INSTALL TWO DOOR KING SHELTER – ON CARPETED FLOOR (Always read until you see the “PERFORM AND RETURN” text before performing the instructions.)

DO NOT INSTALL IN AREAS PRONE TO HOME FLOODING

USE GLOVES TO HANDLE STEEL SHELTER PIECES, SOME EDGES ARE SHARP

THE MAXIMUM WEIGHT OF THE HEAVIEST PIECE OF THE SHELTER

IS 145 POUNDS AND IT IS BEST HANDLED WITH A DOLLY

If you are unsure about any aspect of installation, don’t hesitate to call us, including weekends.

I answer my business line 8 AM to 10 PM seven days a week. If for some reason I don’t answer,

leave a message and then also send me a text message. I will return your call ASAP!

IMPORTANT: If these instructions look too difficult, contact us and we will see if

there is a professional installer in your area. If none are available, we will

attempt to find a local storm shelter company willing to do the installation.

INSTALLATION NOTES ATTACHING SHELTER TO CONCRETE SLAB FLOOR: I’ve been told this is what convinces most,

potential, self-installers to, instead, pay for professional installation. That’s a shame since attaching the

shelter to the floor is not difficult. I explain a lot about avoiding drilling into the post-tension cables

some floors contain, but don’t let this scare you. Your chances of drilling through one of these cables

is extremely, extremely low. I explain how to avoid these cables out of an abundance of caution.

Just know that if you decide to self-install your shelter, I WILL BE AVAILABLE BY PHONE TO WALK

YOU THROUGH ANY ASPECT OF THE INSTALLATION! That includes being on the phone with you

for as long and as many times as necessary during the installation. I can explain in a few minutes on

the phone what might take me three pages of instructions to explain on paper so DON’T HESITATE

TO CLL ME FOR HELP DURING YOUR INSTALL.

CITY INSTALLATION PERMIT REQUIRMENTS: Tulsa, OK permit manager said that our shelter could

be considered furniture (a bed platform), so they DO NOT require a permit. Broken Arrow, OK said

they DO require a permit. On self-installs, it is your responsibility to determine if a permit is required

in your location and whether or not you want to get one.

IF NO FOOTBOARD WILL BE USED

If your bed will not have a footboard attached, you may want to use a spray can of black paint to

paint the lower third of the foot end (marked on shelter) of the Main Unit shelter pieces before

bringing them into your bedroom. IF you have a standard 14” bed skirt it will not go all the way to

the floor so, approximately, three inches of your shelter will be visible at the foot end of your bed.

Painting this area black will improve its looks. You can also buy a longer bed skirt (18”) from Wayfair,

preciousbedding.com and others.

INDEX INSTALLATION NOTES

View of Completed Shelter – Door Side

Close Up View of Escape Hatch and Door Mount L Plate

TOOLS NEEDED

FASTENER BAGS SUPPLIED

LIST OF SHELTER PARTS YOU RECEIVED

TASK 1 – VERIFY POSITION OF CURRENT BED AND MOVE IT OUT OF BEDROOM

TASK 2 – LOCATE STEEL IN FLOOR AND DECIDE ANCHORING LOCATIONS

Which Anchor Holes to Use

Notes on Drilling the Anchor Holes

TASK 3 – BRING THREE MAIN SHELTER PIECES INTO BEDROOM

TASK 4 – ATTACH MAIN SHELTER PIECES TOGETHER

TASK 5 – MARK FLOOR ANCHORING HOLE PLACEMENT

TASK 6 – CUT OUT CARPETING TO DRILL ANCHORING HOLES

TASK 7 – DRILLING STARTER ANCHORING HOLES

TASK 8 – COMPLETE DRILLING OF ANCHORING HOLES

TASK 9 – INSERT THE NUMBER OF STAND-OFF WASHERS NEEDED

TASK 10 – BOLT MAIN UNITS TOGETHER

TASK 11 – PLACE SHELTER OVER MOUNT HOLES

TASK 12 – INSERT ANCHORS INTO SLAB

TASK 13 – INSTALL DOOR MOUNT L PLATE ASSEMBLES

TASK 14 – INSTALL TOP EDGE SUPPORT ON BOTH SIDES OF SHELTER

TASK 15 – INSTALL DOORS ON BOTH SIDES OF SHELTER

TASK 16 – PREPARE VERTICAL EDGE SUPPORT ON BOTH SIDES OF SHELTER

TASK 17 – INSTALL ESCAPE HATCH ASSEMBLY ON BOTH SIDES OF SHELTER

TASK 18 – TIGHTEN DOOR BOLTS & INSTALL SLIDE BOLTS ON BOTH DOORS

TASK 19 – LEVEL DOOR, TIGHTEN ANCHOR BOLTS ON BOTH SIDES OF SHELTER

WATERPROOFING

TASK 20 –INSTALL SLAM LATCH MOUNT PLATE, SLAM LATCH AND HANDLE

TASK 21 – ADJUST DOOR LATCHING

TASK 22 – ADJUST DOOR SLIDE BOLTS

TASK 23 – ADJUST DOOR BOTTOM L

TASK 24 – INSTALL DOOR WHEEL WITH BRACKET

TASK 25 – INSTALL MATTRESS LIP

TASK 26 – INSTALL CUSHIONING

TASK 27 – INSTALL CENTER SUPPORT

TASK 28 – CUT OFF ANCHOR BOLTS

HEADBOARD AND FOOTBOARD INSTALLATION

ADDITIONAL CUSHIONING

PUT SUPPLIED TOOL BAG INSIDE SHELTER AND MOUNT YOUR TWO LIGHTS

REGISTER YOUR SHELTER WITH YOUR CITY

GROUNDING YOUR SHELTER

View of Completed Shelter – Door Side

Close Up View of Escape Hatch and Door Mount L Plate

Please refer to the pictures on this page if you are unsure of

how the preassembled pieces are attached to the shelter.

Escape Hatch

Door Mount L Plate

Air Slit Vent Opening

Door

Door Adjustable L Plate

Escape Hatch Door Mount L Plate Mattress Lip

Door

The Escape Hatch, Door Mount L Plate and

Door all come preassembled. The Mattress Lip

and the Door Handle are separate pieces.

Maximum Weight of Largest Main Unit Piece is 145 Pounds

TOOLS NEEDED: Borrow tools from us for free (deposit required).

Sockets:

Having two of each of these sockets and two ratchets is very helpful or you can use a single

socket and ratchet and a wrench of the same size.

7/16" socket for 1/4" bolts

1/2" socket for 5/16" bolts

9/16" socket for 3/8" bolts (you need a deep socket for the anchor nuts)

3/4" socket for 1/2" bolts

Torque Wrench. If you don’t have one, they aren’t very expensive, but buy a decent one.

Drill – short/stubby is best (with hammer drill option).

3/4" hand wrench (supplied in your shelter tool bag).

Large Screwdriver or Punch. Used for adjusting hole alignment. In a pinch, you can use the

needle nose pliers, in the closed position, that are supplied in your shelter tool bag.

Phillips-head Screwdriver (a regular and a small size)

Brown Craft Tape - included with installation kit (mainly needed if you don't have a helper)

3/8" Masonry Drill Bit - included with installation kit

Utility Razor Knife with new blade (used to cut out the carpet)

Tape Measure

Small Level (12” to 18” in length preferred)

Permanent Ink marker pen (for marking the holes that need to be drilled)

Metal File (probably not actually needed but it could be)

MISC. ITEMS YOU MAY WANT TO BORROW FROM US:

Metal Detector to locate steel in your slab floor. Not necessary in floors with just steel rebar.

Very helpful, but not mandatory, for homes with post-tension steel cables in their slab.

Wooden Anchor Mounting Hole Guide. Used to help you not drill into post-tension cables. You

can use a tape measure to do the same thing as this guide, which is fully explained below.

FASTENER BAGS SUPPLIED:

B1 = ½” x 1 inch hex head bolts.

B2 = ½” x 1 ¼ inch hex head bolts. (not needed or supplied on 2 door shelters)

B3 = ½” x 1 inch carriage head bolts.

B4 = ½” x 1 ¼ inch carriage head bolts.

B5 = ¼” x ½ inch carriage head bolts - set of bolts and nuts.

N1 = ½” nuts

W1 = ½” split lock washers.

W2 = Large flat washers (1 3/8” OD 9/16” ID)

W3 = ½” ID flat washers

Anchoring bag = Cement Anchors, hardened flat washers, nuts, 3/8” masonry drill bit and drill

centering guide. Since your installation is on carpet, in your anchoring bag will be a bag of large flat

washers (same size as W2). They’re used to create standoffs when mounting shelter to carpeted floor.

LIST OF SHELTER PARTS YOU RECEIVED

Description of Part Number of Pieces Received

Main Unit – Left Side 1

Main Unit – Right Side 1

Center Unit 1

Mattress Lip – Either Side 2

Door Assembly Left Side 1

Door Assembly Right Side 1

Escape Hatch Assembly – Left Side 1

Escape Hatch Assembly – Right Side 1

Door Mount L Plate Assembly – Left Side 1

Door Mount L Plate Assembly – Right Side 1

Top Edge Support – Left Side 1

Top Edge Support – Right Side 1

Slide Bolt Assembly For Door – Left Side 1

Slide Bolt Assembly For Door – Right Side 1

Center Support 0,1 or 2 as requested by buyer

Misc. Pieces

Slam Latch - CW (Left Side Door) 1

Slam Latch - CCW (Right Side Door) 1

Slam Latch Mount Plate – either side 2

Handle - CW (Left Side Door) 1

Handle - CCW (Right Side Door) 1

Wheel attached to Bracket – either side 2

Foam Pipe – Large Diameter Long Pieces 2

Foam Pipe – Small Diameter Long Pieces 2

Foam Pipe - Small Pieces Bag 1 bag

Fan 1

Lights 2

Bag of Tools - With Whistle 1

Fasteners (multiple numbered bags) 1 set

BEGIN INSTALLATION

TASK 1 – VERIFY POSITION OF CURRENT BED AND MOVE IT OUT OF BEDROOM Make sure that your current bed is positioned exactly where you want it in your room. Next, use a

tape measure to find the center of your bed and mark this center point on your wall at the height of

the mattress. I use a piece of (cleanly removable) tape on the wall that I place a center line mark on.

