LED IR emitters arrayed throughout property for easy passive observation. View Quote I think lighting is a key component and with modern LEDs their efficiency is fantastic. I would ensure they were on individual switches except for standard motion lights which I would also have wired to disable if desired. |
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3d printed house is cheap fairly bulletproof and fire resistant.
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No windows on first floor
MBR slider walks out to patio which is roof of garage 3AG but garage doors are the only entry at ground level. Basement + Ground level (living room kitchen dining all one large room) skylight over kitchen area if possible. No windows on the sides sliding glass door to balcony in back) similar to front. Skylights over stairway. Using poured concrete for walls like a commercial building. Or no exterior windows. Square with center open courtyard glass sliders to courtyard on 3 sides. Pool ? Hydroponics? |
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Garden planters Infront of critical points would make good cover and not look out of place.
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Centrally located LARGE masonry stove and smaller conventional free standing wood stove as backup or additional heat source.
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I have a dream too.
It would be situated on a 12' raised platform with bastion-like corners to cover all approaches. The platform would have a 4' stone wall all around. A driveway would come up to the top of the platform. Parking area at top of driveway and a garage. The house itself would look like a Mediterranean villa with a courtyard. Ground floor windows would face the courtyard. Upper floor windows can face both ways. A tower at one corner of the house leading to a flat roof with parapets. Solar panels on the roof. Three of the wings of the house would be separate quarters for each of my kids and their families, and one wing would be for us. A full basement with a well, backup batteries for solar, all mechanical systems etc., storage for supplies, maybe even a 25' shooting range. Backup generator venting outside. The house would have a large septic system, or a backup septic if sewer main is available. Something like that. Also a small animal farm, garden etc. I suck at agriculture, but if I had FU money I would learn. I would also possibly have a live-in maid and a groundskeeper (preferably former HSLD dude). Just need to hit that lottery for a few hundred million and my dream will come true. P.S. Forgot about gatling guns on the roof, maybe some cannon as well. |
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Quoted: I U shaped exterior entryway with the front door at the bottom of the U so that the person coming to the front door is surrounded on three side by building. With the front door tucked into the home it forms a "fatal funnel" on the other side of the door for the bad guy(s). View Quote Or H so you have front and back. Gate doors at the outside of the pockets to create outdoor foyers. Lots of good ideas from castles. A tank trap type moat would be good and could be attractive. Cost and "good" are gonna be enemies, OP. As usual, security is layers to be effective and some layers are more expensive than others. On the self sufficient side: Definitely a southern facing window majority with thermal mass absorbing sun. Well. Preferably protected. Underground egress from basement to some distance away. OP would be nice at this location, overlooking the house/property. |
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https://youtu.be/CTvNjPOV1Ew since we're not in Europe there is no cause to worry if you want to crenelate.
Inside Simon Unger's Cornell cube house -- OffBeat Spaces Video |
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icf concrete walls or double thick with 6" of gravel in the extra thickness, or 3/8 4x10 ar500 laid sideways in the wall giving 4' high protection from gunfire, or in ground house with 3 walls covered in dirt, with exposed wall concrete with reinforced shutters.
this is probably most cost effective, and offers other benefits. leaves one exterior wall to uparmor. but then you already have 3 walls of reinforced concrete, might as well do 4. with 8" this reinforced concrete walls your pretty much done. Attached File Attached File |
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I think a seperate bunkhouse, or building that can be converted to one would be handy.
That way you can stick the friends/family that would inevitably show up in there. |
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