Why You Should Use ICF for Your Storm Shelter

With extreme weather events happening more and more frequently as the years go by, it’s never been a better time to have a secure storm shelter readily available for you and your family to seek refuge in. Having a storm shelter in or near your house that you can immediately evacuate to in the event of a tornado, hurricane, or other severe weather events could mean the difference between life and death. 

With recent advances in construction technology, you can now put more faith than ever in a properly constructed storm shelters ability to protect you. ICFs have revolutionized the game when it comes to building disaster-safe buildings of all types. 

In order to get you up to speed on why ICFs are the best choice for your storm shelter, let’s go through a run-down of all the benefits they offer and why they stand head and shoulders above the competition.

ICFs Are Durable

A good storm shelter needs to be able to withstand an incredible amount of damage. ICFs (insulated concrete forms) are built to withstand impacts from flying debris traveling over 100mph. This level of durability meets and even exceeds the storm shelter standards originally set by the ICC. 

This quality is incredibly important to have for a storm shelter because flying debris does the majority of damage in storms, killing around 60 people each year.

ICF Structures Are Immovable

A good storm shelter needs to be completely immovable. This means that it needs to be anchored to the ground so well that not even the highest winds imaginable can move or lift it. 

ICFs are especially immovable because each individual block in the wall system is tied together with either rebar or solid plastic ties. This creates a continuous load path from the roof to the walls and down into the foundation, making the structure effectively immovable. 

ICF Shelters Take Less Time to Build and Are More Cost Effective

You might think that a small storm shelter with such a superior ability to protect its inhabitants would be incredibly expensive, but that’s actually not the case with ICF shelters. 

Because everything is pre-molded before installation, the construction process for ICF plans is much quicker than with normal concrete construction. This means you won’t need to pay as much to have yours built, and you won’t have to sacrifice even a small amount of quality to enjoy this luxury.

Using ICF for Your Storm Shelter is the Smart Choice

When you look at all the variables and characteristics that go into making a high-quality storm shelter, it becomes obvious that ICF is the best choice you could make. Not only are ICF structures durable enough to withstand impacts from flying debris of well over 100mph, they are completely immovable thanks to their interlinked design and continuous load path. 

If those two facts weren’t enough to convince you, they are also cheaper to build than typical concrete structures and cost less to install. Taking this into account, it’s a no-brainer when wondering what material you should use to help give you a tornado safe home.