Home, safe home

LITTLE ROCK — Escaping a storm has long meant running headfirst into it.

But for many a family, the experience of darting into the wind and rain and scrambling down the steps of an inground shelter is disappearing.

In its place, families are high-tailing it to the garage or master bedroom.

Indoor safe rooms, literally built to stand even if the house around them doesn’t, are becoming more popular, those who sell tornado shelters say.

Prebuilt units can be bolted into the garage and new safe rooms can be built into a room during a house’s construction.

“The safe rooms this year have been a better seller by far,” says Jared Gray, owner and founder of Arkansas Storm Shelters in Russellville.

He has sold about five times as many safe rooms as traditional in-ground shelters this year and says that over the last few years, they’ve become the industry standard.

He says in-ground shelters, on the other hand, are still particularly useful to those who live in trailers or can’t put a prefabricated unit in their garage.

But most people want to watch the weather on their favorite news channel right up until they hear “There’s a tornado in Lavaca. Get in your safe place.”

“People want to go from their nice, comfortable place on the couch to their safe room,” says Gray, who chose one of the units for his own home. The father of three (his oldest is 6), says, “I don’t want to gather them up and go outside in the hail.”

When he first entered the business in 2006, he said many people wondered whether the products were as safe as advertised. “They used to think if your house is gone, won’t the safe room be gone?”

No, it won’t, he says. Safe rooms built into a house are on a separate foundation.

Separate units in a garage are bolted down in such a way that, well, they’re designed to stay put.

Safe rooms tend to blend into the house, Gray says.

Some are walled with Sheetrock and carpeted, but make no mistake: They’re still built to withstand tornadic winds.

In-ground shelters are often out of sight out of mind, he says. Older people may not be comfortable using them, or simply can’t because they’re not wheelchair accessible, he says.

And many people don’t have their storm shelters set up for a storm. They forget to leave a light or radio in the inground unit, for example.

“They’ll buy it and put it in the ground and forget about it,” he says. “If something is in your house you’re more likely to take care of it.”

Most of the safe rooms he sells cost anywhere from $3,000 to $7,000. Most people buy the prefabricated units, unless they’re building anew house.

Those tough metal boxes are a big seller for Storm Safe Rooms. The Oklahoma company sells the shelters all over the South, says president Brad Webb.

Its most popular unit is the Iron Eagle II, which costs $4,295, plus installation and delivery, and is made of quarter-inch steel and designed for five people. The Iron Eagle I ($3,695 plus installation and delivery) is constructed of3/16-inch steel and seats three. Both are designed to withstand an F5 tornado, with winds of 261-318 mph. Most go in the garage.

Jimmie Hayes, who lives near White Hall, says he bought an Iron Eagle II in September 2009. He still has an in-ground shelter he bought from Kuykendall Cement Corp. 40 years ago but he has trouble using it these days.

EASY ENTRY

He wanted something that was easier for him and his wife to enter. The unit cost around $5,500, minus a $1,000 state rebate.

“As you get older you have a problem holding that door open with the wind blowing,” says Hayes, who is in his 70s. “You can get into it without having to get into the rain .... It’s almost as convenient as having it inside the house.”

It was installed on Hayes’ carport and he had the utility room expanded to enclose the unit.

“He installed it like on a Thursday and that coming Friday we were in it,” Hayes says. The tornado warning was just that - one never touched down in his area, Hayes says. “I haven’t been back in it since.”

“Just to have a place to go means a whole lot,” Hayes says.

He had his unit outfitted with lights and electricity. He keeps a radio in it, but not much else. “If you don’t watch it there won’t be room to get in in a storm.”

Webb says the Iron Eagle units have a fold-up bench and child-proof handle. The door opens inward so if something falls on it the people inside won’t be trapped. It also prevents children from locking themselves in. A unit can also double as a gun safe, vault or a place to hide from intruders.

“I don’t sell a lot of inground [shelters], but I’ve got as good a product as the next guy,” Webb says. “I like happy customers. When I do a safe room, I don’t ever hear a complaint.”

CHOICE OF MATERIALS

He says in-ground shelters have problems no matter the material used. Fiberglass is expensive and can crack. Steel can rust. Concrete can sweat or mildew. And any in-ground shelter is prone to leaking, he says.

“Most people don’t know what they’re getting themselves into,” he says. “Most people call about an inground one and you just have to educate them about a safe room.”

Those in the business say they field more calls during tornado season, generally in late winter and early spring. Calls tend to slack off in summer and pick up again in September.

And the more storms there are, the more calls they take.

Robert Toll, who co-owns Arkansas Tornado Shelters in Bryant, says his company specializes in fiberglass inground shelters but also sells concrete in-ground shelters and safe rooms. They no longer sell steel in-ground shelters because he says “eventually they’ll rust out.”

Concrete shelters are cheaper, ranging from around $2,700 to $3,000 installed. Fiberglass shelters cost $4,500-$5,900 installed.

Safe rooms cost $4,000-$6,000 and have other advantages in addition to being in the comfort of one’s home. Walk-in units are easier to get into, which is especially important for the elderly or handicapped.

And you “won’t get wet.”

Customers should weigh all their options, he says. If they are claustrophobic, a lighter-colored fiberglass unit might help. They should read the warranties, price various options and consider ease of entry. Steps or steel ladders may not be ideal for everyone.

MORE SAFE ROOMS

Jerry Kuykendall, general manager of Kuykendall Cement in Gravel Ridge, says the company has sold more safe rooms than in-ground shelters in the last 60 days. He said he was surprised in 2008 and 2009 at the equal number of orders for safe rooms and outdoor shelters.

Since the company, which incorporated in the early 1970s, sells concrete shelters they can only build them while a house is under construction.

The company has 12-14 products costing $3,000-$4,500 and ranging from 4 feet by 4 feet to 8 feet by 11 feet. Aside from interior safe rooms, they have in-ground units and “outdoor” safe rooms, with 15-inch floors. The units are reinforced with rebar.

He said the company is hearing from more builders whose customers want a shelter built into the house. Maybe they have room in the closet or garage and want it added in during the construction process, rather than after the fact.

“Once the house is framed and built only the builder and buyer will know it’s there,” he says.

Homeowners envision coming out of the laundry room and going straight into their safe room. “They want to get there that much quicker. That’s a huge thing.”