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Wood Tornado Shelter

The United States experiences more tornado activity than any other country in the world, with more than 1,000 tornadoes recorded each year. These storms cause billions of dollars in damage and on average claim the lives of 60 people and injure 1,500 more annually.

In an effort to increase the probability of surviving the high winds of a hurricane or a tornado, an escalating number of Americans are installing a “Safe Room” in their home.

Forest Products Laboratory researchers have developed a residential tornado shelter that meets industry safety standards and can be built into an existing home using readily available materials and tools. The 8-ft by 8-ft room can be built by a local contractor, or even assembled by a handy homeowner, which can result in substantial cost savings.

Here you’ll find all the information you need to build a tornado shelter in your own home. The documents and videos were produced in partnership with Home Innovation Research Labs.

Materials available on these pages to view and download include: 

  • an overview of the shelter and introduction to the project;
  • technical construction drawings; and
  • a detailed guide that provides all you need to know about
    • where to locate your shelter,
    • the materials required, and
    • sequenced instructions including the tools and materials used for each step.
  • Six how-to videos also illustrate the step-by-step construction process.

Standards for Safe Rooms are set forth by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Using these standards, this research study is exploring the feasibility of using small diameter timber in the form of small laminated logs as a primary building material for the construction of Safe Rooms.

Construction Guide Navigation

Download the Construction GuideDownload the Construction Drawings

Background

Many U.S. forests contain a significant amount of small diameter timber, but it is usually not harvested because either it is not economical to remove or local capacity to process such material does not exist. An abundance of small-diameter timber in the forest increases the risk of insect, disease, fire, and drought damage.

Expanding on the research performed by the Wind Engineering Research Center at Texas Tech University, a study was conducted to develop sever weather safe rooms using small-diameter timber. The research followed the standards set forth in FEMA publications 320 Taking Shelter from the Storm Building a Safe Room Inside Your Home, 361 Design and Construction Guidance of Community Shelters, and the National Performance Criteria for Tornado Shelters.

Using an air-pressurized debris launcher, Forest Products Laboratory researchers performed tests that follow FEMA standards:

  • A 15-lb, No. 2 Southern Pine 2- by 4-in. missile is fired at 100 mph at a Safe Room wall to simulate tornado debris.
  • A 9-lb, No. 2 Southern Pine 2- by 4-in. missile is fired at 34 mph to simulate hurricane debris.

This wall was built using four-ply vertically laminated logs (nominal 6- by 8-in.) with tongue-in-groove joints. Various buffering and support systems were tested in order to pass FEMA standards.

Initial results indicated that some reinforcement or impact cushioning to the wall is required to maintain integrity and provide sufficient safety for occupants. Improved results were shown when laminated logs were reinforced with a tempered or composite enhanced hardboard on the inside of the test wall.

People

Design Assumptions and Test Results

Wind Speed/Wind Pressure Calculations

Impact and Wind Pressure Requirements

Step By Step Instructions

Last updated December 3, 2025
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