PERFORM AND RETURN

If you have a headboard, you will also need to measure the distance from the wall to your mattress. If

you don't have a headboard, we would recommend that you place your shelter, approximately, 4 to 5

inches from the wall so it can later accommodate a headboard, if desired. We determined this by

visiting several furniture stores and measuring the space each headboard needed. They ranged from

three inches (inexpensive/plain headboards) to eight inches (elaborate/ornate headboards), but most

were in the 4 to 5 inch range. It’s better to be an inch or two further from the wall than necessary

because mounting your shelter too close will limit the headboards that you can purchase. If you never

intend to put a headboard on this bed, you should still mount the shelter several inches from the wall

so you can retrieve things that drop between the bed and wall.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Now that you know exactly where your shelter will be mounted, you can move the current bed out of

the way. You should also move any other nearby pieces of furniture back out of the way.

PERFORM AND RETURN

==============================================================

TASK 2 – LOCATE STEEL IN FLOOR AND DECIDE ANCHORING LOCATIONS

Most bedroom floors will contain steel rebar or steel mesh in the concrete slab, which poses no

concerns when drilling the anchoring holes. When I finally did encounter steel rebar in one of the

anchoring holes I was drilling (it’s extremely rare), I simply left that hole only the, approximate, two

inch depth I could drill it. If this happens to you on a hole you’re drilling, just call me and we can

discuss what you should do.

Some bedroom floors will contain post-tension cables. If you’re unsure of what these are, I suggest a

Google search. It’s important that you don’t drill through these cables because they are expensive to

replace/repair. Fortunately, your chances of actually drilling into one of these cables is extremely,

extremely low. These cables are, typically, spaced four feet apart vertically and horizontally in your

slab so it’s extremely unlikely that you would actually drill right on top of one of these cable. It’s also

extremely unlikely that the small 3/8 inch concrete drill bit we use would drill through a cable without

great difficulty. You will know when you encounter steel in your slab and you can stop drilling. You

would simply use that hole at the depth you were able to achieve. In most cases, post-tension cables

are buried in the middle of a five inch thick slab so that puts them right at the 2.5 inch depth that you

want the anchor holes drilled to anyway.

Don’t let these very detailed, instructions about drilling holes in your slab scare you from doing

the installation. I have made them very detailed out of an abundance of caution on my part.

The structural engineer that certified my shelter design has the following anchoring requirement:

1. Anchors should be embedded to a depth of 2.5 inches. The anchor specs allow an

embedment range of 2” to 2 7/8 inches.

2. Anchors must be a minimum of 6 inches from the edge of the slab. Depending on outer

wall thickness, place your shelter no closer than, approximately, 3 inches from your interior

wall. I recommend 4” minimum so you can retrieve items that fall between bed and wall.

3. There must be an anchor at, or near, each corner of the shelter. Each corner of the shelter

has a mount hole near the corner and another one 7 inches in from that mount hole. If you

can’t use the very corner mount hole, due to a post-tension cable near that location, using the

other mount hole is still considered a corner anchor.

4. The minimum number of anchors needed is 8 on a king bed size shelter. Typically, I install

12 to 14 anchors when I install a king size shelter, which these instructions will explain. This

means that if I encounter steel in the slab, when I’m drilling these anchor holes, I can use that

anchor hole at a depth of less than the recommended 2.5 inches because I am installing many

more than the required 8 anchors.

At this point in the installation I would use my metal detector to map out where the steel is in the

bedroom floor so I can avoid drilling into it. If you live close to Tulsa, YOU CAN BORROW OUR

METAL DETACTOR. If you don’t live near us and you do not have access to a metal detector, it’s not

a problem. We offer full instructions on how to do the installation without a metal detector.

Now, let’s get you to the correct starting point by selecting one of the choices below:

If you already know that you DO NOT HAVE POST-TENSION CABLES in your slab, click

on this link to jump down to section “Which Anchor Holes to Use.” Since you have either

steel rebar or steel mesh in your slab, you don’t need to locate their position since they don’t cause

any problems when drilling anchor holes.

If you aren’t sure what steel you have in your slab and you DO NOT have access to a

metal detector, click on this link to jump down to section “Which Anchor Holes to Use.”

There I will explain how to, CAREFULLY, drill the anchor holes so it’s extremely unlikely that you will

drill through a post-tension cable.

If you DO have access to a metal detector, I would recommend that you continue reading

below on how to use it to determine if you have post-tension cables in your slab and if so, how to

mark their location. You can then determine if any of the anchor hole positions are near any cables.

If my, very detailed, instructions look too difficult or time consuming, you can always jump

down to section “Which Anchor Holes to Use” and carefully drill your anchor holes.

LOCATE STEEL IN FLOOR USING METAL DETECTOR

To locate the steel in your slab, a metal detector is required. If you live near Tulsa, OK, you can borrow

a metal detector from us for free (deposit required).

Determining if You Have a Post-Tension Cable Floor/Slab:

Operate your metal detector in both directions across the floor where the shelter will be installed.

When you detect steel, put down a 6’ to 8’ long string in the direction the steel is running. Once you

have detected both directions, you will see that the strings create a pattern on the floor. LEAVE THE

STRINGS IN PLACE. I will tell you later when you’re finished using them.

If the strings indicate that the steel is spaced, approximately, 24 inches apart, horizontally and

vertically, across the floor, then you have standard rebar in your floor. If your metal detector goes

crazy and shows steel everywhere, you likely have steel mesh in your slab. If you have either of these

floors you don’t need to worry about where the steel is located in your floor. You can jump down to

section “Which Anchor Holes to Use”

If the steel is spaced, approximately, 4 feet apart, then you have a post-tension cable floor. Post-

tension cables are, TYPICALLY, spaced 4 feet apart, but that spacing can vary greatly to avoid

obstacles in the slab so be sure to locate and mark, with string, several of the cables to verify that the

most common spacing is, approximately, 4 feet. PERFORM AND RETURN

If You DID NOT Borrow Our Wooden Drill Guide, Click Here

If You DID Borrow Our Wooden Drill Guide - Start Reading Here

The location of your cables should still be marked by the

string you placed on your floor. Take the wooden guide

and place it on top of the strings, as shown in the picture.

Be sure you have the Head End of the guide (it’s clearly

marked on the guide) placed at the Head End of the bed

location. Also, there is a “Center” mark on the guide that

must be lined up with the mark I asked you to put on your

wall, indicating the center of your bed.

Be sure to read the line of instructions at the top of the wooden drill guide. It will tell you how far to

place the guide from the wall. As an example, you would take the distance from the wall that you

need for a current, or future, head board and add another inch, or so, (the exact distance is marked on

the top of the guide). This will align the hole positions marked on the guide with the holes in your

shelter’s Main Unit pieces. PERFORM AND RETURN

Now that you have the guide positioned correctly you can look at the guide to see where I have

marked the location of the 24 possible anchor hole positions. You simply need to see if any of those

hole positions are near any of your post-tension cables.

Locating steel in your slab with a metal detector isn’t real accurate. You could easily be off by several

inches so keep that in mind when you select which mount holes you consider as “near” a post-tension

cable. For me personally, if the cable is within a few inches of an anchor hole location, I proceed as

thou it’s right under where I plan to drill (which means I’m extra careful when I drill).

What I do to mark these questionable anchor hole locations is take a small piece of the brown tape,

which I supplied with your shelter installation fasteners, and I tape over those, questionable, holes on

the wooden drill guide. This helps me remember which holes I should avoid drilling, or if I must use

those mount holes, it reminds me to be very careful when drilling them.

When you bring in the large Main Unit pieces later, I recommend that you transfer the brown tape

from the drill guide directly to the, questionable, mount holes on the actual Main Unit pieces. You are

now finished using the string on your floor.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Since you borrowed our Wooden Drill Guide, you can skip the next section and jump

down to “Which Anchor Holes to Use.”

If You DID NOT Borrow Our Wooden Drill Guide, Use Tape Measure Method Below

This section will explain how to use a tape measure to determine if any of your post-tension cables

are located near any of the 24 anchor hole locations (10 on each end and 2 on each side).

The picture above shows a top view of the 10 available mount holes at each end of the shelter, once

all three Main Unit pieces are bolted together. It also shows the two Door Mount L Plate mount holes

located on each side.

Now find the mark you made on your wall, indicating the center of your bed. At this center point,

measure out the distance you intend to place the shelter from the wall (not your baseboard) to

provide space for your current, or future, head board. Add ¾ of an inch to that number. So, if you

intend to place the shelter 5” from the wall, you would measure out 5 ¾ inches from your WALL, NOT

YOUR BASEBOARD. Now measure this same distance out several feet on each side of the center mark

so you can place a string parallel to the wall, at these measurements. Extend the string the full width

of where your bed/shelter will go.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Your string is now positioned parallel to your wall, and sits exactly over the center of the 10 mount

holes in the drawing. Again, find the center mark you made on your wall. Now, assume the center

mark in the drawing below is the center mark on your wall. You can easily measure left and right, from

the center mark, to mark where the mount holes shown in the drawing are located on your floor. You

can use the large washers, located in the Anchoring bag, to mark these hole locations.

