Turning Bedroom into Safe Room

[Chris Keen]

Very good Thomas. May I ask what brand, and how new is it ? You need something made in the last 10-12 years, and please don't say ADT, BRINKS, or (God forbid) Radio Shack.

Wireless has come a long way in the last 10 years. I'd trust it when no way of getting hard-wires to a garage, shed, or upstairs windows is possible, but I wouldnt use it as my primary means of protection. Wireless panics are fine, as they are more likely to be used than not.

PM me if necessary.

Edited January 4, 2009 by CHRIS KEEN

[el pres]

I think Cooper had the full blown, black, exterior, front door, iron screen type at the begining

of the hallway. At the top of the stairs.. The kind you see on the front door of most crack houses. You know, the one the entry team has a problem with !! Extreame but thats the ticket. When they come up the stairs and find that door in the house and you standing 20feet away with a carbine !!

You now the real quick fix is a full grown, cleaned and groomed, Rottwieler that is allowed to roam the

downstairs as he pleases, problem solved !!

[D.Hayden]

Something that has tornado resistance.. should do it..

Something like:

http://www.cecodoor.com/default.aspx?Doc=p...ts/stormpro.htm

Options to open in or out... beef up the surrounding wall with some resistant material (ply wood, etc..) , put a 1/4" drywall vernier over that.. looks normal..

[Chris Keen]

Never thought about it before but if you sheathed the wall facing the hallway in plywood, then dry-walled over top of that using longer than necessary drywall screws ............. somebody would have a real bad day if they tried to punch / kick through that!

[AlamoShooter]

OK like Merlin said start sooner. What does the outside of the house look like ? Can you see the front door from the street (IN your Car) ? As is if a cop drove by would he know that the front door had been breached.

Lighting ...Lighting, lighting. cut back bushes if you have too , Install a peep hole in the outside garage door, if the garage door does not have windows, if the garage has windows block them out.

Your are kidding about the door knob rite? Home Depot caries a 'metal cap' that will slide over the door with the knob removed it is about 12" tall and cover about 5" in on both sides of the door. some have two holes cut with one for a dead bolt. I can get a name tomorrow if you like.

Fitting a blank solid door is not easy to do rite , the strike side has to be beveled so as not to drag when it opens. The interior door frames are too light so what you will want is a new frame too.

my suggestion is to buy an exterior Grade Pre-Hung Door Set. This will be a door and frame with the hinges already on it. = it will also have weather stripping and a threshold. = the weather strip and threshold can be removed.

The most cost effective is to get a metal clad door slab door like for a utility room or back garage door

Home depot caries them for about $210. and thin as all you would need is the lock sets.

Send me a pm if you like and I will give you my phone #

This is how I make my living.

JF

[VegasOPM]

I had my walk in closet hardened somwhat to make a gun room/safe room. I had the contractor sheathe both sides of the wall in OSB (oriented strand board) before they installed the sheet rock. He put in an exterior grade jam and solid core door with a deadbolt. I put a wireless motion sensor in the room as a passive "panic" system. As soon as we move into that room without disarming the alarm, it goes off. On the door itself I installed a "Katy Bar the Door" locking mechanism, which increases the door's resistance to kick-ins by 300%. There is a "pay as you go" cell phone sitting in the room on a charger.

[Greg Bell]

Down here in Nashville there was a big rash of home invasions especially apartment complexes, of course I'm renting

So my solution was a security bar wedged against the steel entry door with a 9-shot shotgun in the corner of the bedroom. Just another option for you to consider.

Edited January 4, 2009 by Greg Bell

[BSeevers]

I would panic too if I lived in Ann Arbor

[Bruce]

I recommend the book "The Secure Home" by Joel Skousen. I assume it can still be ordered from his website. Tons of interesting things and ideas in it...along with plans for building same.

[Jim Norman]

OK Tom, here's your best plan of defense.

But don't blame me if it doesn't work ....... I slept through most of World History.

Saxons 9, Normans 1

Way to go Uncle Will.

