Yes. However, there are a few restrictions and considerations that must be examined with this type of shelter.
Floodplain
In homes located within the floodplain, FEMA P-320 requires that the safe room need only be elevated to the minimum lowest floor elevation identified by the floodplain ordinance of the community. If you are located in the floodplain within the City of Jenks and want to install this type of shelter, you must provide documentation that your home is elevated to this standard. Contact the City of Jenks for more information.
The best possible location for an in-ground safe room within a garage is in a no parking area. It is our recommendation that you place your safe room in such a way that it is unlikely that a vehicle would need to be moved to access the safe room.
Post-Tension
Homes with a post-tension cable reinforcement system in the slab require an additional step in installation and an additional inspection. A post-tension slab has cables in the slab instead of traditional steel rebar. These cables are stressed to high levels of tension after the slab is poured and cured and provide support to the slab and protection from settlement of the foundation. The spacing of these cables is such that a safe room installed in a slab will require the removal of a portion of two to four cables typically. In order to protect the integrity of the cable system, cables that are cut must be re-stressed.
Process
This process requires overcutting the slab on two sides of the intended installation area and installing hardware on the cut cables that will allow them to be re-stressed. A new section of concrete is then poured, allowed to cure, and the cables are then re-stressed. It is imperative that a homeowner with this type of slab contact a professional post-tension company, such as Stresscon or Oklahoma Post Tension, to perform this work. An inspection of this process is required and will be made by a City of Jenks inspector before new concrete is poured or a safe room placed in the ground. Homes with traditional rebar slab systems do not require this process or inspection, and a portion of the slab can be cut away for the installation of a safe room with minimal adverse effect to the foundation.