Storm Shelter Installers

[AAC2005]

Can anyone suggest a good storm shelter installation company, or point me to a thread that discusses this topic?

Thanks!

[BrettL]

We used ground zero shelters when we built our house in 2006. Was about $2400 for the garage type. Very happy with them.

Ground Zero Tornado Storm Shelter Oklahoma Kansas Texas Mississippi Alabama Georgia Arkansas Missouri Louisiana Florida Tennessee

[easternobserver]

Just a few words to think about -- in garage storm shelters are not a very good idea. Garages tend to contaiin hazardous materials, so hazardous that the building code says that the bottom of a garage is a hazardous/fire danger area. If you put a hole in the garage floor, all those vapors that are heavier than air (gasoline, for one) will settle at the lowest point -- in the storm cellar. Do you want to be sittiing in gasoline vapors during a tornado?

Also, most of the time these in-garage shelters are installed near one of the walls-- too close to the foundation. Disrupting the foundation is a real concern with all storm cellars or similar holes. Installers may say that they have engineer's seals or FEMA approval -- FEMA was influenced by the industry lobby and approved a standard that conflicted with the building codes. The engineer's seals are for the shelter design, not for the location, and they do not mean that real damage will not be done to the foundation.

Most cities license storm shelter contractors and require permits and inspections. Make sure you choose a reputable company. Consider the 1/2 above ground type of shelters (the best, because they avoid problems caused by heavy rains that can accompany severe weather), prefabricated safe rooms, or even the in garage-type of shelter, but installed on a back patio. If being installed within 7 feet or so of the wall of the house, make sure that the contractor is using mixed concrete and putting in steel when pouring the required reinforcements.

[Easy180]

Thought I would resurrect this thread to recommend FlatSafe...Just put in an 8 person in our garage and did a nice job...Showed up early, left no mess and finished in around 3 hours...Paid 3,200 which we thought was pretty reasonable

[Lauri101]

Easy - what is ingress/egress? Stairs? Ladder? Or is this a safe room?
TY

[BradR]

We had smartsafe put one in our garage a couple of years ago. I don't know if that's the name they still go by but they did a really good job.

[btlsooner]

We went with F5 Storm Shelters for our install a few months ago. Got it at a really good price and we are very happy with it and we didn't have to wait forever to get it installed. I dealt with a salesperson there named Blake. His phone number is (405) 824-7209 if anyone is interested. I would recommend them to anyone.

[Easy180]

Easy - what is ingress/egress? Stairs? Ladder? Or is this a safe room?
TY

Lauri it is completely in the ground in our 3rd car garage with fold away stairs and benches on both sides...Can seat 8 adults (sure not super comfortable) but they said we could jam in 12 in a pinch