Battle of Hastings, 1066 AD

[Sean Gaines]

here is a gun room

http://www.thisisjustcool.com/cool-picture...ement-gun-room/

[JimmyZip]

Hasn't anyone got a dog? My dog will bark, when she does I wake up. Unless you are a ghost, she barks when you walk up to the front door, back door, pull into driveway, walk by my house. (How she knows not to bark at our vehicles but everyone else's is cool too.)

But I will tell you what kind of room we did for a local customer around here. Like stated before, multiple deadbolts. We laminated a door out of Macheech. (A VERY STRONG tropical hardwood) It was a butcher-block type lamination. Then we skinned it with 1/8 in. cold rolled steel. We used four commercial hinges and added extra studs to either side of the door. We put in four deadbolts and installed sleeves we turned on a lathe that went into the studs instead of the standard plate with long screws.

We also covered the walls around both sides of the door and the interior of the master bedroom with 1/8 in hot-rolled steel. (Something Archipelago Design and Production is known for.) You want to get the cleanest sheets you can find that aren't scratched so that they look good. This is a style of interior that is getting more popular. Hot rolled steel has a dark rainbow hue to it. It is rather rich and deep looking. Sounds weird but I have yet to have someone NOT like it!

You can scribe it with an awl, and use a flush trim bit on a router to get close, then use a flap disc to finish. this will make it fit perfect. I have done a dozen or so interiors like this sans the door. (that was done on a customers house who was a bit nervous about security)

I did custom interiors for five years and still do most of the steel work for the same guy. It is a passion that I love, just doesn't seem to pay alot.

Oh, you finish the look off by securing the steel to the studs, top plate, and bottom plate through the drywall with countersunk socketcap screws. 10-24s are the ticket. Get 2 1/2 inchers.

I think a solid core door with 1/4 inch steel will stop most pistol rounds, but maybe not a .308. But that will give you PLENTY of time to get out your SG.

Thing is, you can't shoot back!

That is why, knowing how to make said room and interiors, I opt for a barking dog. I don't scold her when she barks, 'cause sometome it might save my bacon!

PM me if your interested. I can tell you how we did it, ways to make it as easy as possible, and the tools to use. There is all kinds of things to consider like how to cut out for all your wall devices and such.

JZ

[Adrian_Sorah]

Why don't you have the police on speed dial?

[Loves2Shoot]

(How she knows not to bark at our vehicles but everyone else's is cool too.)

Supposedly a dog's hearing is so good they can tell what you car sound like, so they don't emergency bark when you arrive in your car. We have a nervous dog and she barks at everything, which is cool except we have a 7 month old that is often sleeping when she goes off.

Lots of good ideas in this thread.

[Jeff686]

Why don't you have the police on speed dial?

I hope you are being sarcastic.

Cops are good people, but won't get there in time to do anything but clean up.

[ken hebert]

Why don't you have the police on speed dial?

A gun in the hand is worth more than a cop on the phone.

When seconds count cops are just minutes away.

Q: "Why do you carry a gun?"

A: "Because a cop is too heavy."

Q: "I see you have a pistol, are you expecting trouble?"

A: "No, if I was then I'd have my rifle."

Despite my somewhat sarcastic remarks above, I find this thread of great use and future value. OP and contributors, thank you.

[Micah]

Why don't you have the police on speed dial?

Joke right? This is the same argument of many anti's mantras.

Thomas, in all honestly, I am a HUGE fan of massively LOUD alarms at all entrances, and a fortified bedroom door. I was watching a show on MSNBC where they were interviewing inmates and this one cat who was an experienced bungler stated "I can make someone do anything when I am in their home". When asked how they got into said home, he said "Through the front door of course!"

I have adapted my home accordingly.

[Graham Smith]

A relatively low cost retrofit for most doors is what is called a "door bar". One end has a "U" shape that goes under and around the door knob. The other end goes into a bracket that is milled into the floor. These can resist quite a bit of force - more than most dead bolts.

[buddy_fuentes]

I didn't read all the post, so if I repeat someone Else's post...I'm sorry.

