4 Options Our Homebuilders Can Offer Their Clients

If you are like most homebuilders, you occasionally run into a home buyer that has a request you haven’t heard in a while.  While we can’t help you if they ask for a dog grooming station in their laundry room, we can help you with a few other things they may request. 

Here are four concrete-related options you can offer your clients.  If they ask for any of these (awesome) options, tell them, “Yes, I can do that,” and then call us.  We’ll take it from there.

1. “Yankee” Basement
Your home buyer wants a basement, but they’ve picked the flattest lot in the county.  No problem.  We’ll put in a full basement – often called a ‘Yankee Basement’ in Atlanta.  Before moving to Atlanta, we constructed close to 2000 full basements in Michigan.
You’ll have to include an egress window to meet building code requirements.  We have many options available for that.  You can also offer an entry door with steps that walk up from the basement level.  We’ll also help you with the waterproofing and drainage issues that are unique to full basements.

Carl Myers of Heartwood Properties
fit this full basement onto a tight
lot while providing a stairway for
easy outside access.

Nellie Poston Custom Homes is building this
Yankee basement on a flat lot in Marietta.
The stairwell allows for access into
and out of the basement.

2. Safe Room Under Porch

Instead of filling in that porch foundation with dirt, turn it into a money-making option that you offer your homeowners.  We are already constructing tall porch walls for you in this area.  So, have us put a door opening in the mating wall; have your slab contractor pour the safe room floor; and put the porch slab on a metal deck.  Viola! You’ve just created a safe room, wine cellar, tornado shelter, panic room, gun room, ‘prepper’ storage room… whatever your home buyer can imagine.

You’ll differentiate yourself from the other builders with a great option for an unused space.

You can offer your home buyers an
optional Safe Room under the front porch.

This safe room that we constructed
is concealed by a hinged book case.

 

3. Safe Room On Slab

The folks at Bercher Homes asked
us to construct this concrete safe room
for their house on a slab foundation.

The homeowners for our great client, Bercher Homes, wanted a safe room in their new home.  The only problem was that their lot was too flat for a basement foundation.  We constructed an above-grade safe room that is integrated with the mono-slab foundation.  This is something that can be offered for any house with a mono-slab foundation.

4. Concrete House

What’s better than a designated safe room within your house?  How about making the whole house a ‘safe room’ with above-grade concrete exterior walls?  Benefits of concrete homes include shelter from tornadoes, falling trees and fires.  Other benefits include increased energy efficiency, a tighter building envelope, improved air quality, and elimination of mold and insects.

We’ve constructed the shell for concrete homes here in Atlanta and throughout the Southeast.  Notable projects include a home in the City of Milton for an ex-NFL player as well as a national award-winning house near New Orleans, LA.

 

We constructed the concrete
shell for this national award-winning
concrete house near New Orleans, LA.

This weather-resilient concrete
house is for a private residence
near Cartersville in Bartow County.

The Devastation of Tornadoes, and How To Protect Your Family

Oklahoma residents are still picking up the pieces from the recent deadly tornado in Oklahoma City that caused 20 fatalities.  At 2.6 miles long, the EF5 tornado was the widest ever recorded.

 The threat of tornadoes for us here in Atlanta is very real.   However, there are things you can do to protect your family from these severe storms.

Throughout the U.S. there have been 43 tornado-related fatalities in 2013 so far.  In 2012, 62 fatalities were linked to tornadoes.

The year 2011 was a particularly deadly year.  The April 25-28 outbreak produced 358 tornadoes and stretched from Texas all the way up into southern Canada.  Alabama – and especially Tuscaloosa – saw much of the destruction.  During that three day period, 348 people were killed, with damages totaling nearly $11 billion.

A month later, Joplin, Missouri experienced the deadliest single tornado since 1947.  The tornado leveled the town, killing 158 people, injuring 1,150, and causing close to $2.2 billion worth of damages.  It ranks as the costliest single tornado in U.S. history.

