How Important Floor Is for a Storm Shelter?
When we are talking about storm shelter installation, the consideration of the floors is a must. The floor type makes sure how the shelter will be anchored at the right place. When you purchase an above ground storm shelter there might not be a floor with it especially with the in-garage steel units. In the other shelter types a steel piece is used as a steel plate. In the other cases, the shelters must be set on a certain surface for the safety of the users.
A shelter without any floor or with just a piece of steel must be installed for reinforcing a concrete slab. If the shelter is set on a concrete slab such as a garage floor, if the floor does not have rebar reinforcement, you have to tear it and install a new floor. If you fail to use the correct the reinforced concrete floor it will make the shelter unsafe and risky. The bolts that are driven into the reinforced concrete it will not provide enough strength for keeping the shelter strong and prevent tripping, sliding.
A safe shelter when it is a standard one should have six inches steel rebar reinforced steel floor as an integral part of the entire structure. The floor and the walls should have steel reinforcement to bind them together before pouring concrete. It will ensure that walls and floors will not be separated in a storm spike. As the shelter already has a floor there is no requirement of pouring extra reinforced concrete pads to set the structure. It can be installed on the ground, else on a gravel pad.
Once the structure is installed, the four corners must be anchored ensuring that it will not slide if that is hit by heavy debris. Once the shelter is set on the ground or a gravel pad, the professionals will make a 4 inches hole using an auger at every corner. The shelter will have anchors attached and there will be a drop of four inches and then it will be backfilled with cement. It makes the anchor system the strongest for the available above the ground shelters in market.
See us at EF5 Tornado Shelters for storm shelter installation in OKC. To keep your family safe in a storm break out this is indeed essential.