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Issue 42

Saferoom Construction with Insulated Concrete Forms

 

According to the National Weather Service,
severe storms and resulting losses are increasing.


Safe Room Construction Details

Quad-Lock ICF Safe Room
Plans* Available in 8'x8', 10'x10' and 12'x12' Sizes

What is a Saferoom?
FEMA's definition is a "hardened" room that is intended to provide a space of refuge. It must be a "room within a room" - its walls, ceiling and floor must be structurally separate from the rest of the house, so that even if the surrounding house is destroyed, the safe room will remain intact. It should be easily accessible from any part of your home.

Following FEMA's guidelines and criteria, you can expect "near absolute" protection from winds and debris during a storm with winds as high as 250mph. Research has shown that you can't get this kind of protection from anything other than reinforced concrete construction.

Safe Room under Construction

Why a Quad-Lock Saferoom?
Quad-Lock walls and a Quad-Deck roof allow construction of a completely integrated, hardened room using reinforced-concrete "bunker" technology to keep you and your loved ones safe in the event of a natural disaster.

A Quad-Lock saferoom can easily be added into any new home design. Alternatively, you can retro-fit a Quad-Lock saferoom into your existing home.

Quad-Lock ICF construction provides:

  • High Wind Resistance - reinforced concrete rooms built to FEMA's guidelines stand up to winds as high as 250mph.
  • Impact Resistance - reinforced concrete structures can withstand the impact of most flying debris from extreme winds with little or no structural damage
  • High Fire Rating - Walls rated at 3 hours (with 6" concrete wall thickness)

Safe Room Considerations:

  • Safe room must be adequately anchored to resist overturning and uplift.
  • Walls, ceiling and doors of the shelter must withstand wind pressure and resist penetration by wind-borne debris and falling objects.
  • Connections between all parts of the safe room must be strong enough to resist high-velocity winds.
  • Sections of either interior or exterior residence walls that are used as walls of the safe room, must be separated from the structure of the residence so that damage to the residence will not cause damage to the safe room.
  • In the USA, safe rooms can be designed per ICC 500 Standard for the Design and Construction of Storm Shelters

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More info:

*Note: Plans may need approvals per local requirements. Kits include ICF Wall & Roof components only. Concrete, rebar, doors, etc. available from your local provider. Experience with reinforced concrete construction required.

A Resilient Beauty & "Whole House Saferooms"

Safe Home with ICF

This impressive home in Dewey Beach on the coast of Delaware shows off the capabilities of ICFs. Using both Quad-Lock and Quad-Deck this resilient home is ready to stand up to the rugged and unpredictable weather of the Atlantic Coast.

Adding storm-shutters and doors would make the entire house a saferoom!

Read the project profile


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Best regards,
Quad-Lock Building Systems

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