Building a fortified house

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repo

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In a few years I would like to build a hardened "green" house using ICF (insulated concrete) construction.

I live in tornado country so it also needs to be tornado/storm resistant.

These are some ideas I am throwing around in my head:

  • 1 story ranch style with basement.
  • ICF exterior/interior/roof/floors.
  • 10" reinforced concrete cores.
  • Fully below grade basement (not a walk out).
  • Hip roof, possibly steel roof over the ICF.
  • Fiber cement hardie siding.
  • Steel exterior shutters on the windows.
  • Steel exterior doors with strong frames and deadbolts.
  • Reinforced interior door frames.
  • Pre-wired with CAT6 network cable for IP cameras.
  • A safe room accessible via closets in the bedrooms (maybe even secret stairs going to a basement safe room).
  • Possibly some kind of escape tunnel from the basement to a hatch in the yard :D.

I could possibly make the entire basement a giant safe-room/storm-shelter/bunker, but I think building codes require egress windows.

This will not be an extravagant by any means, just a average looking 2500 square foot ranch style home.

Does anyone have any suggestions in terms of strategically hardening the house? This will be 100% custom, built from scratch so anything is possible (within financial reason).

Hope this doesn't sound too nutty.
 
Not nutty at all. Anxious to see the responses...I think your first bullet is the strongest (ranch style home with full basement).
 
Windmill, solar panels? Batteries? Well? Water storage?

You said "green" but to me these things mean self sufficiency. I have thought some about it myself. I would like to build something similar someday, just smaller. 1200-1400 SF. Easier to heat/cool. Likely not going to happen until children get to gettin on.
 
Jeff Cooper wrote on this

He wrote a book with a interesting chapter on home security.
TO RIDE, SHOOT STRIGHT AND SPEAK THE TRUTH.
He liked a Roman based design with a open area inside the family compound.
Entry ways restricted yet able to be viewed under cover by the family inside.
Corners were constructed like a old castle so the outside walls could be covered by fire from within.
Its a very interesting book and would make a nice present.
 
locate water heater in or adjacent to safe room gives ya a significant water supply. i love the idea of dropping through upstairs closets to access the safe room some of what you plan is best done after final inspection. the fewer that know the better. the hatch in the yard in particular will get you more face time than you want with inspectors if they know about it
 
door to safe room opens out is harder to kick in. door opens in is easier to open if a tornado has trashed the house and dumped debris in front of door a few egress tools are good too
 
earplug said:
He wrote a book with a interesting chapter on home security.
TO RIDE, SHOOT STRIGHT AND SPEAK THE TRUTH.
He liked a Roman based design with a open area inside the family compound.
Entry ways restricted yet able to be viewed under cover by the family inside.
Corners were constructed like a old castle so the outside walls could be covered by fire from within.
Its a very interesting book and would make a nice present.
Click to expand...
I was going to suggest this as well. In Cooper's book I think he also suggested looking for some pulications in the 1960s in which architechs designed some cold war homes taking this stuff into consideration.

The other thing I would add would be a larger cistern to collect rain water off the roof. Something on the order of 10,000 gallons. You could use it to water garden, flush toliets, and in a pinch be emergency driking water.

I would also add a generator that runs off of diesel and is connceted to the home so it can power things like the fridge.

Have at least one room with southern facing windows. That way if power goes out, you will have at least one room that will naturally warm up. What about summer you say? Plant desidious trees (loose leaves in fall). That way shaded during summer and can heat during winter when leaves fall off.

I'd consider having an old fashioned Ben Franklin stove somewhere in the home. It can be used to heat and you can cook off of it as well if you need to.
 
There's a book called Patriots (can get it on Fred's M1A website in a package along with Boston's Gun Bible). The book is a story about things going horibly wrong due to hyper inflation. It will give you all kinds of ideas on things for the house as well as other things to own. Well worth owning.
 
He wrote a book with a interesting chapter on home security.
TO RIDE, SHOOT STRIGHT AND SPEAK THE TRUTH.
He liked a Roman based design with a open area inside the family compound.
Entry ways restricted yet able to be viewed under cover by the family inside.
Corners were constructed like a old castle so the outside walls could be covered by fire from within.
Its a very interesting book and would make a nice present.
Click to expand...

If you could 5x your budget, this would be good. I have the book on my shelf, next in line on my list.