Starting from the Center and going Left towards the Right Side of Bed, the distances are:

Center line to center of A = 4.5”

Center line to center of B = 12”

Center line to center of C = 20”

Center line to center of D = 28”

Center line to line E = 31” (see explanation below)

Starting from the Center and going Right towards the Left Side of Bed, the distances are:

Center line to center of 1 = 5”

Center line to center of 2 = 12” (used on Queen not King shelter)

Center line to center of 3 = 13”

Center line to center of 4 = 20” (used on Queen not King shelter)

Center line to center of 5 = 21”

Center line to center of 6 = 28”

Center line to line 7 = 31” (see explanation below)

PERFORM AND RETURN

Now, visually see if any of the marked hole positions are near any of the marked post-tension cables

and if so, make a note of which holes they are.

Remember, locating steel in your slab with a metal detector isn’t real accurate. You could easily be off

by several inches so keep that in mind when you select which mount holes you consider as “near” a

post-tension cable. For me personally, if the cable is within three or four inches of an anchor hole

location, I proceed like it’s right under where I plan to drill, so I drill very carefully.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Determine Location of Side “Door Mount L Plate” Holes

The Right Side of Bed position E and Left Side of Bed position 7, on the drawing, will help you

determine the location of the two side holes on each side of shelter. Simply measure 31 inches from

the center, both right and left, and place a string straight out from the wall, several feet long, in the

direction shown on the drawing.

Now take the example of 5” you intend to place your shelter from your wall and add 24.5” for a total

distance of 29.5 inches from the wall (not baseboard) to where the first side mount hole would be

located. Add 6” to the 29.5” and the second, lower, hole is located 35.5 inches from the wall. Do this

on both sides. If these MANDATORY anchor holes are close to any post-tension cables in your floor

you will simply need to be extra careful when drilling, as explained below.

These side anchor holes are mainly needed to hold the door mounting plate in place to support the

heavy door. If these holes are close to a cable, it’s OK to only drill them 2 inches deep (the minimum

embedment depth of the anchor). That’s plenty deep to hold the door mount plate in place and it still

provides some holding power to the shelter.

PERFORM AND RETURN

(You are finished with the string on your floor)

Which Anchor Holes to Use First, let me show you the anchor mount holes that I recommend using when installing a king bed size

shelter. I will refer to these as the “preferred” anchor mount holes. In the drawing I have colored these

preferred mount holes in red. They are B1, K2, B2, and B4 on each end of the shelter and the two Door

Mount L Plate holes on each side, which are mandatory. This is a total of 12 anchor mounts (4 on

each end and the two on each side), which is 4 more than the 8 required.

If you are concerned about sufficient anchoring, you can also place an anchor in one of the two

“Optional” holes in the Center Main Unit piece. If you use the right side hole at the head of the bed,

use the left side hole at the foot of the bed, so they are staggered.

All the holes marked with a B can be used with BOTH a king or queen bed shelter installation.

However, the holes marked K are the only holes that should be used for a king bed shelter

installation. Same thing for the holes marked Q for queen. By using the correct holes for a king and

queen bed installation, you have the ability to reuse the anchors should you ever decide to upgrade

from a queen bed shelter to a king, or vice-versa. Contact us for details.

Here is an actual picture of the left side Main

Unit piece showing the three anchor hole

locations when installing a king bed shelter.

You always want to install your anchors as

close to a corner of the shelter as possible.

That’s why I use the hole marked B, since it is

located closest to the corner.

If Metal Detector Indicates a Post-

Tension Cable Is Close to a Suggested

Anchor Mount Hole

Using the picture to the left, if a cable was

close to preferred anchor hole B, you could

move 7 inches inward to the first hole marked

K. This is still considered a corner anchor

location.

The second (lower left) hole marked K is also

a preferred anchor mounting hole, as noted

on the drawing on the preceding page. If a

cable were too close to this hole, I would use the first hole marked K. That would give me two

anchors near the corner, which is good. Since I have these two anchors close together, it would be

good to also place an anchor in the first “optional” hole in the Center Main Unit piece for added

protection. This would give you 14 anchor positions rather than the normal 12 positions.

Once you have determined which of the mount holes you can NOT use, make note of those locations.

When you bring in the Main Unit shelter pieces, I suggest that you use some of the brown tape that I

have included with the shelter fasteners, to cover up the mount holes on the Main Unit pieces that

you CAN NOT USE. This will help you remember which anchor mount holes to drill and not drill.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Notes on Drilling the Anchor Holes

If you aren’t experienced drilling into concrete, I have a few tips. Set your drill to its fastest speed

(usually setting 2) and set it to the hammer option, if it has this ability. You might be able to drill

without the hammer feature, but it will be much more difficult and take more time.

While drilling, it’s not unusual to run into a rock, which will require you to become, somewhat, more

aggressive in your drilling pressure. Unfortunately, if this occurs around the 2” depth, it may be steel

in your slab, which could be rebar (not a problem) or a post-tension cable.

B

K

K

7”

8”

Left Side Main

Unit Piece

So, if you aren’t sure what steel you have in your floor, you must be careful to not drill too

aggressively, in case it is a post-tension cable. If it takes more than 5 to 7 seconds of slightly more

aggressive drilling pressure to drill through the obstruction (hopefully a rock) and you aren’t seeing

any drill dust coming up to the surface, stop drilling that hole. Use it at the depth you were able to

drill to.

According to the post-tension experts at Stresscon, post-tension cables are, typically, located about

2.5 inches deep, so chances are you will not encounter a cable when drilling anchor holes since the

maximum depth of our anchors is 2.5 inches. Plus, the small 3/8 inch masonry drill bit would not drill

through the post-tension cable without some difficulty. So, if you are careful, it’s unlikely that you will

drill through one of these cables.

As long as you have drilled to the recommended 2.5 inch depth on 8 (minimum) of the 12 to 14

anchors we recommend you install, it won’t matter if a couple of anchors are installed just 2 inches

deep.

=============================================================

TASK 3 – BRING THREE MAIN SHELTER PIECES INTO BEDROOM

Main Units: Left Side Right Side Center

The king bed size shelter has a Left Side Main Unit piece, a Center Main Unit piece and a Right Side

Main Unit piece. Before bringing them into the bedroom, you will notice that each piece has either

LEFT, CENTER or RIGHT marked on the top to indicate on which side of the bed the piece should be

placed. The left and right sides of the bed are determined as if you were laying in the bed on your

back, so if you were standing at the foot of the bed, looking at the bed, the left side of the bed would

be on your right. These pieces should also have “HEAD” and “FOOT” marked on each of the ends so

you know which direction they should be placed in the room.

These pieces will be marked HEAD, FOOT, LEFT and RIGHT

It is important that you get this placement correct so I suggest that you verify that it was marked

correctly by looking at the 2 1/2" steel folded down edges of the 19" tall legs for the fold down area

that does NOT have multiple holes in it, as the picture below shows. This applies to the LEFT and

RIGHT side Main Unit pieces. The CENTER piece has multiple mount holes on each side.

As this picture shows,

this section of the Main

Unit should be placed at

the foot of the bed

towards the outside of

the bed. Once you have

it properly placed, you

will see on the opposite

side of this piece that

the 2 1/2" steel fold

downs have many holes

evenly spaced along the

top and down the legs,

which will match the same holes on the Center Unit piece. These holes will be used to join these

pieces.

Place the Center Unit piece centered on

the mark/tape you put on the wall

indicating the center of your bed. Also,

make sure the pieces are placed,

approximately, the correct distance

from the wall at the head end for the

headboard placement. Verify that it is

fairly square with the wall by measuring

to make sure it is, approximately, an

equal distance from the wall at a couple

points. You will do this more precisely

soon. You can now place the Left and

Right Main Unit pieces next to the

Center Unit piece as shown in the picture.

PERFORM AND RETURN

There are no holes along this 2 ½” fold down

so it is placed at the foot of the bed and

towards the outside of the bed.

There are many holes along this edge so these two pieces can be joined together.

Center of the Center Unit

should align with the

center of your bed that you

marked on the wall.

HEAD HEAD

FOOT FOOT

TASK 4 – ATTACH MAIN SHELTER PIECES TOGETHER

Now that you have your shelter pieces placed,

approximately, where they need to be, you will attach

all three Main Unit pieces together at the “inner”

2 ½” fold down seams with a ½” x 1” hex head bolt

(bag B1), s[lit-lock washer (bag W1) and ½” nut (bag

N1) at the top and one bolt in the leg, as the picture

indicates. It doesn’t hurt to add another bolt on the

leg and one along the top to hold it together even

better. Do this on both of these seams at both ends

so all three Main Unit pieces are joined.

You will need to use your alignment tool, as shown

below, to force proper hole alignment.

This picture shows how a hole alignment tool is used

to force the “inner” portion of these Main Unit legs

into alignment. This is required because these legs

are supposed to be bent to 90 degrees, but they

rarely are exactly 90 degrees. This causes these

“inner” leg holes to not align very well so you must

use the tool, as shown, to force their alignment

before bolting the pieces together. You could use a

large screwdriver or the needle nose pliers we supply

in your shelter tool bag will work, in the closed

position, as an alignment tool, but I would

recommend something more suitable to the task..

As you hold this alignment, insert a 1/2" x 1" hex

head bolt (bag B1) into the aligned hole near the hole

your alignment tool is holding in alignment and tighten it while the hole is aligned. Do this for all bolt

positions you decide to install.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Left Side

Main Unit Leg

Center Unit

Leg

This 2 ½” fold down is where the “inner” portion

of the left, center and right Main Unit legs join.

To join these three Main Unit

pieces, align the holes with

your alignment tool and then

insert these two bolts with nuts

on each end. Feel free to insert

a couple more of these bolts

for added support.

TASK 5 – MARK FLOOR ANCHORING HOLE PLACEMENT Now, verify that the center of the Center Main Unit piece is precisely aligned with the center of the

bed location you indicated on the wall and it’s still the correct distance from the wall and square with

the wall. You are about to mark and drill the mounting holes so you want to make sure the bolted

together shelter is exactly where you want it to be mounted.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Now you are ready to mark, on your carpet, exactly where you will drill the

anchor holes. The picture to the left shows how to use a level to ensure that

each of the four vertical legs, one at each corner of the shelter, are as close

as possible to 90 degrees.

