How much does it cost to install a panic room in a house?
When you hear the words “panic room,” you might think of the 2002 flick in which Jodie Foster hides in a fortified room in a Manhattan town house. Foster’s character has a bevy of surveillance equipment and supplies, but thieves terrorize her and attack the room until she is forced to come out and confront them. But panic rooms are generally less dangerous and exciting than they sound. For one, they’re usually called “safe rooms,” which makes them seem a little less dramatic. We can also trace their origins much further back than any Jodie Foster movie. Medieval feudal lords, for example, used safe rooms as protection from siege. But how close does Hollywood come to capturing a real panic room? Today’s panic rooms can be extremely high-tech. Most security experts say that with basic communication equipment, occupants should have to hole up in the room for only an hour or two in case of a home invasion. To understand the panic room, we have to understand why people want them. The most a
Panic Room Construction and Costs The easiest and most cost-effective way to install a panic room is during construction of a new home. You can work with an architect specializing in secure facilities or bring in a security firm during the blueprint stage. You’ll probably want to tell as few people as possible about the panic room, so the designer often does not tell the contractor about it. It might be called a “mechanical room” on the blueprint, and then you’d bring in a security team after the contractors leave. You’ll want to have the architectural and security firms sign confidentiality agreements to protect the secret room. tornado shelter construction Dave Gatley/FEMA Photo Workers in Sioux City, Iowa, construct a tornado shelter with cement-filled foam walls. In existing homes, bathrooms, closets and wine cellars often get made over into panic rooms. A security firm can advise you on how to fortify a particular room so that it is easily accessible to you but not to intruders. S