Ringgold, GA—Daiki employees hid in a kitchen 

and bathroom as the tornado snatched the roof 

off and left much of the plant in ruins. Two 

employees suffered minor injuries.

Tornado alley isn’t the only place to witness deadly tornadoes.  North Georgia and Metro Atlanta has also seen the devastation that tornadoes can create.  In 2008, a tornado ripped through downtown Atlanta, killing one person and causing more than $250 million in damages.

The same storm system that demolished Tuscaloosa in April 2011 swept through the Ringgold, GA area, which lies 100 miles northwest of Atlanta.  That storm caused 17 fatalities and damages to many buildings, including Ringgold Middle School and High School.

Late January of this year, a large EF3 tornado devastated the town of Adairsville, GA and killed one person.  When you travel on I-75 between Atlanta and Chattanooga, you can still see miles of twisted and fallen trees where these two tornado events crossed over the interstate in a northeasterly direction.

Just last month, an EF1 tornado swept through Cherokee County near Canton.  That storm also produced straight-line winds that blew down trees and knocked out power across much of the North Metro area.

The threat of tornadoes for us here in Atlanta is very real.  High winds during thunderstorms have caused many trees to fall on Metro homes.  However, there are things you can do to protect your family from these severe storms.

Safe Zones in Basements
Every basement contains “Safe Zones” that you and your family can move to in case of a severe thunderstorm or tornado warning.  These are often locations where tall concrete walls create a corner in the basement.

The arrows in the illustration to the left  show the natural Safe Zones in a walkout basement foundation.  These are the areas where you and your family are the safest during a tornado or severe thunderstorm.

Safe Room in Basement
Most people don’t realize that safe rooms can be constructed within a new basement foundation for a very reasonable cost.  This is a four-sided concrete room integrated into a basement wall and with a concrete top, or ceiling.  It becomes a fireproof and disaster-proof room.  Safe rooms can protect your family and valuables against tornadoes, wild fires, house fires and burglars.  Architects and Homebuilders can easily design and build safe rooms into their homes to protect their clients.  Homebuilders can offer safe rooms as options on their homes with basement foundations.

Safe Rooms are multipurpose rooms that can be used for many things.  A few examples include:

• Wine Cellar and Wine Tasting Room
• Food Storage Room
• Gun Display Room
• Cigar Room (humidor)
• Panic Room (a place to go during a home invasion)

Safe Rooms can store your family’s valuables, such as:

• Important Paper Documents
• Antiques
• Guns and ammunition
• Jewelry
• Photographs
• Electronic Storage Devices (computer backups)

Safe Room on Slab-on-Grade Foundation
Homes built on a slab-on-grade foundation don’t have the luxury of a basement for safety.  However, an above-grade concrete safe room can be constructed on the concrete slab.  This is done before framing begins and is usually integrated into the master bedroom walk-in closet.  These types of safe rooms also double as panic rooms for a home invasion threat.

Freestanding Tornado Shelter
For homes already built, homeowners are opting for detached tornado shelters.  These can be built into the side of a hill or buried underground.  The recent tornadoes in North Georgia have increased the interest in these concrete boxes that can be constructed near an existing home.

Concrete Home
A concrete home provides the ultimate shelter from storms.  When the above-grade walls are made of concrete, your entire home becomes a safe room.  From the inside and the outside, a concrete home looks just like any other home.  The additional benefits are reduced heating & cooling costs, mildew resistance, and immunity from termites.  We have constructed the concrete portion of concrete homes throughout the Southeast, including a nationally award-winning home near New Orleans, LA.

Family Safety Plan
Regardless of how you protect your family and valuables, you should have a Family Safety Plan where you occasionally discuss what to do in case of emergencies.  That Plan should include a designated “Safe Zone” where everyone meets up in case of a tornado warning or severe thunderstorm. 

At this meeting area you can have a small emergency kit that contains flashlights, a battery powered radio, and maybe even some candy bars to keep the kids occupied while you all wait for the storm to pass.