Before you received your shelter, I adjusted the legs to 90 degrees, as best I

could, but they still require some minor adjusting on site. They don’t need to

be perfectly straight up and down 90 degrees, but they need to be close. If

they’re too far off, it will be difficult to get the door to latch.

You should make sure that each leg sits within a half inch, or less, at 90

degrees without having to hold it in place.

You should not need to hold the leg forward or backward more than a half

inch, or so, to get it set very close to 90 degrees. If you do, it will be

necessary to push out the bottom of the leg, with your foot, past the 90

degree position, so when it bounces back, it will stay close to 90 degrees.

Or, it may be necessary for you, or better yet, a helper, to hold the leg in some, to achieve the 90

degree position, with their hand or foot, while you mark the carpet, as the next section explains.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Now that you have the leg sitting, or held, at 90 degrees,

take a permanent marker pen and color in the floor

anchor mount holes, that you have decided to use. Do

this on both ends of each shelter piece so you know

where to cut out the carpet.

The holes you’ve decided NOT to use should already

have brown tape covering them, indicating that they

aren’t to be drilled (if you took my advice earlier).

Remember, you MUST place an anchor at, or near,

each shelter corner (the first or second hole in from

the edge).

PERFORM AND RETURN

I would suggest that you put some of the brown tape I supplied

you, down along the edge and ends of each Main Unit piece leg,

as shown in the picture, so you know exactly where it is placed

now because you will be placing it back in this EXACT spot later.

PERFORM AND RETURN

==============================================================

TASK 6 – CUT OUT CARPETING TO DRILL ANCHORING HOLES

Now grab one side of the attached together Main Unit pieces and,

carefully, stand the entire connected shelter up on its edge. It will

likely take two people to achieve this. From my experience, it will

stand on its edge without holding it, but you should still have

someone hold it for added safety.

Try not to move this connected shelter piece around too much,

because when you drop it back down, you want it to return to

exactly where it was originally. The tape on the floor will help you,

quickly, get it aligned again.

If placing it on its side isn’t possible, you will need to separate the

Main Unit pieces and move them out of the way for the next step.

Sometimes removing just one of the three Main Unit pieces is

enough to allow you to stand it on its edge by yourself.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Find the bag of large washers in your “Anchoring” bag. There are

enough of these washers to stack three washers high, as

standoffs, under each of the anchoring positions.

With the shelter out of the way, you will see all the places where

you marked the carpet. Place a large washer over each of the

colored circles you made on the floor. It will be your cut out

guide. Cut around the washer slightly larger than the washer.

I usually cut out a square, since it’s easier than cutting out a circle.

Making the hole slightly smaller than the large washer is best at

this point for reasons you will discover later.

Use a utility/razor knife (preferably with new blade) to cut out

both the carpet and the padding. It may be necessary to pull out

chunks of the padding with your fingers, or a pair of pliers, since

the padding is difficult to cut, but tears easily.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Now gently lower the connected shelter Main Unit pieces to where they were before (use the tape

that you placed on the floor earlier to aid alignment) and verify that the space under the mount holes

you plan to use, is clear of carpet and padding and you can feel the slab floor with your finger.

Make sure the shelter is exactly where you want it to be since you are about to drill the mount holes.

Verify it is still the desired distance from the wall and is still aligned with the wall. Measuring it again is

recommended.

If you had to disconnect the Main Unit pieces in order to move them out of the way, you will need to

attach them together again, like you did before, by aligning the holes in the pieces and tightening up

just a few bolts on each end. You want the pieces to be exactly where they were when you colored in

the mount holes.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Large Washers

Black colored in area

behind washer.

TASK 7 –DRILLING STARTER ANCHORING HOLES

Find the “Anchoring” bag. In it you will find a metal tube with a

3/8” center hole. This is your drill centering guide (see picture).

Before you insert the supplied 3/8” masonry drill bit (also in

your “Anchoring” bag) into your drill, you must thread the drill

guide onto the back end of the drill bit because it will not fit

over the tip end.

The drill centering guide is used to hold your 3/8” drill bit in

the center of the Main Unit mount holes while drilling, as

shown. This is important because the mount holes are 11/16”

and the anchor bolt is only 3/8”. This 5/16” difference gives

you the ability to adjust the position of the shelter pieces

slightly, as needed.

Since you have cut away your carpeting, the drill guide will

slide down into the mount hole a half inch, or so, which will

help stabilize it as you drill. Sometimes it is necessary to hold

this drill guide in the hole as you drill.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Now you’re ready to drill the starter holes. It’s important that you, AGAIN, make sure that the

legs, on each corner of the shelter, are straight up and down at 90 degrees, like you did, earlier,

when you marked on the carpet, the hole locations to drill. It’s even more important now that

you, or your helper, hold the legs at 90 degrees as you drill these starter holes.

Turn on the hammer feature of your drill, if you have one and set it to drill at the fastest speed. At this

point you are drilling only around a quarter inch deep, which is just deep enough to clearly indicate

exactly where the mount holes should be drilled into the slab. Do this for all anchor mount holes

you’ve decided to use. You will complete the drilling of the holes in the next step.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Now, once again, carefully, stand the connected shelter pieces up on their side. Or move them out of

the way if you can’t stand them up.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Drill Centering Guide

Mount hole with drill

centering guide inserted.

TASK 8 – COMPLETE DRILLING OF ANCHORING HOLES With the Main Unit pieces out of the way, you now have clear access to the starter holes you just

drilled. This will give you the space you need to more precisely drill these holes very straight and to

the required depth of 2.5 inch’s. Be careful

NOT to drill completely through your slab

floor as this could allow moisture to come

in contact with your anchors. To help avoid

drilling too deep or too shallow, I strongly

suggest that you measure 2.5” up from the

tip of your drill bit and place a piece of tape (black electrical tape works good) on your bit to indicate

the maximum depth you should drill. This should be your ROUGH depth guide.

Take the blunt end of a pencil, or some other long slender blunt

ended object, (like the bolt shown in the picture), and mark the 2.5”

depth onto it. You want to insert the blunt end into the hole to verify

the correct depth since a pointed end would imbed into the dust at

the bottom of the hole and may not provide an accurate depth

reading.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Now, carefully, drill until you get close to the desired depth marked on

your drill bit. Remove your bit from the hole, clear (suction) away the

dust and use your depth gauge to see how much deeper you need to

drill. It’s better to do this a few times to reach your desired depth than to risk drilling too deep. It’s OK

if you drill a little too deep since the anchor specifications show it can be up to 2 7/8” deep.

If you have a vacuum cleaner with a hose, use it to suction the dust from in and around the hole. If

you aren’t able to suction out the dust, according to the anchor manufacturer, it’s acceptable to just

drill the holes a bit deeper to provide a place for the dust to settle into, as long as your blunt ended

depth guide indicates that your anchors can be inserted to the full 2.5” depth. You will need to brush

away most of the dust the drill bit brings up to the surface so a minimal amount remains in the hole.

Remember, if you encounter steel in your floor, it’s OK to insert an anchor at a depth of only 2 inches,

as long as you have, at least, 8 (minimum) of the 12 to 14 anchors we recommend you install, drilled

to the recommended 2.5 inch depth.

VERY IMPORTANT: The anchors require a clean hole that’s a full 3/8” in diameter over the

entire 2.5” depth or you won’t be able to get the anchor to fuller insert. To avoid this, it’s

important that you, slowly and gently, run your drill bit up and down in the newly drilled hole a

couple times, to make sure the entire hole is the full 3/8” wide. Do this carefully so you don’t

cause the hole to become too large, which will lower the holding power of the anchor.

PERFORM AND RETURN

2.5”

TASK 9 – INSERT THE NUMBER OF STAND-OFF WASHERS NEEDED From experience, I know that several of the starter holes you

drilled will NOT be very well centered in the area you cut out of

your carpet to drill the starter holes. You will need to trim the

carpet cut out area some to get the washers positioned correctly

over the drilled holes.

Now you need to determine how many large washers (found in your

“Anchoring” bag) need to be inserted into the cut out carpet holes to

provide a more stable mounting surface for the Main Unit pieces.

These washers reduce the distance your shelter compresses into the

carpet so the anchor nuts can be tightened to the correct 30 foot

pounds of torque.

A standard grade of thick carpet, with half-inch padding, requires three washers to elevate the shelter

high enough that reasonable carpet compression is all that’s required. It’s unlikely that your carpet will

require more than three washers under each anchor, so only three per anchor have been provided.

If your carpet and/or pad is thin, you can determine the correct number of washers to use by using

your fingers to firmly compress the carpet next to one of the cut out areas. While holding this

compression, stack large washers (W2) into the carpet cut out area until the top of the stack is,

approximately, ¼” below the top of the compressed carpet. This indicates how many washers you

need stacked in each hole. Stack that number of washers into each of the drilled holes. You need the

carpet cutout area clear enough that the washers easily stack directly over the drilled hole. The picture

above shows the anchor already inserted through the washers but you should not insert the anchor

until instructed to do so. One too many washers is better than being one short. You don’t want

your shelter to be buried too deeply into your carpet, making installation more difficult.

PERFORM AND RETURN

==============================================================

TASK 10 – BOLT MAIN UNITS TOGETHER While the shelter is positioned on its side, insert and tighten all

the remaining bolts holding the Main Unit pieces together. Use

the ½” x 1” hex head bolts (bag B1), split lock washers (bag W1)

and ½” nuts (bag N1).

IMPORTANT: Alternate the direction that you place the bolts

so, approximately, every other nut is on a different side of

the joint as pictured. This helps to hold the sponge cushion in

place.

Continue reading on the next page before performing this task.

The nuts are on

the opposite sides.

ONE EXCEPTION: In the center of the top fold downs you

will see that two of the bolt holes, that join the Main Unit

pieces, are closer together than the others (see picture).

