Before building and hanging the door, install three custom-made 14-guage steel angles around
the perimeter of the door frame.
To provide additional reinforcement to the door frame, install the header angle first
followed by the two jamb angles.
These angles are attached using three-inch long 3/8 in.
diameter lag bolts.
Note the lag bolt holes are field drilled, where the jamb angles overlap the header angle.
Note also that the angle on the right side of the entrance when standing inside the safe
room is six inches wide, while the angle on the left side is four inches wide.
This is specified so that the left angle does not overlap with the bolt hooks used to hang
the door.
The door of the safe room is made of five layers, three sheets of plywood sandwiched
between two layers of 18-guage sheet medal.
Wood clamps are used to hold the five layers together and then a half-inch drill bit is
used to make five rows of three holes each.
Once the 15 holes have been drilled, the five layers of the door are held together with
3/8-in.
bolts.
A bolt and two washers, one on the interior and one on the exterior, are installed in
each.
A nut is tightened to hold the layers together.
This five-layer door design has been tested to ensure it can withstand the impact force
of a projectile shot at the room by tornado winds.
The door is hung on the exterior of the room by installing three bolt hooks and strap hinges.
First, shim the door up off the floor to provide clearance for swing and temporarily secure
it to the room before installing the hinges.
The door is heavy, so this procedure will require at least two people.
Then drill three 3/4 in.
holes through the wall for the 5/8 in.
diameter bolt hooks.
One bolt is located 14 inches from the bottom of the door, the second is located approximately
at the center of the door, and the last bolt is 12 inches from the top of the door.
On the wall, the bolts are located five inches away from the edge of the door jamb.
Note that the middle bolt hook faces down, to ensure that the door cannot be lifted by
wind once installed.
Next, drill six 1/2 in.
holes in the door, two for each of the three hinges.
The hinges will be attached to the exterior of the door with 3/8 in.
bolts.
Attach the bottom hinge using two bolts, but do not tighten all the way.
Then slide the top hinge onto the corresponding bolt hook and bolt the hinge onto the door's
exterior.
Be sure the screws are not tightened all the way, either.
Finally, slide the middle hinge onto the middle bolt hook and attach the hinge to the door
exterior at the pre-drilled holes.
Be sure that the hinges are positioned vertically on the door so that they match up with the
corresponding bolt hook.
Tightened all of the bolts used to attach the hinges to the doors.
Three gate latches are installed on the interior surface of the door to lock the door from
inside the safe room.
First, bolt three two-by-fours onto the door so that the gate latches are offset 1.5 inches
from the interior surface of the door.
Then, install a slide bolt gate latch on each of these offsets.
Install three Simpson Strong-Tie HL53 heavy angles on the door jamb on top of the 14-guage
sheet metal angles to reinforce the slide bolt gate latch.
Bolt each angel onto the jamb using bolts installed on the room's interior wall.
Use a 3/4 in.
drill bit to expand holes nearest to the exterior of the room on each heavy angle.
The drill bit will also create a hole through the sheet metal jamb angle below.
Position each angle so the slide bolt of each match meets with one of the heavy angle's
holes on the jamb.
The gate latch bolts will enter these holes to lock the door.