Grannyjojo, Thanks for sharing your info with us. Your son-in-law's words frighten me but in this case, I think it is good to be scared, if you know what I mean. I do want to empahsize that on a day like today, especially if you are in the area with the 'high' risk, the only truly safe shelter is an in-ground tornado shelter or a safe room. This is not one of those days to seek shelter in the bathtub with a pillow or mattress over your head, unless it is your only option. My dad and brother both survived tornadoes, and I've seen a couple in the air but never been in a building hit by one. I hope that's an experience I never have. We keep supplies in our tornado shelter year-round, including a change of clothing and shoes for each person, beach towels and folding chairs, and a Rubbermaid tote full of flashlights, batteries, a first aid kit, candles, matches, bottled water, trail mix, etc. We tote our important papers and medicines out to it as well when conditions warrant. We always take our VFD fire radios so we can listen to storm spotters and emergency personnel. Usually my DH and DS are out storm spotting while I am down in the hidey hole alone. We just put in a tornado siren at our local volunteer fire station (actually, our local electrical co-op very kindly installed it for us) which gives us one more way to help keep our local citizens informed. I'll tell you what really scares me---when we drive into town and encounter all kinds of storm chasers gathering in town and plotting out their strategies in terms of which roads they will take and where they will position themselves to chase the storms. When I see that they are here, I have a strong urge to run home and get into the shelter even before a warning is issued. The last time we actually had storm chasers on our road, a tornado crossed the Red River near us, touching down right at the river in an unpopulated area (flood plain). That's as close as I ever want to be to a tornado. Dawn

is this a room to run to when burglars come (like that Jodie Foster movie) or a room to store valuables....the difference being one is large and one is small. If small, I would think a small door would suffice, depending on what you are putting in there.

My dad's house used to belong to a gun dealer so he has a walk in vault. There is a regular 6 panel cherry door that matches the rest of the house. Behind it is the vault door. This might be an easy solution.

I apologize for not being clear and the confusion on the safe room. I am in tornado alley and in an area where basements are rare due to soil conditions and ground water level. The saferoom is being built 100% for a tornado shelter, If tornadoes were not so common in my area I would not build a safe room for a spot to evade home invaders. However since I am building it, I think it could serve multiple purposes if ever needed. I know I have a better chance of being struck by lightening then needing to use it for a place to hide from home invaders. Other uses it could serve if important file storage in a small file cabinet to protect from fire, since it's pretty much a solid concrete structure. It will be there for the tornado shelter so I might as well purpose it for as many uses as possible since it won't be used often. I have looked at putting it somewhere like a closet so it could serve dual purposes, but it doesn't work out well anywhere. If I use the laundry room as the safe room, then I would need two metal frames and reinforced doors which are very costly and UGLY. I looked at the master closet, but that closet is barely big enough as it is and I don't want to lose 8" all the way around to have it there. Nafnaf:. I do really like your idea with the stairs. I actually think this is the best suggestion yet, it solved lots of my problems. I don't like how small the 3rd bath becomes, but if I change the stairs like you suggest I think I can keep the safe room off the corner pantry and have the head room I need and also keep that bath layout the way it originally was.