These two bolt holes are for mounting the Center Support piece (see picture), which is

a vertical metal leg that adds additional support against something crushing the top

of the shelter down.

The structural engineer that certified our shelter said this center support leg wasn’t

actually necessary, but I feel it’s a very inexpensive way to provide additional

protection against something landing on top of the shelter and potentially caving the

top down.

Insert these two bolts in the same direction, with the threaded portion pointing towards the door that

will be used by the person most likely to install the center support onto these two bolts after entering

the shelter. Leave the nuts screwed on the bolts just far

enough to hold them on. No split lock washers needed.

This allows someone to quickly remove the nuts and

install the Center Support after entering the shelter.

They would need to just finger tighten the nuts once the

part is installed.

I would suggest that you place it in your shelter, to be installed once you enter your shelter. This way

it doesn’t get in the way of you quickly entering your shelter.

The king bed size shelter has two of these Center Support positions, since it has two center ribs

holding the three Main Unit pieces together. It probably isn’t necessary to install both of these center

supports, but you can for added safety, if you indicated that you wanted both when buying your

shelter. PERFORM AND RETURN

==============================================================

TASK 11 – PLACE SHELTER OVER MOUNT HOLES

Now that you have the holes drilled and the correct number of washers in each drilled hole you can,

carefully, lower the shelter from its side making sure you have placed the shelter exactly where it was

before. After using the brown tape on the floor to position the shelter where it was, you can remove

the tape from the floor.

NOTE: Here is where I offer buyers the option to place an extension cord under where the shelter pieces

will be placed. Most walls the shelter will installed against have an electric outlet so it’s easy to plug in

an extension cord and run it under the head end of the shelter so you have electric access inside.

Center Support Mount Holes

Bolts inserted same direction.

Now, use one of the anchors from the “Anchoring” bag to make sure all the washers remained

stacked in the hole so the anchors can be inserted through all the washers. I do this by turning the

anchor upside down and inserting the threaded end of an anchor into each hole to realign any

washers that may have moved when the shelter was lowered from its side.

PERFORM AND RETURN

==============================================================

TASK 12 – INSERT ANCHORS INTO SLAB Anchors, washers, and nuts are in the “Anchoring” bag. Correctly place an anchor in each of the

mount holes. It should extend slightly into the drilled holes, if aligned correctly. It may be necessary to

slightly adjust the position of the shelter or adjust the legs to align the mount holes with the drilled

holes before you are able to insert some of the anchors.

Make sure the anchors are fairly well centered in the Main Unit

mount holes, as the picture shows. Adjust the position of the shelter

as needed to increase this centering on as many anchors as

reasonably possible.

Now, place a flat washer and then a nut, from the “Anchoring” bag,

on each anchor BEFORE HAMMERING IN THE ANCHOR. Screw the

nut on the anchor just far enough to be able to hammer the top of

the anchor without hitting the nut. This will allow the anchor to be hammered in as far as possible.

Most of the time, when the anchor is hammered in until it hits the bottom of the hole, a small section

of its length will remain above the Main Unit foot. However, it’s very common, on some holes, for the

anchor to be hammered in until the washer and nut stop it from inserting any further, rather than it

hitting the bottom of the hole. In these cases, I will make sure that the nut is unscrewed as much as

possible so I can hammer it in a bit more, making sure it is installed to the full 2.5 inches. That’s why

it’s very important that you install the washer and nut before hammering in the anchor.

Now, with the washer and nut installed, begin hammering in the anchors until they are fully inserted

(they hit the bottom of the hole or the washer and nut hit the Main Unit foot and stop it from

inserting any further).

PERFORM AND RETURN

Once all the anchors are installed, you can tighten each of the anchor nuts just finger tight. You

don’t want to fully tighten these nuts at this point.

PERFORM AND RETURN

TASK 13 – INSTALL DOOR MOUNT L PLATE ASSEMBLES

To the left is a picture of the back of the

Door Mount L Plate assembly. I have

indicated on it a piece that needs to be

removed before you can install this

assembly. It is loosely attached with 8

fasteners. Remove it and lay it aside with its

fasteners. It will be installed later.

Below is a picture of the right side of the shelter showing where the right side Door Mount L Plate

assembly attaches. Install it with the hinges on the right. All preassembled pieces will be marked Left

Side or Right Side to aid in correct assembly.

Looking at the top edge of the

Main Unit (see picture), you will

see multiple, outward facing,

mount holes starting at the head

end of the bed (left side of

picture) and ending a few feet

towards the center. This Door

Mount L Plate assembly attaches

to the last two mount holes.

This picture shows the left side Door Mount L Plate

without all the external parts attached to it so you

can better see how it is attached to the Main Unit at

the top.

You can install either the left or right side first. Be

sure they are installed with the foot pointing inward,

towards the center of the shelter, as the far left

picture shows. The hinges should point towards the

foot of the bed.

It’s important that you use a level (as shown) to get

this piece as straight up and level, as possible, in

both directions (side and front) as the two pictures

show.

Place this piece in position, as pictured, and insert a

½” x 1 ¼ inch carriage head bolt (bag B4) and ½”

nut (bag N1) in just the top left mount hole/slot and finger tighten. It’s OK to leave this single top

bolt finger tight, at this time, because tightening it too much can cause the piece to shift to where it is

Foot

pointing

inward

Insert just

this bolt

for now.

Head End

of Bed

Foot End

of Bed

Door Mount L Plate Assembly

Top Edge of this Main Unit

Remove this piece

Head End of Bed

Door Handle

no longer straight up and down (plumb). Your goal is to get this piece as straight and level as possible

so you can mark where to drill the anchor mount holes.

Now look at the top right mount hole/slot.

You need to adjust the alignment of the piece

until you have the side to side alignment

fairly well matching the hole on the Main Unit.

This may require gently tapping the bottom of

the piece left or right.

The top and bottom of this mount hole does

not need to align, just the sides. If this top

right mount hole loses a little of its side to

side alignment when your level shows

everything to be level, that’s OK. That’s why

these holes are a bit larger than the ½” bolt

that goes into them.

If necessary, to hold this Door Mount L Plate

assembly in place as you level it, you can

tighten the top left nut a little past finger tight. If it still wants to move too much, you can insert a

bolt/nut in the top right mount hole and finger tighten. However, try to maintain the hole’s correct

side to side alignment. PERFORM AND RETURN

When your level shows that you have the Door Mount L Plate level and

plumb, it’s a good idea to use some of the supplied brown tape to tape the

foot in position (as shown in this picture), just don’t tape over the mount

holes.

Now, use your marker pen to color in the two mount holes on the foot of

the Door Mount L Plate (see picture), like you did on the Main Units.

PERFORM AND RETURN

You can now pull the tape off the Door Mount L Plate foot. Remove the top

bolt(s) and set the Door Mount L Plate assembly aside. Cut out the carpet

and padding where it’s marked, like you did for the other anchor bolt holes.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Reinstall the Door Mount L Plate and use your level to make sure it’s

positioned exactly where it was, level and plumb. Now securely tape the

foot back down to the carpet with a new piece of tape. It wouldn’t hurt to

tape the opposite side of the piece down to the carpet as well. You’re about

to do some drilling and you don’t want this piece to move.

PERFORM AND RETURN

The side to side

alignment shows

to be correct in

this picture.

This top portion isn’t aligned but that’s OK.

Foot is taped down

here but the tape

isn’t covering the

foot mount holes.

Top right mount hole

Color in these two

mount holes.

Install the drill hole centering guide onto the drill bit and drill the

two anchor bolt holes that are located in the foot of the Door Mount

L Plate assembly. Drill just deep enough to clearly indicate exactly

where the mount holes should be drilled into the slab (about a

quarter-inch, or so).

As this picture shows, you may need to remove or adjust some of

the preassembled bolts/nuts on the Door Mount L Plate assembly in

order to be able to position your drill straight up and down.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Remove the Door Mount L Plate assembly again and finish drilling

the two holes to the required 2.5” depth. Once the holes have been

drilled to the proper depth, remember to carefully remove and

reinsert the drill bit a couple times in each hole to ensure that the

holes are clean and straight.

Verify again that these mount holes are not over any post-

tension cables. If they are, as explained earlier, if you run into

steel in your floor, these holes do not have to be drilled to the

full 2.5 inches.

PERFORM AND RETURN

You can now place in the same number of large washers in these two holes that you placed under the

Main Unit mount holes. Remember, you will, likely, need to adjust the carpet cut out area to get the

stacked washers to sit directly over the drilled holes.

Now, loosely reinstall the Door Mount L Plate by inserting the top two ½” x 1 ¼ inch carriage head

bolts (bag B4) with ½” nut (bag N1). Verify all the large washers are still aligned in the holes and then

insert the anchors. Add the small flat washers to the anchors then screw the nuts onto the anchors

until the top of the nuts are just below flush with the top of the anchors. Hammer in the anchors.

Tighten down these anchor nuts just finger tight.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Now Install Door Mount L Plate Assembly on Opposite Side.

You have completed anchoring the shelter to your slab floor. The following instructions

will explain the installation of the preassembled pieces for just one side of the shelter,

since both sides are identical. I HIGHLY recommend that you follow the instructions to

install a piece on one side and then go ahead and install the same piece on the other

side of your shelter, before continuing to the next step.

==============================================================

You may need to remove

these 3 lower bolts/nuts in

order for you to be able to

position your drill correctly

to drill the started holes.

TASK 14 – INSTALL TOP EDGE SUPPORT ON BOTH SIDES OF SHELTER

Top Edge Support: Left Side (Part 37) Right Side (Part 38)

Above is a picture of the Top Edge

Support. It installs inside the front

edge of the Main Unit, as shown in

the picture to the left.

Look at the hole pattern on the

Main Unit and on the Top Edge

Support to verify how this piece

needs to be positioned inside the

Main Unit so the holes match.

