Every year, tornadoes, hurricanes, and other severe windstorms rip through hundreds of towns and cities across the United States, injuring and killing people and causing millions of dollars in property damage. You can protect your family from injury caused by the high winds and flying debris of a windstorm by constructing or installing a safe room in your home. A safe room is different from the other rooms in your home because it has been specially designed and tested to withstand wind speeds of up to 250 miles per hour and the impact of a 15 pound 2 by 4 flying at a speed of 100 miles per hour. Typically, the safe room should be located in a central, interior, ground-floor area of the home for additional protection as well as accessibility. The basement of a home can also be used as a location for a safe room. A safe room can be incorporated into the construction of a new home, or it can be retrofitted into an existing home. The safe room can function year-round as a usable area, such as a bathroom, closet or utility room. Safe rooms can be constructed out of reinforced concrete, reinforced concrete masonry or combinations of wood frame and steel sheathing or concrete masonry infill. Safe rooms can also be manufactured, assembled and installed on site. Here are some things to consider when constructing or installing a safe room: Safe rooms must be structurally isolated from the main structure of your home. Safe rooms must be securely anchored to the foundation. Safe rooms installed in or over a crawl space must have a separate foundation. Safe rooms must have adequate ventilation. All components of safe rooms, including walls, ceilings, and door assemblies, must be designed and tested to resist the specified wind forces and prevent perforation by windborne debris.

Bob takes a tour with the architect for the Roxbury project, Fernando Domenech, to understand the difference between "adaptability" and "accessibility" when it comes to designing homes with wheelchairs in mind.

Karen Brooks Hopkins, president of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, gives Bob a peek at the restoration of one of its facilities. BAM, which held its first performance in 1861, is the oldest performing arts center in country. The original location on Montague Street in Brooklyn presented New York with some of the popular performers of the time, Ellen Terry, Edwin Booth, Tomas Salvini, and Fritz Kreisler. After a fire in 1903, the center was moved to its current location at the edge of Brooklyn's business district in the fashionable neighborhood of Fort Greene. After World War II the neighborhood and Facility went into decline. In the past thirty years the area has gone through gentrification and the surrounding community has been revitalized. BAM is now the largest presenter of contemporary international dance, theatre, and opera in the United States. The entire weatherworn facade is being renovated, including the terracotta cherubs and the colorful cornices. The architectural firm managing the BAM renovation is Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates. Hugh Hardy is leading the team, using modern technology and materials to restore the terracotta ornamentation, and the reconstruction of the parapet and cornice, which was removed for safety reasons almost 50 years ago. Work being performed also includes replacing the cracked brickwork and lintels, creating handicap accessibility, a partial roof replacement, refurbishment of stained-glass windows, cleaning of the facade, and the addition of an undulating, 130 foot-long glass entrance canopy.

Bob meets with Ryley and installs a Schlage interior lever lockset for the accessibility house, because lever locks are easier for differently abled folks to operate.

…openings for the lock set. 4) Getting the threads aligned can be tricky. 5) Once the lock set is in place, attach the lever action handles. 6) They screw through from the inside. 7) Mark and drill out the strike plate, use a nail punch to…

…jewelry that provides the trim and finish accents that tie the whole collection together. This may even include a toilet trip lever in a matching style and finish. Getting Started If you ve decided to incorporate a bathroom suite, there are several…

…twist its round shape. The solution: lever handles that are easier for most people to press down. "I want my home to have lever door handles when I have two bags of groceries…
…groceries. However, with a universal design lever door handle it would be possible. "Everyone…

… Step 1: Remove the bathtub drain lever. Use a screwdriver to remove the screws that fasten the bathtub drain lever to the tub. Pull the drain mechanism…
…tub. Unscrew and remove the drain lever mechanism. Step 2: Clean the drain…