What is a Saferoom?

A safe room or panic room is a fortified room that is installed in a private residence or business to provide a safe shelter, or hiding place, for the inhabitants in the event of a break in, home invasion, tornado, terror attack, or other threat. Safe rooms usually contain communications equipment, so that law enforcement authorities can be contacted.

Construction techniques

The most basic safe room is simply a closet with the hollow-core door replaced with an exterior-grade solid-core door that has a deadbolt and longer hinge screws and strike-plate screws to resist battering. Sometimes, the ceiling is reinforced, or gated, to prevent easy access from the attic or from an overhead crawl space.

More expensive safe rooms have walls and a door reinforced with sheets of steel, Kevlar, or bullet-resistant fiberglass. The hinges and strike plate are often reinforced with long screws. Some safe rooms may also have externally vented ventilation systems and a separate telephone connection. They might also connect to an escape shaft.

Safe rooms in the basement or on a concrete slab can be built with concrete walls, a building technique that is normally not possible on the upper floors of wood-framed structures unless there is significant structural reinforcement to the building.

The U.S. State Department often uses steel grillwork much like a jail to seal off parts of a home used by U.S. Foreign Service members overseas when they are living in cities with a high crime threat. In some cities, the entire upstairs area is grilled off,[1] as well as every window and door to the home. Other homes have steel doors to one or more bedrooms that can be bolted closed to provide time for security forces to arrive.

For strong storms or tornadoes, a storm safe room must be built to withstand high winds and flying debris, even if the rest of the residence becomes severely damaged or destroyed. Specific concerns include: [2]

• The safe room should be adequately anchored to the foundation to resist overturning and uplift.

• The walls, ceiling, and door of the shelter should withstand wind pressure and resist penetration by wind-borne objects or falling debris.

• The connections between all parts of the safe room should be strong enough to resist separation by wind.

• Sections of either interior or exterior residence walls which are used as walls of the safe room, should be separated from the structure of the residence so that damage to the residence will not cause damage to the safe room.[2]

Features

Safe rooms may contain communications equipment, such as a cellular telephone, land-line telephone or an amateur radio transceiver, so that law enforcement authorities can be contacted. There may also be a monitor for external security cameras and an alarm system. In basic safe rooms, a peephole in the door may be used for a similar purpose. Safe rooms are typically stocked with basic emergency and survival items such as a flashlight, blankets, a first-aid kit, water, packaged food, self-defense tools, a gas mask, and a simple portable toilet. High-end safe rooms may have a gun closet, a biodefense air-filtration system that removes biological and nuclear contaminants, and a panic button that locks down the entire house.[3]

Safe rooms can be hidden behind many household features, such as mirrors, wardrobes, bookcases, sliding bookcases, and even fireplaces.

Secure Your Sanctuary (Saferoom) with BallistiCrete

At First Line of Defense, we understand that your home is your haven. That’s why we’ve partnered with GigaCrete to offer an innovative solution for those seeking both security and subtlety: BallistiCrete.

What is BallistiCrete? BallistiCrete is not just a protective coating; it’s a fortress in disguise. Applied like plaster or spray, it seamlessly integrates into your walls, providing a natural finish or a base for paint. Its strength lies in its versatility—applied in layers, each 3/8" thick, to reach the protection level you desire. Our experts ensure the installation process is discreet, leaving no trace but fortified walls.

Unmatched Protection BallistiCrete meets NIJ protection Levels 3 and 4, stopping everything from handgun to armor-piercing rifle rounds. It’s a shield against the unthinkable, tested against explosives up to 850 grams without yielding. While we hope it’s never needed, BallistiCrete stands ready to protect.

Adherence and Aesthetics Whether it’s cinder block, drywall, or stucco, BallistiCrete bonds deeply, creating a permanent barrier. And fear not, design enthusiasts—BallistiCrete accommodates your interior plans, allowing for artwork and personal touches without compromise.

Proven Installations From the private residences to public spaces, BallistiCrete has fortified judges’ chambers, places of worship, and even schools. It’s a silent guardian, blending into the background, indistinguishable from routine maintenance.