The only thing I would add to your original list of home improvements would be one of those mesh metal doors, so that you can open the front without creating a gateway into your home, or allowing someone access to you. They also delay break-ins, and aren't overly expensive.
 
when southern Africa was torn by civil unrest, ranchers built their homes out of packed earth which was at least a couple of feet thick. was good against .30 calbre rifles and larger direct fire weapons...to say nothing of cars and trucks.

one decision you have to make is if you want the house defensible from within or if you want to hide/escape...the requirements of the designs are different. the Cooper model is based on defense, but it requires a certain level of manpower.

my personal favorite is a below grade home with limited exposure
 
Don't forget a well-stocked root cellar with proper temperature, humidity and ventilation. The classic book "Root Cellaring" by Mike & Nancy Bubel is full of useful information. Canned food is inherently finite and gets old really quickly. A root cellar and garden are a living thing that can continue to provide food forever.
 
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If you're building from scratch, I recommend either Monolithic Dome or Rammed Earth.

The domes could probably withstand a direct hit from most tornadoes. The rammed earth would be almost as strong, as long as you tied your roof down well enough. Both are very "green" in many aspects, and if you do the labor yourself, you can save a ton of money (especially with the rammed earth).
 
We are gettin gall of the things together to do a slip form stone house on our property starting this spring. I looked at a lot of designs with various factors in mind and this will be the one that is most cost effective for us to build a safe home and remove a lot of the rocks that people could use as cover in our yard.

There are so many different routes out there to choose from that it is all but impossible to pick one. We decided on the one that-

1 we liked
2 we could afford (thank god for sweat equity)
3 would fit into the property and area without standing out to much

My suggestion is to post this question on as many forums as you can that are related and start taking notes on teh suggestions that you like. We also built a large library making our decision. It will always come in useful later.
 
Something I read over on arfcom. If you're going to have a garage have holes in front of the door that you can put steel bar (or whatever else) so someone can't just ram through the garage door. Good ideas in this thread.
 
Metal doors and doorframes, use of shatter-resistant window treatments, as well as fusing the treatment to the frame.

Think of your home in layers....have a good fence, preferably with some shrubs around it to make entry rather difficult. If you can, add a gate to the driveway, which will make entry to the property more difficult.

Then solidify the internals of the home. Pocket doors separating the sleeping quarters from the living quarters, if equipped with locking devices that can be key opened on both sides will REALLY slow them down. Metal pocket doors would be good for the panic/safe room as well since kicking them in isn't really going to happen.
 
I think you're off to a great start for your planning...

I wish I had thought more about these issues when I build my house...

but here are some thoughts..

1. If your planning on seeking shelter from a tornado in the basement, I think you really want to have a second way of egress. Steel bulk head doors (BILCO is one brand) with the bulk head poored at the same time as the foundation and the door frames hilty-bolted into the concrete are very sturdy. Even with just the simple little "S" shaped slide bolt to secure them. I've never heard of a forced entry though them. Then put a cheap steal door at the bottom threshold... but, since the door will have to open in, hilty-bolt brackets to the foundation and drop in a timber brace horizontally accross the inside of the door to re-inforce it. Cheap and very effective.

2. I think you really want basement windows.... but you can install ones that are too narrow for a man to fit through, or simpley drill holes for two verticle bars into the frame and stick some metal rod though them when you poor the foundation.

3. You NEED a Gentran panel and a diesel generator (preferably stored in a secure location).

and.... drum roll........... this is the biggy...

4. The ability to store fuel! Which is HUGE....

just think.... an efficient oil burning furnace (Budaris brand), a diesel generator and a diesel vehicle....

Then simply install go to Home Depot and buy three or four 240 gal. #2 fuel oil tanks, which go for around $150 in the off season. Then have them plumbed so that you can isolate each tank AND fill diesel cans for the generator and your vehicle....

Diesel vehicles can run off of #2... though you may want to put an addetive in... and yes.. it's illegal as the highway tax hasn't been paid on the fuel .... but in an emergency scenario, that would be the least of my worries.

The beauty of this idea is that you purchase your fuel to heat your home once a year... in August, when the price is rock bottom... shopping for the cheapest vendor in town. This fuel storage scheme will pay for itself in just a few years.

I'd personally prefer an underground tank... but they are expensive, often prohibited and if they corrode and leak, will cost you a fortune.

Storing diesel in large volume is cheap and safe... just spring for a containment tray that can hold the contents of one failed tank.

Storing gas in large volume isn't safe or legal... and the shelf life will be limited (even with STABIL.... which isn't cheap by the way) .... and you're not going to heat your home with it (O.K. you can use unleaded gas in white gas camping appliances.... but do you really want to do this for more than a day or two?)

