Shelter In Place

Do you have the preps you need to shelter-in-place?

SHELTER -IN-PLACE INSTRUCTIONS
1. Get family members & pets inside as quickly as possible.
2. If there is time, shut and lock all outside doors and windows. Locking them may pull the door or window tighter and make a better seal against the chemical.
3. Turn off the air conditioner, furnace and all fans. Close the fireplace damper and any other place that air can come in from outside.
4. Go to the upstairs Guest Bathroom and shut the door.
5. Tape plastic over:
a. Door – leave 6 inches margin all sides. Securely tape bottom to floor.
b. Vent
c. Pipes under sink
d. Electrical outlets.
6. Sink and toilet drain traps should have water in them (you can use the sink and toilet as you normally would). If it is necessary to drink water, bottled water is in bath closet.
7. Turn on the radio. Keep a telephone close at hand, but don’t use it unless there is a serious emergency.

[PecanCorner]

I always figure our preps are more likely to be used for ordinary disasters than the great bugaboos, so am always glad to see the possibilities pointed out! Thank you for that! All those little details help get our minds working for our own plan. :-) Tina

[jkid]

Great ideas. Also, consider making multiple copies of the instructions. That way you can hand one to each person and assign them a task. Time is usually too short in these situations. Thanks for the reminder!

[ashley]

I will have one tomorrow. Thanks for the tip.

[HARDHAT]

Very good video! I hope many more will see it. And that website link is amazing!

[HuplesCat]

Good stuff. A smoke hood or gas mask would help if you live in a high risk area as you might have to evacuate
In the scenario of staying inside I'd go further and shove plastic bubble wrap up the chimney, doors, windows, around electrical sockets, a/c, etc. Try to do the whole house even if one room used. The gases fall but the roof of most homes is really leaky. Plastic sheeting, triple, across the roof and double layer walks and floors
ANother thing is have all your hoses inside the 'safe' area. Good when you need to hose down the outside after the All Clear.

[LetsTalkAboutPrepping]

Vaseline can be used to putty up cracks where tape doesn't hold. Dry-z-air or other products which are made for removing moisture from the air in r.v.'s and such, if you will be in there awhile, are a good idea.

[Writerdust]

Can you cut and paste those instructions and put it in the description or a comment section below❓

[johnlord]

Issue about doing the windows with plastic sheeting. Had an issue in South Dakota (and -40F) weather. Put double sided tape on the outside edging of the wooden frame, and put up large and modestly thin painters plastic sheeting. Whole house was immediately warmed, just from that little plastic creating an air barrier, and stopping any air convection against the cold glass window.

For those of short stature, consider using little velcro buttons to first attach to the door and window frames. Pre-size, cut, and have the other velcro button already at the designated spot on the plastic. Done first - done right, and so much easier to put onto the door or windows, without having fight the whole (d!) plastic sheeting. And you can do the same with winter sheeting (clear plastic) for keeping in the internal heat (winter blizzards) - and summer sheeting (black plastic) respectively keeping out the external heat (heat waves). Consider both outside and inside window frame plastic sheeting - amazing potential for energy reduction costs. Velcro buttons are easy for outside and inside attachment without sticky tape destruction.

EVEN BETTER ... DIY and with minimal cost ... make small pine wood picture framing - that snugly fits around all door and window frames. The plastic sheeting is double-sided stick taped to the inside of the picture frame. Then just raise up entire picture frame and slide onto door or window frame, and the quick and easy whole tight sealing is accomplished in one maneuver. No more issues of small or tall people, or trying to tape the top of a door or window lattice.

For the bottom of the door frames, have a longer length of plastic that stretches out 1 foot from the door inward into the room, and 6-12 inches along each side of the frame. Make it as a rectangluar-ish "T" shape that can be pushed against the whole footprint of the door frame bottom. Then have a small pillow sacks filled with sawdust (always good for fire tinder) or sand. Push this up against the entire door frame footprint. Totally sealed off eezy squeezy.

If you have velcro buttons on the wall and the door or window door picture frame, then that will provide the greater holding power of the frame to the wall. These are so much easier for installation and removal/storage. And if you use blue painters tape (removable without sticking/grabbing/ripping, etc) this can easily tape up such frame to the door or window wall - and just as easily be removed and not have such detrimental sticky tape tearing everything up and having to toss the whole shebang.

Black frames (outside and inside) on north-sided windows and garage doors for winter (winds and blizzard snow). Black frames (outside and inside) for south-sided windows and garage doors for summer (hot winds and heat waves). Clear frames for summer north-sided windows and garage doors. Clear frames for winter south-sided windows and garage doors. Electricity bill should go way down with inside heating or A/C if you have single- (even double- or triple-) paned windows.

If you have all these frames pre-made for the house, then have them stored atop the garage rafters. They will be easy to change per season, but also quick and easy to get in SHTF or emergency. And having such inside black window and door frames in SHTF, keeps nosy lookie-loos from inspecting the inside of your house. Making a little horizontal 2 inch slit in the black sheeting (that is covered with a small attached flip to cover the slit, you can then have such look out points for surveillance, but blacked out at night for no outside light coming from your abode.

[megparkgv]

This is an area I need to prep. Thanks for all the practical tips.

[edieboudreau]

Great idea. If live near RR or chemical/paper plant....having a piece of that plastic cut to length and taped above door of designated room & then rolled up & placed over 2 curtain rod brackets hung above where taped to wall (1 each on opposite sides) would keep at least that piece ready to go to save time. (& over any windows if don't have any rooms without them.) still keeping a couple bags of the plastic in kit just in case need to use in another room. Great timely vid. Where's that instructions/website link again???

[lynettevolz]

Can you share the checklist as a printable and the label you made for the container please?

[danielgodismyjudge]

Low arias are death traps. Best thing to do if you can leave the aria at a 90 degree angle and know the wind direction and relation of cem spill.

[LetsTalkAboutPrepping]

Really awesome video PP. I think about this one often and im glad you beat me to it. One of the most common and honestly mundane events that is ignored in preps very often

[robininva]

Everything you do you do so well. Very thorough! Thanks for sharing this. ♥️

[PreparednessVeteran]

I am always an advocate of assessing what threats are in your area and many people are blind to what is in their area. Some transportation hubs are completely out of our control (eg - road and rail routes). It's another strand in our complex preparation scheme, versatility should also be key.
CBRN gear could also be used should you need to evacuate from a Shelter In Place Toxic Industrial Chemical situation too.

[SoloSailer]

Interesting. I hadn’t really thought about this. I’m going shopping for that plastic

[jjo]

Very good information, much was new to me. Thanks! : )

[sunnybelisle]

Thank you. Excellent information! :-D

[midtennprepper]

I prep for my kds and grand kids. I think I have everything and then some. you have to consider everything even a second location. Thanks

[dutchcourage]

One thing i do not like about this is that you seal off the room entirely (like i know that is the idea ~ but) as you need to breath oxygen at some point, and sealing off a room may well suffocate you. This means you may want to consider the size of the room you shelter in (and with how many people), the bigger the more oxygen you will have. Or perhaps consider gasmasks instead (though for some chemicals it's mainly contact with the skin that's harmful, also consider diving equipement (or oxygen bottle of some kind ~ although to much oxygen is also bad for you !! ) …

And this is a concern for me personally, i live in a newer rental house, and it has ventilation in every room with a heat exchange/fan. So it sucks in 'fresh air' and heats it up with inside air and blows it to pretty much every room. This means all rooms are 'open' to the outside regardless of whether the windows are open or closed, and there is some industry nearby. It sucks, and it's one of the main reasons i hope to get out of this place sooner than later!