[Philmo11]

It is most definitely not what I had planned this spring. Now that I have sold my other house, I need to get the building out back weather tight. I have an entire house full of stuff packed into this one and a 20’ box trailer. I need that 40’ building completed, and I’ll be damned if my guns are going out there.

So I decided this morning, I’m confiscating the “walk-in closet”. I believe it’s probably an old maid’s quarters. 11’x8’. A lot of these old houses had them. Second story where the boys sleep, dubbing as a safe room (however, there’ll be no safes in it due to the weight).

It was packed full of crap, so you couldn’t actually walk in it more than 3ft. We cleaned house and stuffed whatever would fit in the guest room on the first floor.

This was right before I started ripping crap off the walls. Wife had no idea I was going to do this, neither did I though. I told her I can do this for $1500 or the vault for $15000. Choice was hers.

This was it a few minutes ago

Bought a steel deadbolt door, electronic locks, and plan to get one of those barricades that lifts up out of the floor. Walls are drywall, plaster and laves, another layer of plaster and laces, drywall, 3/4” plywood and another layer of drywall. Once your in there, no one else is coming in. Plenty of guns and ammo inside while they wait for the police to arrive.

Got new wood floors, 4x8 sheets of pegboard for the side walls. Still need trim and lighting.

Plan to do away with the display case and take everything inside of them and build it into the end wall up here. This will have to do while I wait for yet another year to build the one I want.

I’ll use the big safes as ammo storage so I will have to build the shelving inside sometime in the next two weeks. The 88 gun is sitting on a concrete floor and the big Liberty is sitting on an outside wall right over the beam in the house so they should be good for weight bearing. I’ll keep plenty enough ammo up in the armory to keep the zombies at bay until the cavalry arrives.

I expect to have this completed by end of next weekend.

 

[up2it]

Second floor and no steel AR500 could be disastrous.

Finish the shop and build the safe room in it. JMTCW?

 

[Philmo11]

Second floor and no steel AR500 could be disastrous.

Several thousand lbs of steel on a second floor would be disastrous. Two of the interior walls sit above an open space below. No way to support that kind of weight.

 

[Square target]

I know a guy who did this in his house last year. He couldn't do the steel either and it's also an old farm house with plaster/lath and then a newer walls over it. One thing that stuck in my mind that he did was get one of those cheap disposable burner phones you don't need a plan with(just a minutes card) and keep it in the room and plugged in and also make sure you have service in there as well. He also has 2 heavy flat steel bars on the inside to put in front of the doors so it can't be kicked in.

 

[Coalcracker]

My gun room/loading room is on the second floor. I have all the weight against the walls. Most of it is on the outer walls. Same deal here the horse hair plaster and lath. And good ole southern pine. I check below the room now and then for cracks in the ceiling and walls.

 

[Philmo11]

I know a guy who did this in his house last year. He couldn't do the steel either and it's also an old farm house with plaster/lath and then a newer walls over it. One thing that stuck in my mind that he did was get one of those cheap disposable burner phones you don't need a plan with(just a minutes card) and keep it in the room and plugged in and also make sure you have service in there as well. He also has 2 heavy flat steel bars on the inside to put in front of the doors so it can't be kicked in.

Yes, barricades on the door. I have been looking for slide bolts so there is nothing to pick up, just slide them closed. Lag bolted to two studs on either side. You'd have to kick the whole wall down to get the door open. I have extra phones that should be able to make 911 calls even without service. need to look into how that's done so everyone knows in the event no one grabs a phone. Going to route all security cameras to that room so they can see where intruders are, what they are doing.

My gun room/loading room is on the second floor. I have all the weight against the walls. Most of it is on the outer walls. Same deal here the horse hair plaster and lath. And good ole southern pine. I check below the room now and then for cracks in the ceiling and walls.

Two walls are outside walls. My thoughts were, no one is going to climb a ladder and try to open the side of the house... unlike a first floor room with windows. The inside corner of that room sits over the ceiling fan in my kitchen so other than the guns, no additional weight on those two walls. I am looking into fiberglass panels that are bullet proof but I don't know how much they weigh yet. $3600 for a 4x10 panel. They aren't cheap.

 

[underdog]

Escape hatch?

 

[Philmo11]

Escape hatch?

Shouldn’t need an escape hatch when you are more heavily armed than the police. Someone manages to get in that room, lite em up.

 

[up2it]

Several thousand lbs of steel on a second floor would be disastrous. Two of the interior walls sit above an open space below. No way to support that kind of weight.

Bullits through floor and walls is what I'm getting at. Just saying not a safe room to be in.

Finish the shop and build a safe room in it.

