A safe room or panic room is a useful addition to your home. It is primarily intended to increase security and protection from security threats or life-threatening tornados and hurricanes. Whether you’re considering including one as you build a new house or thinking to add one to your existing home, one thing is certain; a safe room yields the best results when hidden. All it takes is a secret door and architectural trickery to create these unique escapes. Read on for more useful ideas on how to build a hidden safe room.
What Is a Safe Room?
A safe room is a dedicated room that is detached or built within your home or business structure. It is your family’s hiding place and a secret shelter during an emergency. It should be a sturdy structure that will hide you safe from any disastrous events such as worst weathers such as a tornado, home invasion, terrorist attack, or any other threat. Safe rooms usually contain communications equipment, so that law enforcement authorities can be contacted as needed.
Guide in Building a Hidden Safe Room
Hiding an entire room may seem like a hard task, but it can be done. First and foremost, a safe room’s walls and the door must be resistant to bullet and burglary. You should not include windows in the safe room. You may also install monitors to follow the situation outside. The following are specific guides on how to build a hidden safe room.
Step 1: Choose a Location
First, you must try and pick a room with no existing windows because this will help conceal the presence of your safe room and minimize the potential entry points. If your only suitable room has windows, it can still be solved using specific materials. It is recommended that the safe room is located on the same floor as the bedrooms.
Step 2: Determine Possible Threats
How you design your safe room depends on what threats you wish the room to be protected from, but it is always best to build a safe room resistant to extreme weather conditions and destructive bullets. Making it hidden is where the challenge would be.
Step 3: Select Your Safe Room Component Materials
The walls of your safe room should be constructed out of materials that can withstand force entry and firearms. If you are incorporating it in your existing home, it may be hard to build concrete walls, but there are great options. It is best to use ballistic panels that are relatively easy to install and are cost-effective.
Step 4: Select Secure Entry Door
An essential security feature of your safe room is its door. It is the first place that criminals will attempt entry through, for it is the only security component of the room designed to allow people to pass through. The door needs only to be lockable from the inside. It will enable the door to be unlocked during regular use for the fastest possible entry. You also have to be wise and creative in making your door hidden or disguised from plain sight.
Step 5: Install Safe Room Components
Safe room component materials can be conveniently installed by a local contractor or a DIY homeowner. Factory assembled materials are also available that can be used practically. Someone with experience installing standard doors, windows, and walls can do the installation, but it is highly recommended to work with a licensed and bonded contractor.
Step 6: Create an Emergency Plan
Create a basic plan to maximize the value of your safe room. Don’t forget to have a line of communication with the outside world. An extra cell phone, radio, or dedicated phone line will allow you to call 911 securely in your safe room. It is also best to have some emergency food and water, and first aid. It pays to know how to build a hidden safe room because your life may depend on it someday.
Some Useful Tips in Building a Hidden Safe Room
Safety Standards
In learning how to build a hidden safe room, there are different resistance standards. It must be burglary-resistant or EN 1627 standard and bullet-resistant or EN 1522/23 standard. Materials and structure must meet requirements and classification systems for burglar-resistant and bullet-resistant characteristics. Different classes indicate how long it takes to open a door or which material protects against gunfire.
There are also specific standards for safety glasses, but it is not recommended to use glass or windows within a safe room. Level 4 guaranteed protection against the 44-Calibre handgun, and a brick or concrete wall should measure 11.5 cm thick to ensure your room’s adequate protection.
Composite Material
There are specific ways to build safety walls in interior construction. Unique panels made of composite material are used to achieve bullet-resistant walls. In combination with other materials, you are guaranteed protection against fire, hand tools, or any other power tool. Besides concrete or composite material, safety steel can also be used. You obtain the same protection level as 12 millimeters of composite material with about 3 millimeters thick of the steel.
Oxygen Supply
A safe room is designed to avoid life-threatening danger for a short duration. After a maximum of 30 minutes, it is expected that you get a rescue and leave the room safely. No extra supply of oxygen is required for this short period. It would also be safe to install an overpressure system if you expect contamination with gas from outside.
Security Door
Never lock the door to the safe room from the outside. It will take you much time to enter a code or find a key in case of an emergency. You do not have enough time to enter an access code to unlock a door during unfortunate events because they always occur fast. The door may only be locked from one side, and it should be from the inside.
Alarm System
You must have early detection of potential attacks. Many houses have an alarm system, but it is not activated when you are at home for reasons like pet animals triggering false alarms. Within your safe room, there should be a hold-up alarm system to communicate with the authorized security service.
Conclusion
For your hidden safe room, authorities recommend building a simple yet sturdy shelter in your home’s basement or firmly anchored to a concrete foundation. The walls and doors should be strong enough to withstand forceful wind and flying debris or burglars with power tools. It would be easy for you already have an idea on how to build a hidden safe room.
A safe room can provide life-saving protection during a destructive storm, especially for those without basements. They also hide you quickly in the event of a home invasion. Having a safe room might save your life one day, and it gives you peace of mind knowing that your family has a safe place to go as the need would arise. Here’s how to learn more about Security Cameras.