I've been thinking about building out a safe room (for protecting valuables and people) in the corner of our basement. I've got a few thoughts on this after perusing FEMA documents, tons of websites, general construction books, etc.
So, what about a wall, doubled studded, with 2 layers of 3/4" plywood and a 4" CMU block wall attached? That seems like it'd be hard to cut or bust through, and not be too heavy or expensive. You could even build an outer wood wall and sandwich the blocks between them.
I can't find any examples of this, only mentions of dry stacked blocks between the studs... so either I'm a genius or an idiot.
-- or -- what about running rebar perpendicular to the studs? That's mess up a sawzall...
- Plywood, even multiple layers, is pretty easy to breech with a saw
- Steel is expensive
- Concrete backer board is hard to cut through with basic tools, but pretty easy to punch through
- filled concrete blocks are relatively tough, but...
- I think 8" blocks would be too heavy on the slab
So, what about a wall, doubled studded, with 2 layers of 3/4" plywood and a 4" CMU block wall attached? That seems like it'd be hard to cut or bust through, and not be too heavy or expensive. You could even build an outer wood wall and sandwich the blocks between them.
I can't find any examples of this, only mentions of dry stacked blocks between the studs... so either I'm a genius or an idiot.
-- or -- what about running rebar perpendicular to the studs? That's mess up a sawzall...