Our Architect is trying to draw up plans for our new vault. She's never drawn one and has some questions for us.

The vault is going in the new addition to our house along a back corner (two walls of the vault will be below grade), the remaining two will walls will be open to the basement. The blocks will be cored and have rebar run through them.

How should I have her draw in the electrical? How many outlets and at what heights for a roughly 12'x12' room?

Where should I put the floor drain?

How large of a diameter of conduit do I need to be able to run 10 to 12 Cat5/6 wires through the wall for our camera system? I'd like to keep the monitor and DVR in the vault.

Any other suggestion?

Your Architect should do some research as there may be state or local codes to adhere to.

What is the drain for? Slop sink/shower type deal or something like a flooded basement.? The drain should go where it's needed. The corner, formed by the foundation walls, would seem appropriate.

The outlets should most likely be surface mounted, unless you plan to frame out the inside. In either case, just use residential electric code. Not sure a 12x12 room is going to need many outlets. How about just a power center? Where is the power coming from? Is it secured? Will the vault have its own generator or battery backup?

If you're planning on framing it out, I recommend metal studs, roxul insul, and fire rated drywall. No need to turn your vault into a kiln

You'll need at least 1-1/2" conduit for that Cat cable. Put a 2 or 2-1/2 in, for future expansion.  Better to have and not need than.....


Just my $.02

French drain with rubber stopper in place - since your floor is below grade you don't want it to back up under extreme rain. Now if you can easily run the drain into a common basement sump tank then do it. Add an IOT ethernet overflow sensor to the sump that is POE or on a small UPS

I would run separate metal conduit for the CAT cables and maybe make a server closet with a pull out rack and thermostatic vent fans ( like bathroom fans ). Plan on LARGE UPS with extension battery banks.  Run dual switches - a POE on UPS to feed all items that need to stay live during power failure. A larger non-UPS switch for TV's, PC's ect that won't be needed during an outage. If possible use heavy wire screen with holes 3/8 or less on vent ducts or any access points. You don't want Mice getting into the works. If the server closet has a door put a base thresh hold with a rubber seal to try and keep the insurgents out... A wall mounted hard wired telephone with a ringer switch is very handy in the server closet.

Consider a non water based flameout fire suppression system for both server area and gun room. Include a modern UPS lighting system, standard 2 lamp wall mount unit should be fine. Wall mount AC+battery Smoke and CO detector, ideally with Ethernet alarm reporting.

Run a dedicated coax line direct to roof with high gain roof antenna that can be attached to cellular phone so in the event you are holed up in your safe room and power/internet/phone lines are cut you still have a (communications) way out. This may also be able to get through ground level consumer grade cell jammers intended for theaters and restaurants.

Depending on location you might need to budget AC power for a 24/7 dehumidifier. (not on UPS) Another good spot for an IOT sensor to report if unit goes offline.

Also - be sure to evaluate how strong the ceiling will be if faced with a brute force break in attempt from the basement area Or someone deciding to cut through from the floor above.

Last - maybe you might want to plan for pre-wire and include recessed ceiling or wall speakers for your listening pleasure.

Ceiling/floor joists will be sprayed with flame retardant spray and covered with 4 layers of sheetrock. We couldn't swing the cost of concrete and support.

We already have the ReoLink camera system. I'm not sure it's going to put of that much heat. I just want it secured in case of a break in.

The floor drain is to be able to run a dehumidifier in the vault and drain it directly instead of having to empty the basin daily.

Get a licensed structural engineer to draw up concrete vault plans.
Not an architect.

Have vault floor eleveated 4-10 inches above the rest of the basement instead of a drain. This way if there ever is a water backup it doesn't even reach the floor level of the vault. You could also have floor of utility room (most likely source of a leak or flooding) depressed 6" to keep the way from flooding the rest of the basement.

Ain't happening. Can't afford it and it's too late in the process. We're already behind with the builder.

Without a floor drain, where do you run the hose from the dehumidifier?

Not worried about flooding.

Plumb a condensate drain and put the dehumidifier above it.
Not even internal flooding? As in a water leak? The fact of the matter is, crap happens. If you're finishing the basement I think it's silly to not worry about flooding, it will wreck your world.

Examples I have personally witnessed of flooding in my lifetime that were not related to major flooding or drain backups.
#1 Failed frost-free hose-bib on a house pour thousands of gallons of water into my neighbors finished basement while there were outside with the hose turned on for 3 hours.
#2 Midway through a re-roof on a house (gutters weren't back on yet) large rainstorm dumped enough water near the foundation of my parents home at the same time the power went out. Battery backup sump-pump couldn't keep up and bam, 6" water in the basement.
#3 Coworker went on a 1 month vacation, his brother was checking on his place once a week. Midway through the vacation his brother stopped in and something was very wrong. As it turns out, a water line burst in his basement and flowed continuously for almost a full week, to make matters worse, it was a hot water line. He had a $4,000 water bill, $3,000 electric bill, and a 3,000 square foot sauna that ruined practically everything in the basement.

The above suggestions won't prevent ANY of those from happened, but it definitely can reduce the severity and impact WHEN it happens.

Very good points. 

I had the electrician run conduit (code) since I didnt frame the room out until a year after we moved in and had him leave plenty of extra wire in the box for when I did frame. You can never have enough outlets near the floor and counter top height. I put work/relioading benches in my room so those were a must.

I didnt bother with the floor drain. I can leave the dehumidifier on 45% and only have to empty it every 2 weeks in the humid months, but I only have 1 wall thats foundation, the rest are interior. It wasnt worth the chance of anything failing/backing up into the room. I waterproofed the exterior/interior seems of the door channel with caulk to keep any water out. It saved my ass about 2 months ago when my 4 year old sump pump decided it wanted to shit the bed. Nothing catastrophic, but it saved me a headache of having to air out the room.

As far as electrical source coming in: I had them run a 1-1/2 conduit from the breaker box, across the floor and under the form for one of the walls. Concrete went over the top. I would suggest having them do the same with any security camera wires, ethernet, phone, etc. if you can plan that far ahead. Either that or you will be hammer drilling through a wall at some point. Not a huge deal, but something to think about.

I have no ventilation and am glad I didnt bother. Wouldnt have needed it and not worth the cost.

Tag. My foundation is being poured this week and have a 15x16 room in the back corner of a daylight basement foundation. 3/0 7/0 Vault door rough opening.

I have a drain for a dehumidifier. Smurftube for cat cable and electrical conduit ran in.

Make sure and double check all your needs and wants ahead of time.

I have a 16" Husky demolition saw with a $500 diamond blade.  Just saying.

So you can cut 5" into an 8" thick wall, what about the other 3"

If concrete formed roof is too much check into precast panels.

Part of the room visible before it was insulated.
Concrete ceiling poured above the wooden support frame for the roof.
You can see a drain line installed. This room is going to have heated tile with a drain line flush to the top of the tile.

Nice! What made you frame it like that instead of flipping the 2x4?

Room for fiberglass insulation.

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That’ll do it.