Sustainable Security Developed with the environment at heart, BallistiCrete is a testament to sustainable innovation. Free of VOCs and harmful materials, it’s a choice that protects without causing harm.

Discover more about how BallistiCrete can fortify your world without altering it.

BallistiCrete is a protective coating that can be plastered or sprayed onto interior walls. This coating looks completely natural and can be the final finish, although paint will adhere to it and can be applied after the product has completely cured. It can be applied in various thicknesses — and it probably goes without saying that the thicker the coating, the more protection it offers. 

BallistiCrete can be layered at 3/8″ at a time, building up to the desired thickness based on the level of protection required.  BallistiCrete is designed like most other high security measures: to blend in and be discreet.

The application looks much like any regular home or office building procedure. Installation experts arrive with equipment that looks like they’re there to paint or smooth mud over drywall. 

The product itself is mixed onsite, so there are no obviously marked boxes or products being hauled in to alert people to your security measures. They go inside, mix up the BallistiCrete, finish their installation, and they’re gone.

They can even create a textured finish if you’d like. And just like that, your home, office, bedroom, or any other space you can think of, is bulletproof.

BALLISTICRETE Specs

BALLISTICRETE™ protective coating is an inorganic mixture of mineral binders, high quality fillers, and

fibers with exceptional impact resistance and is based on PlasterMax technologies. The superior ceramic

like strength and hardness qualities are designed to flatten a projectile rapidly upon impact, thereby

creating greater resistance to penetration. It is environmentally sustainable while providing strength,

durability, and economy. It forms a strong bond with many substrate materials such as foam, CMU,

concrete, cement board, brick and stucco with tensile bond strength exceeding the tensile strength of the

substrate in many cases. It can be applied as a single coat from 3/8” or incrementally layered whilst still in

a gel state up to 2” thick depending on application. Heavy duty non combustible glass fiber mesh is

embedded within the material during application. A paint finish is recommended after complete curing has

taken place in 5 days. BallistiCrete is a natural limestone color and is pre-blended, mix with conventional

plaster mixing equipment. It can be pumped and sprayed or hawk and trowelled. BallistiCrete comes in a

2 part package and both are mixed together onsite. Working time is approximately 1 hour at 60-70F.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS

BallistiCrete™ is designed to be environmentally responsible and sustainable. It emits no pollutants even

in contact with fire, no smoke, no flame and no VOC’s. The Product meets emission level requirements of

GREENGUARD product quality testing. BallistiCrete is at minimum 98% silica free, and does not support

the growth of mold and mildew. The Company has just passed official ballistic tests proving it can stop 5

rounds of AK47 bullets in an 8 inch circle when applied over fragile gypsum board or hollow block

construction. Tests were performed by H.P. White Labs in Maryland, an accredited Government approved

testing agency to NIJ Level III AK47 and NIJ Level IV .308 Armor Piercing. The AK47 has been the most

popular terrorist weapon of choice for decades and is used globally by military and civilians and of course

al-Qaeda and now ISIS.

PERFORMANCE BENEFITS

➢ Provides a hard, durable coating over many wall surfaces, over 8500 PSI compressive strength (Per

ASTM C109)

➢ Applies directly over EPS foam, existing stucco, cement board, CMU blocks or wood substrates.

➢ Noncombustible building material (Per ASTM E136)

➢ Zero flame spread, and zero smoke developed indices (Per ASTM E84)

➢ Resistant to mold and mildew growth (Per ASTM G21)

➢ When applied over EPS foam, BallistiCrete™ meets ICC building code required fire protection

requirements (Per UBC 26-3; NFPA 286; and IBC Section 803.2.1, Corner Room Fire Tests).

➢ Meets all the emission level requirements of the GREENGUARD Product Quality

➢ Can be applied to create both smooth and textured finishes; and, it can be painted.

➢ Pre-formulated mix, needs only mixing on site

➢ Mix and apply using pumps/sprayers or hawk and trowel

Click HERE to review the informative BallistiCrete PowerPoint!