Place it on the floor of the shelter, correctly

positioned for installation. Remove the ½”

nuts from the mounting bolts at the top of

the Door Mount L Plate assembly you just

installed. If you have a helper, have them hold

these bolts in place. If you don’t have a

helper, you will need to use some of the

supplied brown tape to secure these bolts in

position. Now, get inside the shelter and lift

the Top Edge Support onto these two bolts.

Place a 9/16” large flat washer (bag W2) onto these two bolts before putting the ½” nuts (bag N1)

back on and finger tighten.

PERFORM AND RETURN

You can now insert a single ½” x 1” carriage

head bolt (bag B3) into the square hole on

the top of the shelter at both of the very

outer ends, as shown in the picture. First,

adjust the position of the top

edge brace to align the holes

in the top edge brace with the

holes in the Main Unit. You

can now place a 9/16” large flat washer (bag W2) onto these two bolts then screw on ½” nuts (bag

N1) finger tight as you press up on each end of the top edge brace so both ends are secured. You

only need these bolts/nuts finger tight on each end to temporarily hold the top edge brace up in

place. Install on both sides of your shelter. PERFORM AND RETURN

Top Edge Support installs along this inside edge.

This is one of the top Door Mount L Plate bolts

that you initially hang this Top Edge Support onto.

This shows a portion of the Top Edge Support installed.

Insert bolt/nut/washer here

TASK 15 – INSTALL DOORS ON BOTH SIDES OF SHELTER The easiest way to install the

Door assembly is to attach it to

the Door Mount L Plate

assembly, as this picture shows.

Have a helper hold the door on

top of the shelter as shown.

Remove the Door Mount L Plate

assembly and attach the hinges

on it to the hinge holes on the

Door assembly. The fasteners

are already loosely inserted into

the hinges and hinge support

piece on the Door Mount L

Plate assembly. You can fully tighten the six hinge bolts/nuts on the door at this point.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Now, place the entire assembly on the floor and place the

Door Mount L Plate assembly back where it was initially

installed, with the anchors you recently installed, inserted

through the anchor mount holes on the foot. It’s not too

difficult, especially if you have a helper that can guide the

mount holes of the Door Mount L Plate assembly onto

the anchor bolts.

Now you can reinstall the two ½” x 1.25” carriage head

bolts (bag B4), the large flat washers (bag W2) and ½”

nuts (bag N1) to the top of the Door Mount L Plate piece.

Next, reinstall the small flat washer and nut onto the two

anchors holding the foot in place. Only finger tighten all

these nuts. PERFORM AND RETURN

The piece you removed earlier from the back of the Door

Mount L Plate assembly, loosely held with eight fasteners,

can be reinstalled. There’s a blue circle around it in the

picture. Finger tighten. PERFORM AND RETURN

Now, on the five bolts circled in red, remove the ½” nut

and washer and lightly finger tighten the thinner jam nuts. You want these to be slightly snug, but still

loose enough so that the bolt will easily move up and down in the slot. The bottom bolt is supposed to

be shorter than the other four bolts. PERFORM ON BOTH SIDES OF SHELTER AND RETURN

Reinstall these 2 bolts, large washers and nuts

Door

Door Assembly

Door Mount L Plate Assembly

TASK 16 – PREPARE VERTICAL EDGE SUPPORT ON BOTH SIDES OF SHELTER

At the escape hatch end of the Main Unit (the end closest to the head end of

your bed), you will see that the Vertical Edge Support (in blue circle) is loosely

attached inside the leg with two fasteners.

You can now remove these two fasteners and lay them nearby. Leave the

vertical edge support piece standing. It may be necessary to tape it in place,

as shown, for it to remain standing.

Do this on both sides of shelter.

PERFORM AND RETURN

==============================================================

TASK 17 – INSTALL ESCAPE HATCH ASSEMBLY ON BOTH SIDES OF SHELTER

From the outside of the Main Unit,

insert two ½” x 1 ¼ inch carriage

head bolts (bag B4) at the top.

They insert from the outside. I’ve

circled them in blue on this picture

and the picture below.

Use some of the supplied brown

tape to secure these bolts in place,

unless you have a helper that will

hold them in place when you are

hanging the Escape Hatch onto

these bolts in the next step.

This picture shows more than two bolts inserted and taped in place, but just inserting two is best. If

you don’t have a helper, you will need to tape the other bolts in place later, when I have you install all

the bolts.

PERFORM AND RETURN

This picture shows the Escape

Hatch assembly (noted in picture)

placed inside the shelter, ready to

be installed. It is installed inside

the shelter so it can be removed to

the inside if the main doors should

become blocked by debris.

The corner with the notched out

area (noted in picture, bottom left)

must be positioned as shown.

Move the Escape Hatch assembly

into the shelter and position it as

shown.

While inside the shelter you will tilt the top of

the piece up and use the horizontal back

support (noted in picture) to lift the hatch and

hang it on the two top bolts you inserted.

You may need to adjust the position of the five

vertical bolts, with the Jam nuts on them,

(circled in blue) to get them to align with the

holes in the Escape Hatch assembly. That’s why

I had you to leave these bolts slightly loose so

they can now be adjusted/aligned.

Also, when you lift the Escape Hatch up, it must be lifted above the

anchor bolt sticking up from the Door Mount L Plate, as shown in

picture. It’s easier to do this if the top is tilted back some as you are

lifting.

Now go ahead and hang the Escape Hatch on the top two bolts,

remembering to lift it up, tilted back, so the bottom will clear the

anchor bolt, as noted in the picture to the left. Once it’s hung in place,

take two ½” nuts (bag N1) and two ½” flat washers (bag W3) and place

them onto the top two bolts you inserted. Lightly finger tighten.

PERFORM AND RETURN

This bottom edge of the

Escape Hatch…

…must be picked up

over this anchor bolt.

Escape Hatch Assembly

Notched

out area

goes this

direction

This is the Head End of Bed

Insert these two bolts

from the outside inward.

Use horizontal back

support as handle

Hang Escape Hatch

on these two bolts.

Door Door Mount L Plate

You will now begin inserting the remaining bolts around this Escape Hatch. If you have a helper, they

can insert the bolts from the outside while you are inside installing the flat washer and nut as they

hold the bolt. It you do not have a helper, you will need to insert the bolts and then tape the heads

down with the brown tape we supplied. To get the holes properly aligned to insert some of the bolts,

you will need to use the hole adjustment tool you used when connecting the Main Units.

This picture shows the Escape Hatch fully

installed. The bolts circled in blue are ½” X

1.25” carriage head (bag B4). You will put

a ½” flat washer (bag W3) and a ½ nut

(bag N1) on these bolts. The washers/nuts

for the bolts circled in black, should be

nearby since you recently removed them.

The one bolt circled in red, on the bottom

left, is a shorter bolt and doesn’t need a

washer, just a nut. Only finger tighten all

these nuts for now.

PERFORM AND RETURN

==============================================================

TASK 18 – TIGHTEN DOOR BOLTS & INSTALL SLIDE BOLTS ON BOTH DOORS Use your ¾” sockets to tighten all

the large ¾” nuts/bolts on the

door. Use your ¾” hand wrench

to tighten the double stacked

nuts that are located behind the

red circled area.

PERFORM AND RETURN

In the picture, the red circled

areas have the nuts and washers

preinstalled for you. Remove the

nylon insert nut and one of the

flat washers from all six bolts.

Place the slide bolt assembly on

these bolts (see picture). Put

washer and nut back on each bolt.

Your goal now is to screw the nylon insert nut on until the nut and washer hold the slide bolt in place,

but still allow it to move freely back and forth. It’s better to have these six nuts a little too loose than

too tight. Once you have all six nuts tightened, operate the slide bolt and make sure it doesn’t catch.

As I operate it fully open and closed, I will stop in several positions and try spinning each of the

washers on each side of the six slide bolts. If one doesn’t spin easily, I will back off the nut a bit.

Door Slide Bolt

Insert ½” X 1.25”

carriage head

bolts (bag B4)

These 5 bolts were

already installed on

the Door Mount Plate.

This bolt doesn’t need a flat washer.

Cane Bolt Verify bolt drops into this hole when closed.

Don’t tighten these small bottom bolts yet.

Also, verify that the cane bolt, noted in picture, correctly drops down into the hole to lock the slide

bolt in place when the slide bolt is fully closed. PERFORM AND RETURN

================================================================

TASK 19 – LEVEL DOOR, TIGHTEN ANCHOR BOLTS ON BOTH ENDS OF SHELTER

This picture show what your shelter should

look like. The only difference is, in this picture

the top of the door mount L plate doesn’t have

the bolts installed, but your shelter should

have these bolts installed finger tight.

While holding the end of the door up, open

the door a foot, or so, and place something

under the end of the door (as shown in picture)

so it’s elevated to a level position. A towel

rolled up works well for me. It doesn’t have to

be perfectly level at this point. DO BOTH

DOORS THIS WAY NOW!

PERFORM AND RETURN

Now, get inside your shelter and tighten all the

anchor bolts down that are located in the head

end and foot end of the shelter (NOT the side

nuts). Be sure to alternate, head and foot, left

and right, the nuts you tighten down, so the

shelter tightens down, somewhat, evenly. At

this point you are tightening them down tight,

but not extremely tight. Use a standard length ratchet, with a deep socket, to do the tightening. You

don’t want to over tighten these nuts and using a standard length ratchet to do the tightening will

help ensure that you don’t overtighten them since it would be difficult to tighten these nuts to the

recommended 30 foot pounds of torque with this size ratchet. You will fully tighten them with the

much longer torque wrench soon. PERFORM AND RETURN

The four nuts (two on each side) located in the turned under foot, on the Door Mount Assembly

Piece, should remain just finger tight. The top two ½” nuts, connecting the Door Mount L Plate to the

Main Unit, should also still be just finger tight. Confirm this now.