I'm a retired policeman and the veteran of many search warrants and burglary investigations. Most of the time you can kick a door (interior or exterior) at the lock area and gain entry. If one kick doesn't get it a couple surly will. One thing that you can do to combat the easy kick in door is to install it with the door opening out. Therefore, an intruder would have to kick enough to destroy the frame to gain access. I had my exterior doors (except the double front doors) installed like that.

Nothing is going to stop a determined individual, however, you can slow them down while you or your wife prepare to make a stand.

Buddy

[Adam B]

I would panic too if I lived in Ann Arbor

no doubt, those pot smoking hippies are aggressive when they get the munchies

[Steve Moneypenny]

umm, sign yourself up for some self defense classes.... sign your wife up for a womans self defence class that your not in or watching. carry your gun like a good soldier. don't rely on the one locked in the bedroom, keep one easy to access in the area's your in most of the time. handguns can be hidden a lot of places. if you have kids put in a combo save or the like. out of sight out of mind. something simply hidden is as good as something obviously locked up.

security system so you'll know when the door opens... keep exterior lights flooded on your house... that way a silhouette is created by anyone approaching. Prickly bushes. but not ones that hide entrances. ...

Put an ADT sign in your yard. it scares idiots.

[-JQ-]

What am I missing? don't doors that swing out have hinges on the outside too?

Also in recently building my mancave, I did a serious strengthening program on my doorway. The door however is an interior "hollow" door. For the moment my first need was to keep 13 YO male and his buddies out of the area and as $$ allows then to upgrage the door itself, although I'm not sure which way I'll do that yet. I have been thinking about the metal skinning idea Jimmy Z mentioned...we may need to talk. As a side note, I may have over exaggerated the super indestructible nature of the new room just in case his 13 YO friends ask.

So far I doubled up on the studs and concentrated on the lock area with metal strapping and 3" inch screws holding everything together. I'm pretty sure the door would blow a part way before the frame.

And don't worry I would never reveal all my secrets...like my high voltage mesh between the studs or the lasers that fire if someone touches the door with a shoe...but I digress

Dogs rule.

[Dave Gundry]

Unless you rip part of the drywall off and reinforce the studs/deadbolt interface, it is very easy to kick the door in. 120lb female (aka my sister) kicked one in when she got locked out of the house...

I have very little experience kicking doors in, but from what I have done, Matt's advice is the best 'simple' solution to buy some time. Get a solid wood door, add a handle/deadbolt reinforcing plate, rip the trim off, reinforce the frame to the nearest stud, and install a reinforced striker plate.

Nothing is going to stop a determined individual, however, you can slow them down while you or your wife prepare to make a stand.

Buddy

An alarm went off at the local gun store, and the only way in was one large glass door. Behind this glass door was a steel folding gate, with very beefy hinges on one side and large brackets on the other side. The brackets were secured to the wall with ~3/8 bolts into the studs. The gate wasn't opened and the cops couldn't see anyone inside, but they had to gain entry to clear the place. After a few good kicks, the steel door finally ripped the brackets off the wall and they made entry. As I like to say, locks are there to keep honest people honest. There is ALWAYS a way in.

[bayoupirate]

I can't believe I'm going to say this but USC Bigdawg has got it right. (Hard to agree with someone when USC is in their name)

If you find some old building material salvage, reclaim, recycle, reuse place.

Get a sold wood FIRE DOOR. They are requied by code in ALL STATES for ALL public buildings.

They are not OSB or Fiberboard cored, they are true SOLID WOOD!

Usually you can find the metal fire code tag on the hinge side.

You may have to fabricate a new door jamb, out of hardwood, but that will allow you to reverse the door to an outward swing, as many here have suggested.

Measure what length of screw will secure the jamb to the studs. Use them in many locations.

Put at least 3, 4 is better, heavy Hinges on the door.

Mount the normal entry knob, but install two additional Deadbolts one High and one low.

be sure to buy deadbolts with large levers on the back, they're easier and quicker to engage.

Again, USCbigdawg is right.

[PINMAN44]

I've always thought that if you are that worried about it, you should move.