As you can see, there are many options for protecting your family and valuables from tornadoes and other severe weather that can produce high winds and topple large trees.

Featured Basement Option – Safe Rooms

A popular option that our clients choose with their foundation is a concrete safe room.

 

“A safe room is the place to go during a tornado warning or severe thunderstorm warning with high winds.  It is a fire proof and disaster proof room used to store many items.”

Safe rooms are an inexpensive way to add a special feature to your house. At times, this is one option that can convince home buyers to choose one house over another.

Safe Room Location
A safe room   is a four-sided concrete room with a concrete top (ceiling). It is most often placed in the space below the front porch. The front porch foundation walls already create an enclosed area. Instead of filling that area with backfill material, you can add this valuable space.

To create a safe room in this area, you add a door opening in the concrete wall, pour the floor with the basement slab, place a corrugated metal pan on top of the concrete walls, and pour the front porch slab on top of the metal pan.

Another great location for the safe room is below the garage slab. You may need to add one or two walls to create this room. Here, you are not bound by the size and shape of the front porch. It can even be as big as the garage itself.

Super Storage
A safe room is the place to go during a tornado warning or a severe thunderstorm warning with high winds. It is a fire proof and disaster proof room used to store many items. Some of the items that can be safely stored and secured are:

• Important paper documents
• Antiques
• Guns and ammunition
• Jewelry
• Photographs
• Electronic storage devices (computer backups)

In addition to a room for storing valuable items, here are some other uses we have seen for safe rooms:

• Wine cellar and wine tasting room
• Food storage room
• Panic room (a place to retreat during a home invasion)
• Gun display room
• Cigar room (humidor)
• Flooding Prevention

An important thing to keep in mind when storing valuables in a safe room is this: keep them off the floor.

You actually run a greater risk of a water pipe in your home leaking or bursting – causing flooding in your home – than you do of getting a direct hit from a tornado. You should always store valuables at least 8” above the floor.

Depending on your use of the space, you can store items in large plastic containers (purchased at Walmart for $5.00). These work well and don’t have to be elevated from the floor.

Larger items can be raised off the floor with wood blocks, pedestals, or even cmu blocks. If you raise a gun safe or document safe, bolt it to the vertical concrete wall behind it for added security.

Door Options
Choose a door that matches your use of the room. Here are some door options, along with their pros & cons:

Wood, hollow interior door – Poor resistance to tornados or burglars. A good framework for creating a concealed door.

Wood, solid exterior door – Decent resistance to tornados or burglars. Can be dressed up for a finer room such as a wine cellar.

Metal, hollow exterior door – Excellent resistance to tornados or burglars. This is the type you see in schools and commercial buildings. UL fire rated doors are also available. We can pour the frame right into our concrete wall. Additional dead bolts can be added. Not well suited for a wine cellar.

Metal, safe door – Superior resistance to tornados, burglars, or rampaging rhinos. This is an actual safe door similar to those used on gun safes or bank vaults.

Iron, custom entrance door – Typically very poor resistance to tornados or burglars. Mostly for decoration only. This is a custom door designed to enhance the entrance of the wine cellar. Some can be locked, which would be a good first step against burglars (or teenage sons trying to get to the wine).

Secret Door

Safe room door concealed by bookcase door.

Bookcase door opens to reveal safe room.

Bookcase door swings inside the safe room.

You may want the safe room to be hidden. You can do this by building the door into a bookshelf. We gave a builder friend an article from a carpentry magazine. From that article he made an excellent door concealed by bookshelves (see photos).

Another option is to hide the door behind a large object. It can also be accessed through a bedroom closet or seasonal coat closet…hidden by hanging clothes.

Two Critical Tips
Over the past 30 years, we’ve learned two important things about safe room design. One can save your life; the other can save you money. However, we’ve run out of space in this issue. If you’d like us to give you the two critical tips, then send us an email to Tips@HerbertConstruciton.com. We’ll email the two critical tips right back to you.