 

[RMLamp]

I know a guy who did this in his house last year. He couldn't do the steel either and it's also an old farm house with plaster/lath and then a newer walls over it. One thing that stuck in my mind that he did was get one of those cheap disposable burner phones you don't need a plan with(just a minutes card) and keep it in the room and plugged in and also make sure you have service in there as well. He also has 2 heavy flat steel bars on the inside to put in front of the doors so it can't be kicked in.

Any cell phone can call 911 even if it has no SIM card installed so you can use one of your old phones. What about a few kevlar panels for some ballistic protection?

 

[Philmo11]

Any cell phone can call 911 even if it has no SIM card installed so you can use one of your old phones. What about a few kevlar panels for some ballistic protection?

I found some level 3 ballistic drywall. $630/4x9 sheet. Won’t happen right now but it’s worth adding to the list. Level IV intrusion resistant, whatever that means. I’ll only have to take down one long wall to put it in. Won’t be anything hanging on the other wall. It’ll stop pistol rounds. I found some steel plates designed to prevent the frame from giving. Bolt into the studs and replace the strike plates. Like 4’ long.

Bullits through floor and walls is what I'm getting at. Just saying not a safe room to be in.

True but I’ll be able to see everything they are doing outside that room, including where they are standing. If their bullets can come in, mine can go out. Most people are going to give up when they can’t get in.

 

[Philmo11]

Removing old hardwood because it was only partially done.

Just a weight test to see if the pegboard would bow in under weight.

New floor installed and car siding on the back wall where the revolvers and stuff go.

Steel door installed and locks. Need a lot of upgrades yet to harden that door.

I used the hardwood 1x’s from inside the room to shim the frame on both sides so it’s solidly fit. Need to get the Armor Max kit tomorrow (assuming I can get away). They claim their kit can withstand the battering ram.

 

[Philmo11]

I think this is probably the bolt set I’m looking for

 

[806]

Philmo11 that armory is gone be nice when done. Well done sir.

 

[Philmo11]

Ran out of boards to mount pegboard…

I spent the last 3 hours pulling everything out of the glass cases. Hung 6 rows shelving supports, carried up all the guns and glass shelves (let me tell you something, those damn things are heavy!) and realized I can’t find the shelf brackets for the 12” deep shelves. So all the shelves are sitting on the floor because those 12” shelves go on the bottom and I have to stair step them up the wall. I hurt too bad to go back up for a second pic.

Panoramic view from earlier while paint was drying.

 

[Zhills]

This what ya looking for?

12" PEGBOARD SHELF BRACKET, 24 PER BOX #7933Z | eBay

Super duty 12” long pegboard shelf bracket for 1/4" pegboard. The pegboard shelf bracket is perfect for supporting wood, glass shelving, or bullnose shelving.

www.ebay.com

 

[Stamps6]

IDK. I personally don’t see the reason. To each his own. I know we don’t all have the police 5-7 minutes away and I home defense gun would pride all that I’d need. From now on Phil I think I’m just going to call you “Tony Montonna”. Looks great and you’re doing a great job. Watch they don’t go in the attic and come through the ceiling.

 

[Zhills]

IDK. I personally don’t see the reason. To each his own. I know we don’t all have the police 5-7 minutes away and I home defense gun would pride all that I’d need. From now on Phil I think I’m just going to call you “Tony Montonna”. Looks great and you’re doing a great job. Watch they don’t go in the attic and come through the ceiling.

Absolutely! As a weapons storage (gold storage ) facility, I think it's great, you need it! was never really a fan of glass display cases in this day/age. But a room to send my family and lock them in, naw. I'm going to let my dogs do some work an back them up with anything I can get my hand on. These crooks don't expect someone to take the fight to them. If I'm in a locked room, they just might burn the house down around me.

 

[Philmo11]

The room is primarily for the guns. We have an escape route plan if needed. The question is, what if they can’t get out? Is it better to be in a room with they can’t get in or wait for someone to kick the bedroom door in? I’m going to go with a fortified room. It’s only necessary until the police get here to deal with the problem. That could be as long as 20-30 minutes. A lot can happen in that time. I’d rather there be access to guns and a barrier between them and an intruder than nothing at all.

I have 9 dogs out here, the pups are already half the size of their mom and growing fast. By June, they’ll all be full grown. I have no doubt that they’d make short work of someone trying to hurt the boys but they have to be able to get to them. I’m in a 3 story house there’s no escape from 2 sides. Dogs can’t climb walls to come in a second or third story window.

 

[Philmo11]

Watch they don’t go in the attic and come through the ceiling.

Plywood floors in there