ahh come on everyone knows that you can build a earth-bag shelter for less than say 500 buck..no hammers or nail required an will with stand tornadoes hurricanes an fires an the big bad wolf…better know as feed bags,stucko an bobwire,use the dirt where you stand..smile..anyone can build it when using the right size sand bag..smile..or are they just calling wolf…or better know as tiny houses,,some what…
Most structures have to be designed for 115 MPH winds. FEMA has guidelines for storm shelters, and for protection against tornadoes, the design wind speed increases to 250 MPH. The forces increase with the square of the wind speed, so this shelter would need to be designed for almost 5x the typical loading for the living structure. There’s a lot more required for structural integrity than just resisting impact energy of a projectile. And, while we’re at it, why don’t we make this test more realistic and throw a COW at it at 100 MPH!
JoeW….yes, we are serious. Residential homes are designed to resist snow loads, the weight of occupants, and a moderate amount of wind (typically less than 100mph). So, when a 250 mph wind comes along (albeit rarely and hopefully never), the typical home doesn’t have a chance (and wasn’t designed to…if it was, it would have to be super beefy and as a result no one could afford one)…a safe room, on the other hand, is designed to withstand the tornado winds, and YES, a wood safe room can work, and the design that I have come up with meets the standard test criteria established for safe room testing….wood is a very versatile and resilient material.
Bill Harris…..We hope to have standard plans available in the next couple of years. More testing needed to refine our design…
How big is this shelter and did you ever consider making it with interlocking solid wood walls also know as logs? We just made a 9′ x9′ building with a 5″ solid wood wall that would surely withstand Mr. Falk’s air cannon experiment.
I’m most interested in the DIY wood storm shelter. Living in IA, we are faced with at least the “tornado scare” quite frequently. We had one a couple of years ago that just grazed the town, doing minimal damage. We were lucky! But, luck only holds out so long. I’ve recently moved into a house closer to the path of the previous tornado. Does lightly strike twice in the same place? Probably! Better safe than sorry! When and where can I get more details?
ahh come on everyone knows that you can build a earth-bag shelter for less than say 500 buck..no hammers or nail required an will with stand tornadoes hurricanes an fires an the big bad wolf…better know as feed bags,stucko an bobwire,use the dirt where you stand..smile..anyone can build it when using the right size sand bag..smile..or are they just calling wolf…or better know as tiny houses,,some what…
Come on guys, anyone can dig a hole in the ground and stake a tarp over top of it.
Yeah, if you want a butt-ugly stucco monstosity in your backyard. Or a big hole.
Where do we review the plans for this tornado shelter???
Are you serious?. Wood structures are not only disassembled by the big winds, the boards are splintered..
Most structures have to be designed for 115 MPH winds. FEMA has guidelines for storm shelters, and for protection against tornadoes, the design wind speed increases to 250 MPH. The forces increase with the square of the wind speed, so this shelter would need to be designed for almost 5x the typical loading for the living structure. There’s a lot more required for structural integrity than just resisting impact energy of a projectile. And, while we’re at it, why don’t we make this test more realistic and throw a COW at it at 100 MPH!
JoeW….yes, we are serious. Residential homes are designed to resist snow loads, the weight of occupants, and a moderate amount of wind (typically less than 100mph). So, when a 250 mph wind comes along (albeit rarely and hopefully never), the typical home doesn’t have a chance (and wasn’t designed to…if it was, it would have to be super beefy and as a result no one could afford one)…a safe room, on the other hand, is designed to withstand the tornado winds, and YES, a wood safe room can work, and the design that I have come up with meets the standard test criteria established for safe room testing….wood is a very versatile and resilient material.
Bill Harris…..We hope to have standard plans available in the next couple of years. More testing needed to refine our design…
Thanks for the comments!
Cheers, bob
Oh, snap!
How big is this shelter and did you ever consider making it with interlocking solid wood walls also know as logs? We just made a 9′ x9′ building with a 5″ solid wood wall that would surely withstand Mr. Falk’s air cannon experiment.
I’m most interested in the DIY wood storm shelter. Living in IA, we are faced with at least the “tornado scare” quite frequently. We had one a couple of years ago that just grazed the town, doing minimal damage. We were lucky! But, luck only holds out so long. I’ve recently moved into a house closer to the path of the previous tornado. Does lightly strike twice in the same place? Probably! Better safe than sorry! When and where can I get more details?