I started to post this in the "replacing the door" thread - but decided not to whore their thread - and start my own.
Years ago I had a conversation with a guy about building a "safer room" when building a house. He proposed the following (not sure whether he had actually done it or not - not my business) - and I'm wondering what this group's thoughts are on how effective it would be.
In short - the walls of the master bedroom were reputed to be built to a different standard. They were 2X6 framed and sheathed in 1/8" sheet steel from the floor to 8'. The sheet steel was screwed to the studs. Before the wall was finished they filled each cavity in the wall with something like ABC (stone / dirt aggregate used to make dirt roads). They then sheet-rocked over the wall using a thinner sheetrock over the steel and thicker above it, textured, and painted. I believe that they used a steel door and frame, case hardened screws, etc.
The home had a crawlspace under it - and there was a trap door from the closet into the crawl space. Their intent was that if they were in a situation where they were dealing with a bad actor in their home - they could retreat to that room and at least have a shot of clearing the house through the crawl space (they were planning for a scenario in which a very angry "bad guy" (the home owner was law enforcement) finds their home - not one here the a government sends teams to kill them.
So - I would expect that 1/8" steel, 6" of compacted aggregate, then 1/8th inch steel is going to stop effectively all handgun rounds and in my vivid imagination I see it either stopping or dramatically diminishing essentially any common rifle round as well? In the unlikely event that someone is shooting at me in my home, I'd bet that the rounds coming my ware are either a handgun round, or rifle in 5.56, 7.62X39... If someone is shooting at me though the walls of my home with .50BMG AP or .406 Cheytac solids, or... well... I guess I've gotten into some deeper stuff than normal.
So - thoughts on two things:
1) The effectiveness of something like this as a means to buy folks effective cover from common rounds (for a period of seconds to a minute or two)...
2) Concerns about the structural / construction ramifications of doing something like this? I would think that one would need either a stem wall or significant beam under the base of the wall wherever this treatment is given...I'd also worry about whether the aggregate would become stable enough that it does not pull the screws out of the wood over time as the home flexes / moves.
Curious what this crew thinks?
Years ago I had a conversation with a guy about building a "safer room" when building a house. He proposed the following (not sure whether he had actually done it or not - not my business) - and I'm wondering what this group's thoughts are on how effective it would be.
In short - the walls of the master bedroom were reputed to be built to a different standard. They were 2X6 framed and sheathed in 1/8" sheet steel from the floor to 8'. The sheet steel was screwed to the studs. Before the wall was finished they filled each cavity in the wall with something like ABC (stone / dirt aggregate used to make dirt roads). They then sheet-rocked over the wall using a thinner sheetrock over the steel and thicker above it, textured, and painted. I believe that they used a steel door and frame, case hardened screws, etc.
The home had a crawlspace under it - and there was a trap door from the closet into the crawl space. Their intent was that if they were in a situation where they were dealing with a bad actor in their home - they could retreat to that room and at least have a shot of clearing the house through the crawl space (they were planning for a scenario in which a very angry "bad guy" (the home owner was law enforcement) finds their home - not one here the a government sends teams to kill them.
So - I would expect that 1/8" steel, 6" of compacted aggregate, then 1/8th inch steel is going to stop effectively all handgun rounds and in my vivid imagination I see it either stopping or dramatically diminishing essentially any common rifle round as well? In the unlikely event that someone is shooting at me in my home, I'd bet that the rounds coming my ware are either a handgun round, or rifle in 5.56, 7.62X39... If someone is shooting at me though the walls of my home with .50BMG AP or .406 Cheytac solids, or... well... I guess I've gotten into some deeper stuff than normal.
So - thoughts on two things:
1) The effectiveness of something like this as a means to buy folks effective cover from common rounds (for a period of seconds to a minute or two)...
2) Concerns about the structural / construction ramifications of doing something like this? I would think that one would need either a stem wall or significant beam under the base of the wall wherever this treatment is given...I'd also worry about whether the aggregate would become stable enough that it does not pull the screws out of the wood over time as the home flexes / moves.
Curious what this crew thinks?
