Building a safe room in basement how to#

Outdoor sensors that will alert you when someone comes through your gate or approaches your home.

A wireless alarm system that sounds an alarm and automatically calls for assistance.

Inexpensive battery operated alarms on all entry points.

You should have security measures in place that let you know that the home has been breached: Of course, the success of moving quickly to your safe room rests upon being alerted that someone is in your home. Run timed drills and make a game out of how quickly all family members can get to the safe room and get the door secured. They may know routes that you had never even considered. This is a great time to get the kids involved, because children are explorers by nature. Map out as many different ways as possible to get to the safe room from various locations in the house. If you have several people in your household, you might want to put a keypad access on the door to the safe room so that whoever has retreated first is safely locked in without worrying about admitting the other family members. All family members that are physically able should be able to quickly access the room. We’ve often talked about the importance of having a plan (as well as a few back-up plans) and running practice drills. NOT FOR ANY REASON. A criminal will threaten, cajole, manipulate, and bully to try to make you come out. The #1 rule of the safe room: DO NOT LEAVE IT UNTIL YOU ARE SAFE AND YOUR HOME HAS BEEN CLEARED. It is a point of retreat until help arrives. You probably aren’t going to be holed up in there for days during a stand-off. It is to avoid being injured by a person who may be intent on injuring you.Ī safe room is not a bunker. You may or may not be a trained soldier, but your goal is the same. They want to limit the likelihood of being shot or otherwise injured. In a military gun battle, do soldiers move behind sandbags or into trenches? Of course. You are retreating to a safer location because you don’t intend to be a victim. That indicates that you are a scared victim. When you retreat to your safe room, you have one goal: to end any possibility of interaction with an unwelcome person.

If your valuables are locked away, a random tweaker searching for things to sell to support his habit is not going to be able to access your important papers, your fine jewelry, your firearms, or your most prized possessions. Most break-ins occur when you aren’t home. Here’s a perk: another great use for your safe room is that you can stash your valuables there. It is a layer of protection that allows vulnerable people to retreat until help arrives. It means you are ready for a variety of scenarios and that the safety of your family is paramount. Here’s another reason: do you have vulnerable family members in the house? Children? A spouse or elderly relative? Someone who just isn’t a fighter? Even if you intend to engage, you may have people in the home who are not willing or able to do so, and it will be better for you if they are safely out of the way.Ī safe room is honestly just another prep. But, if a gang of 12 thugs (possibly wearing badges) kicks down your door, how likely are you to shoot every single one of them before someone gets off a lucky shot and hits you? Hint: If you aren’t tactically trained, the likelihood of this is pretty slim. Most of the people who read prepping and survival sites are not of a “retreat” mentality. Some folks may read this and think to themselves, “I don’t need a safe room when I have my 12 gauge shotgun and my 9 mm.

Building a safe room in basement how to#

How to Make Your House Unattractive to Burglars Why should you have a safe room?