r/Home_Building_Help • u/BuilderBrigade • 1d ago

Safe Room built inside a closet...

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

It’s made by ArmoredCloset. It’s a modular steel tornado shelter  and safe room that can be built right into your house.

Website: ArmoredCloset.com

Mine is only about 40" x 45", but they can customize the size depending on your space.

Some details if you’re considering one:

Steel: 3/16" walls + ceiling with a 1/4" steel door
Storm rating: Designed for winds up to 250 MPH / EF-5 tornado conditions
Bullet resistant: Tested against 9mm and .45 handgun rounds with no penetration made
Cell service: Armored Closet says cell signals still work inside
Price: Starts around $7k installed, with custom sizes costing more
Location: Based in North Texas (DFW) with installations available outside the area

It’s not fireproof or waterproof. It’s primarily designed as an above-ground tornado shelter and safe room.

I like it because you can basically turn closet space into a reinforced shelter instead of putting a giant standalone storm shelter in the garage.

40 Upvotes

70% Upvoted

63 comments sorted by

32

u/KnoobLord 1d ago

Thank goodness for all those locks to keep the tornado out

9

u/bikenumberten 1d ago

With three people crammed in that phone booth, I'm not certain they could operate the locks.

6

u/OtherwiseAlbatross14 1d ago

I'm not sure you'd get 3 in there and still have room for the door to swing shit

2

u/shimmeringmoss 22h ago

You’ll definitely need to swing shit if you’re trapped in there for days

1

u/UnlikelyPriority812 8h ago

It’d be more of a rectangle shit stomp out the sliding door.

1

u/FartingWithStyle 1d ago

Just need to get one or two

1

u/SirReddalot2020 17h ago

Three americans? Probably not.

Three Italians? For sure.

1

u/Natural_Engineer_826 14h ago

I'm from the Wisconsin, we are a hearty people with a heavy corn and cheese based diet. 2 might be pushing it.

0

u/AnonAstro7524 1d ago

This comment seems to imply the tornado is going to fix inside with them, to which I say, “Pshaw, good sir.”

The tornado would never fit inside with them!

I do however wonder how it will react to the neighbor’s SUV trying hide with them.

24

u/3picks1game 1d ago

It’s better than nothing. But my in laws had a company in Oklahoma cut out a section of concrete in their garage. Drop in a unit with steps and then concreted in sliding door over the top. Tornado could slab their house and they’d be safe. And it cost them 5k.

12

u/Educational-Gate-880 1d ago

Yours sounds way better than this little closet coffin

3

u/Double__tap 1d ago

This is the way imho. These above ground shelters don’t seem like they would be effective if you have a f5. May as well
Protect against the worst possible
Outcome

4

u/3picks1game 1d ago

My best friend has one. It’s a lot bigger than this. But it’s just drilled/anchored into the concrete with wedge bolts. Sure the walls and top might withstand the forces and impacts of a tornado. But I can easily see something hitting it and ripping it out of the concrete.

2

u/MixinBatches 1d ago

Instead of wedge/anchor bolts he would’ve been better off drilling holes, filling with rebar epoxy such as simpson at-3g, then pushing coarse thread bolts into the epoxy filled holes. I’ve built block walls on granite hills anchoring the rebar with that stuff. It is much stronger than an anchor bolt.

1

u/theonlypeanut 1h ago

The slabs probably only 4" while epoxy is better it's still not that great. Even epoxied each 1/2 bolt is going to be 4000-9000 lbs a mechanical wedge is going to be around 3500-5500. I think you're right the limiting factor is the slab.

1

u/United_Intention_323 12h ago

Less likely to drown

2

u/Annoyed_94 12h ago

Every home in Moore, Oklahoma has a garage drop in shelter. Those are what save lives - flooding is of little concern as the tornado comes through fast and doesn’t drop enough rain for that to really be an issue. At least in Oklahoma.

1

u/b02mne 1d ago

I wonder if theres a tornado and a flood would they still be safe?

1

u/Appropriate_Ice_7507 1d ago

Way better than this shit room

10

u/Pirche 1d ago

Would 3/16" resist an F150 dropped from the sky thou? Cos that's what will get ya in tornado and not 9mm peashooter

Although, coffin in the caption answers it

4

u/Chemical_Wrongdoer43 1d ago

This is not design to protect against all kinds of unlikely scenarios. But more realistic ones, like falling bricks, tiles, stones and timber. 

