Tornado Proof Homes in Oklahoma - Affordable, Stronger and Safer with ICF
Can Homes in Oklahoma be Built to Withstand a Tornado? The Answer is:
"Absolutely Yes!"
When Built with ICF & Reinforced Concrete
A search on the Internet for ideas on building a Tornado Resistant home in Oklahoma brings up many articles on the subject – but with misleading headlines and comments like:
“Tornado-Proof Homes In Oklahoma: Possible To Build But Expensive And Hideous” False !
“It is possible to build a tornado-proof home. But the cost would be excessive, and your house would certainly be the ugliest on the block.” False !
In widely read sites like the Huffington Post, is it any surprise that many residents of Oklahoma City or Oklahoma State in general resign themselves to building or rebuilding using inferior wood stick-frame construction method – which has proven to be totally inadequate for building a Tornado Safe home in Oklahoma?
Concrete homes built using Green Building Materials, tested and proven in the USA and Canada, can look exactly like a stick framed home. You simply need an experienced ICF Home building company like Insulated Concrete Forms & More, LLC out of Oklahoma City, OK.
Judge for yourself how good other Tornado resistant ICF concrete homes in OK can look here
Ask Yourself – If an Insulated Concrete Form constructed Tornado-Resistant ICF home can be built in Oklahoma for around the same price as a flimsy stick-built home, why would ANYONE continue to build with wood?
Bear in mind, the common thread is that most of the homes destroyed in Moore OK were stick-built – or “traditional”. Ironic considering that timber framed structures for house construction was an idea that was largely replaced by solid masonry wall construction around the 1400 to 1600’s period in Europe to improve a home’s durability and fire resistance.)
Thankfully there are some more objective articles out there – one for example in Popular Mechanics repeats the theme with “If an extremely powerful tornado drops down on a home, there's not a lot you can do” – but acknowledges “Our wood-frame houses just aren't built to withstand such force, as the pictures from tornado-ravaged towns this weekend attest”.
“This dramatic example raises a fundamental question: Can a home be built to withstand a tornado?”
“The answer is yes—if the home were constructed like a bomb-proof bunker, with thick walls, a reinforced concrete roof, and a super-strong internal support system to prevent structural collapse.”
Popular Mechanic’s goes on to say “the average home, which is built out of ordinary construction lumber, plywood, and particle board and wood-frame structures are particularly at risk: In short, a tornado turns a wood-frame house into a gigantic, wind-driven pry bar. Once the departing structural elements have left a hole in the structure, the wind enters and dismantles the home like a bomb.”
So the danger of a stick-built home in Oklahoma isn’t only that it disintegrates when it's on the periphery of a tornado path, providing little to no shelter or protection for the homeowners – but that the destroyed wood structure itself then becomes a Tornado driven whirling mass of airborne missiles that cause even more mayhem and destruction to other stick-built homes, businesses or anyone in its path.
The article about Tornado proof homes in Oklahoma continues: “How to "tornado-proof" a house, how to increase its resistance to damage?” Their conclusion “you have to build it so it performs like a single-piece…”
And that’s where building a home to be tornado resistant in Oklahoma from ICF materials and high strength reinforced concrete makes the most sense. Building with ICF brings so many other advantages for the Oklahoman homeowner in addition to being Stronger and Safer, they are also Healthier and more Energy Efficient and naturally Tornado resistant because of the inherent strength of concrete and an integrated reinforced home design.
But then let’s see what the experts say – in an article in NBC News about the Tornado that devastated Moore Oklahoma – the message is clear “Tornado-proof homes? Up to 85 percent can be spared”.
The article continues “inexpensive construction techniques could have kept up to 85 percent of the area's damaged houses standing” according to Andrew Graettinger, a civil engineer at the University of Alabama - "Lower wind speeds, you design to protect your house and higher wind speeds you design to save your life," Graettinger said. "Unfortunately, (in Oklahoma) you have to do them both."
“The total cost is the equivalent of installing granite countertops or a whirlpool tub, which many homeowners opt for without a second thought to make their homes look nice and raise their value.” Graettinger noted.
He makes a good point. Put like that, should minor cost differences be a reason not building a better, more solid and Tornado resistant home structure? Choosing to build a Tornado resistant home in Oklahoma from ICF (Insulated Concrete Forms) also creates a Healthier living environment while greatly reducing heating and cooling costs too. Bear in mind, granite countertops or a whirlpool tub won’t reduce your monthly outgoings every month or reduce insurance costs. Nor do they protect your family’s physical wellbeing or your financial investment in building your home.
With the best of intentions, homeowners in Oklahoma closely resemble that of the proverbial frog sitting in a heated pot of water which fails to recognize its own pending doom as the temperature of the water gradually increases. It just keeps absorbing the gradual increase in pain until the inevitable happens. There is an old saying, “Fail to plan, plan to fail.”
Now that ICF built, Tornado resistant homes in Oklahoma using reinforced concrete are available at a comparable initial cost to old-fashioned and proven inadequate stick-frame housing, it’s surely time to:
Build Stronger, Safer, Healthier, More Inergy Efficient and Affordable
To find out more about building a Tornado resistant home in Oklahoma from ICF Insulated Concrete Forms & More, OKC, click here or for more information on Green building materials in Oklahoma City, click here. We don’t expect anybody to take our word for it either – see reviews and customer feedback about having an ICF Insulated Concrete Form home built in Oklahoma Here.
Remember – as the Experts put it "If you are above ground and you get hit in a storm like that, ( The one in Moore, Okla. May 20th 2013 ) no matter the type of construction unless it is a concrete-reinforced structure, you are probably not going to have anything left,".
Building Tornado Resistant Homes in Oklahoma, ICF & More OKC, Your local ICF Dealer
ICFs are not a new technology - They are tried and tested! Find out more about the History of ICFs and ICF Construction from the Ecohome Network.
Find out how simple and cost effective it is to have Insulated Concrete Forms and More as part of the team - Contact ICF & More in Oklahoma and Get an initial Free Consultation or Quote.
GET MY FREE CONSULTATION OR QUOTE for building better in oklahoma for less Here ►
IBHS Research Center's Demonstration Video
This video by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety shows the difference between a standard/traditionally built home and a Fortified Home.
For additional information on how ICF & Concrete structures are the Smart way to build, download our "Withstanding the Storm with Insulating Concrete Forms & Concrete" pdf.
DOWNLOAD WITHSTANDING THE STORM BROCHURE
PCA Seismic Testing for ICF vs Steel and Wood
This report details the research that was conducted to compare the ability of ICF walls and conventionally framed walls, to resist structural stresses that can occur during an earthquake.
Commercial Safe Rooms in Oklahoma
A safe room is a hardened structure specifically designed to meet the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) criteria and provide near-absolute protection in extreme weather events, including tornadoes and hurricanes. Near-absolute protection means that, based on our current knowledge of tornadoes and hurricanes, the occupants of a safe room built in accordance with FEMA guidance will have a very high probability of being protected from serious injury.