Have recent weather events caused you to think about an in-home storm shelter?
It might be the only way to survive a strong tornado, and Tennessee had the fourth-highest number of them per year between 1991-2010, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Hughes-Edwards Builders is experienced in each of the three ways you can establish a shelter in your house, whether it’s new construction in Nashville TN, an older home, or you want expert installation of a pre-fabricated storm shelter in your garage or basement.
“Most of the house plans we’re designing now have storm shelters in them,” said Hughes-Edwards partner Bryan Edwards.
It’s the company’s direct response to the growing number of custom home building clients who want a truly safe space to weather a storm.
“It is more desired now than some other features, such as an elevator,” Edwards said.
“They’re mostly in basement locations. It’s easiest to do them in the lowest level of the house and that’s the safer place to be in a storm,” he added.
“If there is no basement, we can also utilize the garage where you already are going to have concrete walls.”
The concrete that is required to create a true storm shelter is one of the main cost factors in building one, Edwards said.
In addition to creating storm rooms in its custom designed new homes in Nashville TN, Hughes-Edwards has retrofitted several existing homes for clients with storm rooms.
Recently Hughes Edwards has been building a reinforced concrete storm room inside a client’s existing master bedroom closet.
For another client, Hughes Edwards created a safe room within a pantry.
“We can also order and properly install the pre-fabricated storm shelters,” Edwards said.
The costs of creating such safe spaces can vary; the most cost efficient is new construction, because there’s nothing to demolish, Edwards said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the best resource for more information.
The agency has established criteria for residential safe rooms and its website, www.fema.gov, contains a wealth of information on the subject along with answers to frequently asked questions.
If storm safety is keeping you awake at night, we’d love to talk to you about installing a storm shelter in your current home or in your new custom built home. Please contact us at 615-824-6970 or fill out the form below. [contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Phone’ type=’text’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]