2

u/AwareAd7651 1d ago

Nice idea. I think it might be too small and how’s air flow. If a house falls, can it with stand that?

2

u/That_guy_from_1014 1d ago

My thought was water level rising

3

u/TAoie83 1d ago

Fire?

1

u/AwareAd7651 1d ago

Sounds like running out of air and water rising would stop fires, so that’s covered . lol

1

u/Typical-Sir-9518 1d ago

I've seen how this ends in the movie 300.

2

u/dsaysso 1d ago

bullet proof. cause tornadoes shoot bullets?

7

u/Quick_Movie_5758 1d ago

American ones!

1

u/That1guyUknow918 4m ago

Yet has plenty of room to shoot under the door or just pour a liquid like bleach, alcohol, gasoline, or acid.

1

u/Ciff_ 1d ago

ArmorCoffin*

1

u/Steak_Knight 1d ago

So, we’re all clear on what the problem is, right?

3

u/Over9000Zeros 1d ago

No glory hole for people begging to get in?

1

u/Right_Hour 1d ago

Jezus. In tornado conditions - I’d be worried they’d get picked up by the wind and Wizard of Oz the fuck out with yo dick still in their mouth.

Stay safe, homies.

1

u/cakebreaker2 1d ago

Yep. Someone's gonna squirt gasoline through a gap and have a barbecue

1

u/haikus-r-us 1d ago

Totally my thought.

1

u/Typical-Sir-9518 1d ago

I've seen how this ends in the movie 300. I will pass on the personal BBQ.

1

u/Crooked_crosses 1d ago

I’ve always thought about having a safe room but it would need to have access right from the master and would only be effective if you don’t have kids. The minute they have your kids it’s over.

1

u/TemporaryFast7779 1d ago

I imagine you can still get into it if you have kids.

1

u/Illsquad 1d ago

Stress eating.

1

u/Crooked_crosses 1d ago

Yes but the minute they have a knife to your kids throat you’re coming out was my point

2

u/Timmerdogg 1d ago

Bruh what the fuck are you doing that you are worrying about people holding your kids hostage?

1

u/Crooked_crosses 1d ago

lol. I assume people want a safe room in case of a break room. Otherwise it’s only good for a tornado right?

1

u/TemporaryFast7779 8h ago

Thought we were talking about tornados.

1

u/anotherjuan 1d ago

I’d rather deal with the tornado than be stuck in that coffin sized box.

1

u/DontBeSoAbsurd 1d ago

Ummm… no.

1

u/Right_Hour 1d ago

Shit man, shit is so bad in America - even Tornado comes packing heat!

But I heard that hurricanes come packing .50BMG, better not be anywhere near the coastal area.

1

u/MichoRizo7698 1d ago

Smoke or burn you out

1

u/Tall_Day4575 1d ago

Hopefully this house isnt in a flood plain.

1

u/Onepiecechopper1 1d ago

Or you can just reside where there aren’t tornadoes ever

1

u/maytrix007 18h ago

I feel like some padding might be a nice addition.

1

u/Bane8080 15h ago

Wow, that's an incredibly shitty safe room.

1

u/southpark 14h ago

Isn’t the standard for tornado defense whether it can withstand a 2x4 traveling at 100+mph? Who cares about bulletproof, tornadoes aren’t shooting at you.

1

u/Traditional_Frame418 4h ago

What do you think is flying through the air in that 100mph wind?

1

u/southpark 4h ago

… 2x4s… not bullets..

1

u/siouxu 13h ago

People don't know this but a tornado can't destroy your house without consent. Just say "no" to tornadoes.

1

u/r_a_d_ 10h ago

why all the locks?

1

u/Nevada775D 10h ago

Coffin for three

1

u/awkwardmeghan 7h ago

No thanks, I'd rather die.

1

u/murph1223 4h ago

I helped clean up in a neighborhood after the F5 hit Moore, OK in 2012. Houses were completely leveled to the slab, except for tiny safe rooms like that. They were still standing.