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Posted: 2/8/2011 6:55:51 PM EDT
| So, Long story short. My old man is building a house and I'm an only child so it will eventually be mine. He's including things that I would like in much of the design of the home, such as a detached Garage/Workshop. I would also like a above ground vault for my ever growing collection of guns. I figure in the long run it will save me money as I'm starting to outgrow my current safe. The dimensions will be roughly 8'X8', 10'X10', or 8X15' depending on where it ends up and the cost. At this point there won't be a door installed, just the door frame wall ect.. I'd like to put it in the back of the garage attached to the house(not the workshop). Add the electrical, AC ducting ect. I'm thinking 8"reinforced concrete for the walls, and floor, and like 6" for the top. If anyone can help me out with plans, costs, possibly designers and personal experiences that would be great. I've searched the net, Arfcom, ect with very little success of what I need. I have seen the other posts here in the home security forum pertaining to vaults, the closest to what I have in mind is from the member big bore. Thanks for the help in advance. |
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I'm in a similar situation as you. I will be building a house in the next 5 years or so and will have an above ground concrete vault hidden inside the house. I have experience with concrete and masonry and will be doing most of the work myself. I have found that there is very little information available on the internet in reference to gun vaults or safe rooms. Understandably, people want to be paid for their experience building them.
The resource that I will be using is the safe room plans on the FEMA website. They cover a basic rectangular room made of rebar reinforced concrete blocks with a slab floor and roof. My current design is for a room approximately 9x12 feet depending on the final house plans. My only concern is moisture in the vault and the best way to deal with it. I would think that being placed inside the house above ground and insulated would eliminate most of my concerns. However, I will consult my contractor when that time comes. We need a tacked thread for concrete vault building information. Most of the information and knowledge I have obtained came from scouring this site and the archives. It's all spread out though and hard to find. 
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Quoted:
I'm in a similar situation as you. I will be building a house in the next 5 years or so and will have an above ground concrete vault hidden inside the house. I have experience with concrete and masonry and will be doing most of the work myself. I have found that there is very little information available on the internet in reference to gun vaults or safe rooms. Understandably, people want to be paid for their experience building them. The resource that I will be using is the safe room plans on the FEMA website. They cover a basic rectangular room made of rebar reinforced concrete blocks with a slab floor and roof. My current design is for a room approximately 9x12 feet depending on the final house plans. My only concern is moisture in the vault and the best way to deal with it. I would think that being placed inside the house above ground and insulated would eliminate most of my concerns. However, I will consult my contractor when that time comes. We need a tacked thread for concrete vault building information. Most of the information and knowledge I have obtained came from scouring this site and the archives. It's all spread out though and hard to find. Best way to get a tacked thread is to compile all the info, and write it up. If it's good enough and the mods are feeling generous it will get tacked. |
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I'm also in the same situation. I thought I finally found someone to do the construction work a couple of weeks ago but he hasn't returned my calls regarding seeing my space since then. Wish I was capable of doing this myself.
Meanwhile the best information/plans I've found are in this book; How to Implement a High Security Shelter in the Home http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1568610548/ref=wms_ohs_product_ |
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I'm at work right now, so I dont have the book in front of me, but it definitely covers ventilation and finishing options. I'm pretty sure it covers moisture issues as well. I can check when I get home tonight if you would like. Regardless if you're thinking of doing this project you should get this book.
I also bought his secure home book. It's huge and covers tons of stuff. It's really targeted to the survivalists out there but I think everyone could benefit from certain parts of it. |
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Thanks. I'm gonna go ahead and order it.
On another note, I was originally gonna use two large steel tanks for an underground vault. They measured 8 feet in diameter by 30 or 40 feet long. There are issues with steel sweating underground and the tanks wanting to float up out of the ground but I was gonna give it a try since they were free. Unfortunately, they were older than I thought and when I turned them over, the bottoms had rusted through in some places. I'm glad it didn't work out and now think the above ground hidden vault in the house would be a much better choice. |
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Quoted:
I'm in a similar situation as you. I will be building a house in the next 5 years or so and will have an above ground concrete vault hidden inside the house. I have experience with concrete and masonry and will be doing most of the work myself. I have found that there is very little information available on the internet in reference to gun vaults or safe rooms. Understandably, people want to be paid for their experience building them. The resource that I will be using is the safe room plans on the FEMA website. They cover a basic rectangular room made of rebar reinforced concrete blocks with a slab floor and roof. My current design is for a room approximately 9x12 feet depending on the final house plans. My only concern is moisture in the vault and the best way to deal with it. I would think that being placed inside the house above ground and insulated would eliminate most of my concerns. However, I will consult my contractor when that time comes. We need a tacked thread for concrete vault building information. Most of the information and knowledge I have obtained came from scouring this site and the archives. It's all spread out though and hard to find. Fema Safe Room Website This is probably your best bet if your trying to stay low cost and not have it designed specifically for you. Reinforced concrete walls and made to take a hurricane. It'll certainly keep someone out as well. All you'd have to worry about then is a vault door and frame as with concrete walls you'd have to pour the walls with the frame attached (obviously). |
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I just reread your post and see that you are thinking about doing 8 inch walls. You may want to check out the thread I link to below where a poster, who knows what he's talking about, recommends doing at least 10-12 inch walls. There is also some info on humidity control.
And btw I just took a quick look in the book I recommended and I didn't find anything about humidity control. However there was tons of info on other things in there including Nuclear and radiation survival, EMP's, ventilation, escape exits and fire survival. There is also a section on reinforcing a closet to act as a safe room. http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=6&f=46&t=314271&page=1 |
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