You will now anchor the doors. Make sure the door is open no more than a foot, preferably around

six inches and is still level, because it likely won’t be. It’s even better if you have the door a bit too

high on the handle end (like a half bubble off level) because it will drop down some when you remove

the item holding the end up.

If I have a helper, I will have them use the curved pry bar, from your shelter tool bag, to pry up the

very end of the shelter door and hold it slightly above level while I tighten the nuts in the next step. If

you don’t have a helper, you can prop up the end with a rolled up towel, but it’s more difficult to get

the height correct.

It’s equally important that you don’t get it too high on the end because the door will not close

correctly when you install the mattress lip later. If the top of the door is too high it will drag on the

bottom of the mattress lip.

Now, get inside the shelter, facing the inside of the Door Mount L Plate, on one side. With the end of

the door held up level, or slightly past level, securely tighten the two anchor nuts holding down the

foot of the Door Mount L Plate. Get it good and tight like you did on the other anchors.

Now, fully tighten the two top bolts on the Door Mount L Plate where it connects to the Main Units.

You want to get these nuts very tight. Do BOTH SIDES NOW. PERFORM AND RETURN

Verify the doors operate correctly and are close to level. If they work correctly you can move on to the

next step. If not, you will need to loosen the nuts at the top and bottom of the Door Mount L Plate

and try securing the problem door again. You might not pry it up quite as high or you may need to

pry it up higher to get it to work. It’s rare to have any problems. PERFORM AND RETURN

Now that the doors are operating correctly you can begin to fully tighten all the anchor nuts to the

recommended 30 foot pounds of torque. Place your deep socket onto your torque wrench and set it

to 30 foot pounds of torque. Tighten down the nuts at both ends and both side, somewhat evenly.

Do not fully tighten one side or end and then fully tighten another side or end.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Begin tightening the nuts around

the Escape Hatch (circled in blue).

All these nuts should already have

small flat washers under them. The

only exception is the very bottom

left nut (red triangle around it). It

doesn’t have a washer under it

because that bolt is shorter than the

others. This allows the nut to be

more easily removed if the Escape

Hatch must be removed.

It’s important that you do not get

these hatch nuts too tight because

it will make it difficult to remove

them if you should ever need to

In order to remove this Escape Hatch, you

must remove the 15 nuts circled in blue and

the 5 nuts and bolts circled in red. These red

circled nut/bolts will be installed later.

remove the hatch to escape. Unless you put a spare ¾” socket and ratchet in your shelter

(recommended), all you will have to remove these nuts is the ¾” hand wrench that I provide in your

shelter bag. It works fine as long as these nuts aren’t too tight.

PERFORM AND RETURN

After you have tightened the 15 Escape Hatch nuts you can fully tighten

the 4 back support nuts (circled in yellow on previous page) and the 4

nuts (circled in green on previous page) at the bottom of the Escape

Hatch. PERFORM AND RETURN

The bolt holes circled in red on previous page will have bolts installed in

them later. I have circled them here just to show you that the nuts and

the bolts installed in these top holes will also need to be removed before

the Escape Hatch can be removed, should you need to in the future. You

will need to push these 5 top bolts up out of the way so the Escape Hatch

can be pulled out and slid towards the door to remove it.

The eight nuts, circled in purple, in the picture to the left, can now be fully

tightened. PERFORM AND RETURN

You can now tighten all the large ¾ inch nuts located on the door. PERFORM AND RETURN

Repeat the above bolt tightening steps on the other side of shelter. Then, verify that ALL the

bolts/nuts, on each side of the shelter, have been fully tightened.

PERFORM AND RETURN

================================================================

WATERPROOFING

If you want, now is a great time to apply some silicone caulking to the top seams created when the

three Main Units were attached together. If you have some masking tape I would recommend taping

over the silicone caulking so you don’t accidentally touch it during the remaining installation. It can

cause a big mess when it’s not dry. I don’t generally do this step, but it might save you from getting

wet if the storm takes your roof off and it’s still raining.

TASK 20 –INSTALL SLAM LATCH MOUNT PLATE, SLAM LATCH AND HANDLE

Slam Latch Mount Plate (Part 32 - no left and right sides). It will be in bag with slam latch.

Slam Latch – Each latch will be in a separate bag marked Left or Right.

Handle - Each will be in a separate bag marked Left or Right.

A Slam Latch Mount Plate and Slam Latch will be

in a sealed bag and the bag will be marked Left or

Right to indicate which side of the shelter they

should be installed on. Each of the two handles

will be in separate sealed bags marked Left or

Right. All fasteners for these parts will be

included in their bags.

Mount the handle straight up on the door as

shown. The two mount screws on the back side

should be tightened just enough so the handle

will still slide left and right for later adjustment

(see far left picture). These screws do not ever

need to be fully tightened. Tightening the Slam

Latch holds the Door Handle in place.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Here’s a picture of how the Slam Latch Mount Plate should be

positioned on the door when ready to attach the slam latch. It shows the

top two bolts inserted. These bolts are in the bag with this Slam Latch

Mount Plate and Slam Latch. The right side of the picture is the side

towards the open end of the door.

Install Slam Latch Mount Plate as noted in picture. It will hang loosely.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Slam Latch

Mount Plate

Slam

Latch

Handle

Back side of handle mount.

Tighten these two screws

just enough so the entire

handle slides left and right.

End of Door

Slam Latch

Mount Plate

Hang the Slam Latch onto the Slam Latch Mount

Plate by, first, threading the center bolt of the door

handle (marked on picture) through the hole in the

slam latch. The slam latch handle should be

pointing towards the door hinges so the spring

latch is pointing towards the end of the door. Just

finger tighten the four mount bolts and nuts (no

washer required). This latch needs to be able to

slide left and right for adjustment. Once attached,

slide the Slam Latch back towards the hinge side of

the door the inch, or so, it will slide.

NOTE:

This nut must NOT be tightened! If it is, the

handle will not operate. The only reason to put this

nut back on this bolt is to help cover the sharp edges

of this bolt because I had to cut this bolt shorter so it

has sharp edges. If you find it difficult to thread this

nut on, since I cut the threads, take your time and don’t force it on cross-threaded. It helps if you move

the nut a quarter turn in your fingers and try screwing it on again. Only thread this nut on far enough to

cover the cut off end of the bolt. This help cover the sharp bolt end so it’s less likely to scratch someone.

If you have difficulty getting this nut screwed on, you can simply leave it off because it doesn’t hold

anything. You might want to cover the end of the bolt with a piece of thick tape so it isn’t a scratch

hazard. PERFORM AND RETURN

This center bolt from door

handle threads through

the slam latch here.

Open end of Door

Hinge end of Door

Slam

Latch

TASK 21 – ADJUST DOOR LATCHING

Now get inside your shelter, as you

normally would when using it, and

close the door, gently, until the spring

loaded latch just rests on the Main

Unit leg edge, as shown.

Since the four fasteners holding the

Slam Latch on are loose, you can adjust

the Slam Latch back and forth until the

Main Unit leg edge hits the spring latch

at about the 1/3rd to slightly less than

½ point on the latch.

Now, tighten the nuts holding the Slam

Latch in place, just enough to secure it

as you test to see if your adjustments

are correct.

The spring latch should operate easily

when the door is gently slammed

closed. Verify that it catches enough of

the Main Unit leg edge to remain safely

latched in place.

The door should not need to be

slammed hard for the spring latch to

operate. Adjust the slam latch back and

forth until you achieve this.

When done, be sure to fully tighten the nuts holding the slam latch in place.

If you have difficulty getting the spring latch to operate without slamming the door, try using a metal

file to further round the edge of the Main Unit leg portion where the spring latch strikes. We rounded

it off in our shop, but it may need some additional rounding.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Spring loaded latch. Main unit leg edge.

As you can see in this picture the spring

loaded latch barely catches the Main Unit leg

edge. This entire Slam Latch needs to be slide

right, towards the Main Unit leg edge, until

about 1/3 of the latch catches the leg edge.

Slam Latch

TASK 22 – ADJUST DOOR SLIDE BOLTS

Get one of the portable lights from the

shelter tool bag we provided and get

inside your shelter as you normally would,

with your head at the foot of your bed. Try

closing and latching the door. Test that the

slide bolts are lined up properly and will

easily slide into the receiver holes.

The slide bolt receiver piece (see far left

picture) can be adjusted up and down to

improve alignment and almost certainly

needs some adjustment. You want the

slide bolt to be positioned in the receiver

hole similar to what you see in the picture

just to the left (plenty of space above and

below the slide bolt).

I have tried to leave the Slide Bolt Receiver piece loose enough that you can easily adjust it up and

down a few inches. The bolts holding it on are under the receiver holes. You can loosen them a bit

more if it won’t move easily and tighten them once you get it set to the correct position.

You can finger tighten a few of the nuts, to hold it in place, when you get it

set where you want it. Then use the ¾” open end hand wrench, that's

included in your shelter tool bag, to tighten all five nuts.

Once the five nuts holding the piece in place are tight, you can tighten the

extra nut on the center long bolt in the opposite direction, until it is tight.

This center bolt has one nut tightening the same as the other four and

another nut tightening the opposite direction. This help ensure that the U

shaped Slide Bolt Receiver won’t collapse when struck by flying debris.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Slide Bolt Receiver

Slide Bolt

Receiver Hole

Plenty of space above

and below the slide

bolt.

This nut tightens

opposite direction.

TASK 23 – ADJUST DOOR BOTTOM L PIECE

Door Bottom Adjustable L: Left Side (Part 13) Right Side (Part 14)

This Door Bottom L Piece is already installed on your doors. Here is a picture of the part not installed

so you know which part it is. The attachment holes on this part are slotted to allow you to adjust the

height of the part so it barely clears your carpet. This is designed to keep flying debris from entering

under your door, but still allow the door to easily open.

