Above-ground safe rooms

How it works

Prefabricated steel safe rooms are delivered in panels and bolted together on site, then anchored to the slab. Site-built safe rooms use reinforced concrete or masonry walls and a reinforced roof, and are easiest to add during new construction or a remodel.

Good for

• Wheelchair users, older family members and anyone who cannot use stairs
• Rocky lots or high groundwater where digging is hard
• Doubling as a closet, pantry or secure storage room

Watch for

• The slab must be able to take the anchoring loads
• Indoor units use floor space in the house or garage
• Ask for documentation that the door and wall system were tested together

Cost

Published cost guides put most above-ground safe rooms in the low thousands to mid teens, depending on size and construction. See the cost guide for ranges and sources.

Standards

Ask for documentation that the model, including its door and anchoring, was tested to ICC 500 and FEMA P-361.

Compare: In-garage shelters · In-ground (underground) shelters