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Storm Shelter Installation -
Elgin, Oklahoma House
June 3, 2021 |
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If this is the first page you are
visiting on this website, we had another storm
shelter installed in 2014 in Lawton, OK.
See
the 2014 installation here.....
Fast forward exactly 7 years and we are doing this
again in Elgin, OK, in a home we purchased in 2018.
A couple of things you need to check on before
installation:
1) What kind of foundation do you have on your
house? Is it the good ole cement slab or the
newer post-tension cable system? Even though
this house is a new build, it only has a standard
cement slab.
2) Mileage charges. Because the town our house
was in, was not the same as the company's, they
additionally charged us for mileage.
3) Is the entrance to your garage large enough to
get the shelter in? As you will see in the
photos below, it can be a tight fit if the shelter
was larger or opening smaller.
4) Do you have any plumbing where you plan on
putting the hole? You may not know until the
project begins. We didn't on our 2014
installation. Which means we had to halt the
2014 project until we found a plumber to re-route
the pipe.
5) Does your city require a permit and pre and post
installation inspections? Lawton, OK does!!
And there is a fee. Find out from the storm
shelter company who will contact the city inspector
and take care of the fee.
For this 2021 install, we are in a rural area
outside of our town's limits. No permits. No
inspections. Since we were familiar with the
shelters and the installation process, we were
relieved that an unnecessary inspection by an
overworked governmental employee would not tie-up
the process like the 2014 installation.
6) Does the company charge based on the amount of
hours they think it will take? If
they have to come back a second day, will they again
charge for mileage and the additional time?
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The company we used in 2014 was no longer in
business. Therefore, we needed to look for
another company. This time my husband did the
searching and contacted the company
Ground Zero
Storm Shelters out of Oklahoma City.
https://www.groundzeroshelters.com/
He ordered the largest in-ground
garage shelter they had. After finalizing the
purchase and installation particulars he paid a $450
non-refundable deposit. Non-refundable
because......it sounds like they have had folks
cancel their orders frequently.
The install date was scheduled for June 3, 2021.
The day before, they called my husband 4
times!!!!.....to ask if we were ready for the
install. A little excessive for my tastes.
On the second call, I would have told them not to
call again unless something had changed. Jeez,
the garage floor was cleared and we
would be home. What more did we have to do to
get ready???
Below are the photographs of the installation
process
They two man crew (Richard Millers and Mauricio)
from Ground Zero Storm Shelters arrived on-time
Thursday morning Jun 3, 2021 with our storm shelter. |
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The first thing to do was to mark
out the area in the garage where the shelter would
go. |
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Richard cuts the concrete slab
for the storm shelter.
Mauricio sprays water on the saw blade to prevent
overheating |
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The
concrete slab, over the soon to be dug hole,
is removed. The dirt is then removed.
This is the moment of truth. You never
know what you will find at this stage.
At our 2014 installation, we found the main
water line for the house.
At every scoop, I peeked inside the
deepening hole.
Besides pipes, there are other things that
could be found in the hole. Water.
Ground water would be a problem. A
large boulder.
Or ..... B-O-N-E-S.....Hah! You
laugh!! This house was built on an
area where there were woods.
You never know who or what passed through
this area a 100 years ago. |
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What did
we find in the hole?
Other than the dirt and some twigs...
Absolutely nothing. A perfectly dug
hole with no issues.
YES!!!
Mauricio hops inside the hole and does some
final digging and leveling of the dirt.
He measures to make sure the bottom of the
hole is deep enough and level.
After the hole bottom is level, it is time
to lower the storm shelter into the hole.
Richard moves the shelter into place inside
the garage.
The shelter is inched in and then lowered
into the hole. |
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Some of the removed dirt is placed back into the
outside edges of the hole |
After some dirt is added back in,
water was used to wet the soil before placing
the concrete in the top of the hole around the
edges. |
Concrete is added to the top
edges and smoothed out |
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After the storm shelter was
installed, my husband contacted the city's Storm
Shelter Registry to register our storm shelter.
This way if the worse happens and the house is
destroyed, they will know to look for us under the
rubble. It is a good idea to let any
friends, neighbors, or relatives know also. |
