Posted: 4/29/2011 2:17:36 PM EDT
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Need some help (questions about a block building/storm shelter).
Any help is appreciated. rustee |
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being from Texas, i assure you that your best bet is underground. go online; there are "drop-in"shelters, IIRC. My Kansas friends have underground shelters, and use them fairly often.
concrete blocks won't stop a tornado-driven 2x4 on their own; the concrete has little impact strength and will just shatter, like shooting it with a cannon. Texas A&M did some studies a few years back, and it showed how weak plain block was against debris. anyway, it's all online. you can get plans for putting a tornado resistant room in your house. the first thing you need to do is get a good weather radio with an audible alarm. |
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being from Texas, i assure you that your best bet is underground. go online; there are "drop-in"shelters, IIRC. My Kansas friends have underground shelters, and use them fairly often. concrete blocks won't stop a tornado-driven 2x4 on their own; the concrete has little impact strength and will just shatter, like shooting it with a cannon. Texas A&M did some studies a few years back, and it showed how weak plain block was against debris. anyway, it's all online. you can get plans for putting a tornado resistant room in your house. the first thing you need to do is get a good weather radio with an audible alarm. I already have the weather radio with alarm... Water table here is pretty high so a total underground shelter just isn't feasable. I was wondering if filled concrete block walls covered with earth will be a good shelter (3 ft in the ground 4 ft above covered with earth). no house to install a safe room in so that isn't an option. |
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Maybe build up an earthen berm around the structure...like they did with aircraft bunkers back in the day when they wanted to protect them from bombs. That is kind of what I am thinking. I'm not a structural engineer, the degree is Mech E, but I do NDT work for what it's worth. if you have a high water table, I'd go as far down as I could, reinforce ( fill the block) the walls with rebar and concrete, or at least rebar and sand. build the walls as low as you are comfortable with, and cover the whole thing with earth, I'd say no less then two or 3 feet. make sure the roof is well anchored and supported, maybe add some bridging across the truss beams. I would also do the door to open inwards, with 2 steel bars (no less then 1 or 1.5 dia round stock ) to be used horizontal across the door to secure it. the reason I would have the door open inwards, is that after seeing some of the debris photos from the AL tornado, some people in storm shelters couldn't get out due to the debris blocking an outward swinging door. just my $0.02 - YMMV |
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I am 6'2" tall so inside will be 6'6" so I plan to have 3 ft below grade and 3.5' above grade covered with earth. The floor will be a perimeter footing 12" wide and 18" deep with a 3" concrete pad , all walls will be filled 8" block with rebar every 2 ft around the perimeter and a 3" concrete rebar reinforced roof. all rebar will be tied.
The problem I am having is how to install a door without having any of it below grade, a 3 ft high door isn't going to cut it. sound feasable? sturdy enough for a tornado shelter? BTW: inside dimensions 12'x14'x6.5' |