Another option would be to have LPG heat (and range and hot water), an LPG generator and you could even have an LPG conversion vehicle. All with a 1,000 gal. underground tank. But this will cost you a LOT more and the fuel companies play restrictive games about only filling their tanks and hiding tank lease fees. You can't price shop nearly as easilly, so the system will not pay for itself with savings....

I firmly believe that the odds of defending against a natural disaster are much greater than they are for "civil unrest" scenarios.

But in either case FUEL STORAGE (IMHO) is the greatest issue.
 
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psyopspec said:
If you could 5x your budget, this would be good. I have the book on my shelf, next in line on my list.

The only thing I would add to your original list of home improvements would be one of those mesh metal doors, so that you can open the front without creating a gateway into your home, or allowing someone access to you. They also delay break-ins, and aren't overly expensive.
Click to expand...
Good idea. I hadn't thought of that one and it doesn't cost much.
 
mustang_steve said:
Metal doors and doorframes, use of shatter-resistant window treatments, as well as fusing the treatment to the frame.

Think of your home in layers....have a good fence, preferably with some shrubs around it to make entry rather difficult. If you can, add a gate to the driveway, which will make entry to the property more difficult.

Then solidify the internals of the home. Pocket doors separating the sleeping quarters from the living quarters, if equipped with locking devices that can be key opened on both sides will REALLY slow them down. Metal pocket doors would be good for the panic/safe room as well since kicking them in isn't really going to happen.
Click to expand...
Great idea re shrubs. In one place I live, I once needed to move quickly away from my house as I set the sprinkler too strong and didn't want to get wet and backed into my neighbors beautiful tall shrub (have georgeous red flowers I looked forward to seeing every spring). The thing was covered in half inch plus spikey thorns. I never had noticed it before. Really hurt.

Also, I'd consider adding motion detector lights around the entire perimeter. They had ones that look like ordinary decorative outside lights if you want to be subtle.
 
It is good to see someone taking their home defense measures seriously. Too often people erect conventional structures that do not provide adequate security. This is a false economy that puts you and your family at risk.

# Steel exterior shutters on the windows.
# Steel exterior doors with strong frames and deadbolts.

# Pre-wired with CAT6 network cable for IP cameras.
Click to expand...

First based on this I would encourage lightening rods and adequate grounding protection. True your house would be near fire proof but the electrical system would be susceptible to electrical issues.

Next given the current political environment an overpressure ventilation system operating off of a back up power source such as geothermal would be essential towards providing that extra measure of security for your family. Since this is a ICF structure the overpressure system would be a fairly straightforward install. You should have a good heat sink with your 10,000 gallon rain water cistern.

I second the idea of having multiple fuel storage tanks for your furnace and vehicles. It is only illegal to burn that fuel in your truck because the taxes are not being paid on it. If the government has collapsed, they can't collect taxes now can they? I would just put them a little bit away from the dwelling or at least berm them in so that they are not vulnerable to ground fire.
 
This is a subject I am very interested in as well. I hope to build mine in a year or 3. It keeps getting put back.

Here are some additional thoughts. In addition to studying anti-tornado construction, also look at anti-hurricane construction (same wind, but more info is available about hurricanes). One think I learned is that the primary point of sturcture failure in high wind is the garage door. The door easily blows in allowing the wind to take the garage roof along with the rest of the house's roof.

A low pitched roof is best in the wind and gables are bad. If your climate allows it, reduced overhangs give wind less area upon which to "bite".

If you have kids, build with all bedrooms in one wing. Have a way to seal off that end of the house.

You mentioned an "ordinary 2,500 square foot house". That is a good sized house IMHO. But, if you are talking "defense" from all threats, try to build smaller. This is not due to defense from crime or such, but from taxes. Expect much higher property, energy, income, etc. taxes in the future. We could even wind up with a luxury home tax. You might be better off with a storage building out back in which to store "stuff" and allow a smaller home.

I like the idea of water faucets and electrical outlets at all corners of a home for maintenance.

Fewer, but well spaced windows are better/less costly.

Build with ADA/universal design in mind - you'll be glad you did in the long run.

Use steel studs for your interior walls.

Let us know what you decide to do. Future pix would be great.
 
used or new cable, like from a crane or boom truck will work better then rebar for concrete...
 
Drop the idea of a Franklin stove. They are more efficent than a fireplace, but are far less efficent than a modern all steel wood stove or better yet a wood furnace.
 
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