Does Putting Tornado Shelter in Garage Floor Compromise Slab? (Austin: insurance, new construction)

[LeagleEagleDFW]

"Peace of mind" from what? Does anyone actually look at data? Tornados around here are rarer than a sane Texan politician.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by f4shionablecha0s

I don't think 6000 dollars is a realistic estimate for the kind of tornado shelter your envisioning. They're going to CUT THROUGH YOUR FOUNDATION. For 6000 dollars? Get real.

According to the website, there's also a huge waitlist and you can't start construction until after you're approved. Oh yeah, it can also take 12 months to get reimbursed.

I'm shocked that anyone would waste so much money on such a dumb project for an area that gets tornados so rarely. I'm SHOCKED that my tax money is going to reimburse the people who are doing so. There should be an investigation into this program...

^^^ This.

Originally Posted by LeagleEagleDFW

This is the biggest waste of money I've read about in a long time.

^^^ And this.

Originally Posted by LeagleEagleDFW

"Peace of mind" from what? Does anyone actually look at data? Tornados around here are rarer than a sane Texan politician.

^^^ And this.

[Rakin]

Originally Posted by LeagleEagleDFW

"Peace of mind" from what? Does anyone actually look at data? Tornados around here are rarer than a sane Texan politician.

I'll disagree here somewhat being a native. I've seen many a tornado in North TX but very few are the severe level 4-5 that would rip a home apart.

Recall that Tornado that ripped through Downtown Ft Worth about 14 years ago? It ripped up that 35 story Bank building and at one time they thought about Imploding the building.

It's just the odds of a high level severe tornado leveling your specific home is very, very low.

To me, damaging the Slab would be a major concern and I'd want to discuss with an Engineer. I'd want the Engineer to bless the project before and after if it was to be done. I'm not going to take some salesman's word that all will be OK and no problems.

They would be better off to just reinforce a closet (usually under the stairs).

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by LeagleEagleDFW

"Peace of mind" from what? Does anyone actually look at data? Tornados around here are rarer than a sane Texan politician.

My money, my decision after it came through the back yard, took out a 20 year collection of Japanese maples and missed the house by a few feet. Go out to Cleburne!

Been there done that when friends got killed in Alabama. Statistics do not raise the children.

Personally I feel better knowing there is an option and a comfortable one for us, our furries plus a few more folks. Would not want to leave company at the table

Rankin - we looked into reinforcing. The difference is shoring up a closet and giving a false feeling of safety or doing it right. Can OP spare a closet? We never had and never will have a 2-story.

Was Op's question not related to foundation and digging? My answer is no, I would not mess with the foundation.

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by loves2read

anyone read the story about the family in Oklahoma I believe who were in their tornado shelter and had something fall on the door and water from the rain accompaning the tornado was filling the shelter with water and they couldn't get OUT!!!

pretty scary...

That is why your shelter is on the grid and above ground.j

[Listener2307]

Originally Posted by TGentry

We are considering installing a tornado shelter in the ground below the garage floor slab. They will remove a section of the concrete and install it below ground.

Someone told me that this will compromise the post-tension support (or what-ever it is) of the slab. I mentioned that to one installation company rep, and he hemmed and hawed and finally said the way they do it, the slab will be fine.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

Speaking from Tupelo, MS, I think it's a grand idea.

The garage floor is not usually part of the slab that supports the rest of the house, and is built to different standards. Notice that in most cases you step down to the garage. If you have any doubt, just call an architect - he will probably answer your question on the phone.

People who discourage you from doing this have never had to watch this coming.
Tupelo, April 28, 2014:


We all knew it was coming. We knew it all day. We worried about each other and called each other, and even knew enough to split families up. There was plenty of time to move the car off your shelter.

Naysayers have never seen truly stunned, traumatized and newly homeless people. That storm killed 21 people around our area. No one was killed while in a tornado shelter.

[ChristieP]

Using examples from MS and AL tornadoes is irrelevant to Texas. As many of us have said before, we just do not get F4 and F5 tornadoes in DFW. Sure, they do get those occasionally in Kansas, Oklahoma, and parts of Missouri.

Unless you live in Cleburne, Granbury or Lancaster, the risk of even a minor tornado is so rare that it's not worth potentially structurally damaging a house and spending thousands of $ on an underground shelter. I've lived in Texas for 40+ years and I've never been hit by, or even seen a tornado.

If you want to spend $3000 to improve your home, put on a metal or tile roof. We lose a lot more $ due to hail claims here than to tornadoes!

[Rakin]

Originally Posted by Listener2307

The garage floor is not usually part of the slab that supports the rest of the house, and is built to different standards. Notice that in most cases you step down to the garage. If you have any doubt, just call an architect - he will probably answer your question on the phone.

This is totally false. The Garage is part of the Post tension slab foundation and has Tension cables run through that area. The Slab is like a big box, held together by the cables so it can float and move in one piece.

This is the type of advice that will cost you a lot of money.

[ThomasCrown]

Never say never. I've lived in Kansas for several years and had a tornado go right through our backyard. Ripped our swingset out of the ground and put it in a neighbor's pool two streets over.

There were several tornadoes that touched down just two or three months ago here in north TX. One of them touched down and was traveling east along 380 in McKinney. That wasn't too far from us.

North Texas storm damage surveyed, tornadoes confirmed - Fox4News.com | Dallas-Fort Worth News, Weather, Sports

That was in April.

For $3k, if the OP wants to have a secure shelter for hazardous weather, that's pretty cheap insurance, and I imagine anyone moving here from a state where tornadoes are more common would find it to be a good selling point, and we're getting more and more transplants all the time.

[ChristieP]

An F0 tornado isn't even bad enough to need an underground tornado shelter! You could ride that out in a bathroom or closet with no problem. It would only cause minor structural damage.