First, you will adjust the end that’s under the door handle (circled in blue), Open the door just enough

for you to easily access the very end nut on the back of the door. Using your fingers, position the

Door Bottom L Piece until it barely clears your carpet. With it held in this position, tighten the nut and

bolt (circled in blue) on that end of the part, just enough to hold the part in this position. Don’t

overtighten it because you next need to go to the opposite end of the part, near the hinge, and hold

that end up (circled in red) until it barely clears your carpet and tighten the nut just enough to hold it

up. Once you have this piece set, just clearing your carpet on both ends, you can fully tighten just

these two end nuts for now.

PERFORM AND RETURN

==============================================================

TASK 24 – INSTALL DOOR WHEEL WITH BRACKET

The wheels have been attached to their brackets. There is no left and right sides.

Without this wheel, the hinge pin slack could allow the door to sag when it’s

opened wide. This sagging could cause the Door Bottom Adjustable L, you

recently adjusted, to drag on the carpet since it’s adjusted to just clear the

carpet. This could make the door difficult to open widely. This wheel also helps

when the bedroom floor isn’t exactly level. On most installs, this wheel is not

actually needed, but when it is needed, it is an important feature.

To test to see if it is needed, open your door wider than you will, typically, open

it to enter the shelter. If you don’t experience any significant sagging of the door

in this position (the Door Bottom Adjustable L doesn’t start dragging on the

carpet), the wheel isn’t actually needed. I would still suggest installing the wheel, but you don’t need

to force it into the carpet as the next instructions indicate. Just tighten it up with the wheel buried in

the carpet some. This will take a little of the weight off the hinge when it’s opened wide.

If the Door Bottom L Piece does drag, SLIGHTLY, you can attempt to adjust the dragging section of it

up a bit by loosening the nuts at each end and readjusting it, as long as the space under the Door

Bottom L doesn’t increase to the point that flying debris could easily come under the door during a

tornado. If it drags significantly then you should follow the instructions below.

Here is a picture of the wheel and bracket installed. The two

fasteners, to attach the wheel bracket to the door, are attached

to the wheel bracket.

Open the door just enough for you to easily access the wheel

bracket bolt holes on the door. You don’t want the door open

very much because the further it’s open the more it could sag.

You want minimal to no sag in the door during this wheel

installation.

After attaching the wheel bracket to the door, force the wheel

into the carpet somewhat, but not excessively. Hold it there

while you (or preferably a helper) tightens the two attachment

fasteners (it’s challenging to hold it down and also tighten it).

All you are trying to do is bury the wheel in the carpet enough

so when the door is opened and begins to sag a bit, the wheel

will have a solid foundation to roll on, which will keep it from

sagging too much. PERFORM AND RETURN

Now test the door by opening it slightly further than the maximum distance that you will ever need to

open it to enter your shelter. The door should become somewhat harder, but not difficult, to open

the further it is opened. This means the wheel is helping to hold the door up on the end. As you close

the door, the effort necessary to close it should decrease as the door nears fully closed.

PERFORM AND RETURN

If the wheel causes the door to be a bit too hard to open and close, which is fairly common, simply

adjust the wheel so it’s not buried into the carpet quite as deep.

You can now finish tightening the other nuts/bolts on the Door Bottom L Piece. All you’ve

tightened so far are the two end ones. PERFORM AND RETURN

==============================================================

From my experience, the steps below are VERY RARELY required, but I include them just in case

you need them.

If the Door Bottom Adjustable L, you recently installed, just above your carpet, begins to drag on the

carpet too much, as the door is opened, then the wheel isn’t holding up the end of the door enough

to compensate for the hinge pin slack. At this point you have the following options: (I have listed

them in the order that I would try them.)

Wheel bracket nuts.

1. Try adjusting the Door Bottom Adjustable L part up just a bit more on the end where it’s

dragging so it better clears the carpet in the open position. Then shut the door and see if the

space between the top of the carpet and the bottom of the Door Bottom Adjustable L is

acceptable. You don’t want debris blowing under your door.

2. You can force the wheel into the carpet, as you did initially, but try burying it deeper this time.

3. As a last resort, you can open the door to the maximum open position you need to enter the

shelter and then prop up the end of the door slightly higher than it needs to be to clear the

carpet. Then try to VERY slightly increase the depth the wheel will imbed itself into the carpet

once the door is no longer propped up. This method is often difficult to make work and may

require considerable trial and error.

IF NECESSARY - PERFORM AND RETURN

==============================================================

TASK 25 – INSTALL MATTRESS LIP

Mattress Lip (Part 10 - no left and right sides)

Here is a picture of the mattress lip installed on

the shelter. First, you must remove the two

temporary bolts that you placed in the large

square holes at each end of the shelter. They

were to temporarily hold the Top Edge Support

in place. After removing those temporary end

bolts, position the Mattress Lip on the shelter

and insert one ½” x 1 inch carriage head bolt

(bag B3) into one of the square holes at about

the center of this long part. Put a 9/16” large

flat washer (bag W2) and a ½” nut (bag N1) on

this one bolt and lightly finger tighten. Now

that the Mattress Lip is held in position, you

can begin inserting all the remaining ½” x 1

inch carriage head bolts. Once they’re all

inserted, if you have a helper, they need to hold the bolts in place while you install 9/16” large flat

washers (bag W2) and nuts (bag N1) on the bolts, but only finger tighten. If you don’t have a helper,

use the supplied brown tape to hold the bolts in place. PERFORM AND RETURN

Now insert the smaller ¼” x ½ inch long carriage head bolts (bag B5) into the smaller holes on the

Mattress Lip. These bolts do not need washers on them. Install the nuts (also in bag B5) and you can

begin tightening ALL the bolts in the Mattress Lip. IMPORTANT: The nuts directly over the Escape

Hatch area should be tightened using the supplied ¾” hand wrench to avoid overtightening

since you will need to remove these nut and bolts if you ever need to remove the Escape Hatch.

PERFORM AND RETURN

Insert a bolt

around this center

area of the

mattress lip.

TASK 26 – INSTALL CUSHIONING

The cushioning pieces 1 – 7, in the orange

outline, are used on a Queen bed size

shelter with two doors. The pieces outside

the orange box are additional pieces

provided for a two door King size shelter.

The larger diameter round foam

cushioning (#1 & #3 both inside and

outside the orange box) are provided to

cover the folded down seams where the

Main Unit pieces join together. On a King

bed shelter installation there are three

Main Unit pieces, which creates two folded

down seams the length of the shelter.

The four short pieces (#3) are installed

first. Place them on the four vertical

seams at the ends of the shelter (see

picture below). Now install the two larger

diameter long pieces (#1). They cover the

horizontal seam down the length of the

shelter (see picture below).

1 2 3 4

5 X 2

5 8 3 4

6 7

1

INSTALL THESE TWO SECOND

Long center seam cover.

Larger diameter.

INSTAL THESE FOUR FIRST

Short vertical center seam

cover. Uses large diameter

foam.

3

1

Next, install the two smaller diameter long round pieces (#2). These install over the roof stiffeners that

are attached to the roof of the left and right Main Unit pieces (see picture below). If necessary, you

may need to tape these pieces in place to better hold them up.

Install the roughly 20” rectangle pieces by pressing them onto the anchor bolts at each end of the

Main Units. There are a total of six of these pieces on a king bed shelter. The longer two pieces (#7)

install on the anchor bolts at the head end of the bed, which is the Escape Hatch end of your shelter.

The two slightly shorter

pieces (#6) install at the foot

end of the bed, which is the

door end of your shelter

(shown in this picture). The

two very short pieces (#8)

install in the Center Main

Unit piece at the head and

foot.

Position all these

rectangular pieces into the

space above the anchor

bolts and force the anchor

bolts into the cushioning, as

shown in picture. PERFORM AND RETURN

If you plan to install/use the Center Support piece (recommended), you will need to use a knife to

easily cut the top center seam foam pieces (#1) as pictured below.

I would recommend that you cut

this Center Support space an inch

wider than the actual Center

Support piece so there is no chance

of the foam tubing getting in the

way of you, quickly, installing the

Center Support. Remember, on a

king bed size shelter you have TWO

of these Center Supports (one on

each of the two center seams).

PERFORM AND RETURN

INSTALL THESE THIRD

Smaller diameter Roof

Stiffener cover.

This rectangular foam piece can be

fully mashed down onto the anchor

bolts.

2

6 8

Center Support piece attaches here

so the foam must be cut away.

These nuts should NOT be screwed on this far. They should be barely screwed

on to allow you to quickly remove the nuts and install the Center Support.

2

Find the shortest foam piece (#5). It is to be placed on the Slide Bolt Connector

Handle of each door, as shown in the picture below. In the picture to the left,

you can see that both ends have been cut down a few inches (you may need to

make this cut) so it can be installed with the open seam, with the cellophane

tape on the edge, facing outward (see picture below).

This foam piece has cellophane covering the sticky surface of each side of the

opening. Remove this cellophane and press the opening together until it sticks.

This provides a great padded handle.

PERFORM AND RETURN

==============================================================

TASK 27 – INSTALL CENTER SUPPORT

Center Support Leg

Once the shelter is completely installed, you have the option of

permanently installing this piece onto the two bolts as shown in the

picture. Or, if you feel the Center Support will make it more difficult to

get into the shelter (a potential problem with more than two occupants),

you can leave it inside the shelter, but not installed (recommended). You

can easily install it once you get into the shelter. That’s why you want the

attachment bolts pointing towards the person who would do this

installation.

There are two small diameter, short foam tubing (#4) for each of the two

Center Support pieces that are provided with a king bed shelter. They

should be placed on the edges of the Center Support, if it is attached

permanently (see picture). If it will not be permanently attached, simply

leave the foam cushioning on the center support and leave it inside the shelter until you’re ready to

install it. PERFORM AND RETURN

The short piece of round foam goes

on this Slide Bolt Connector Handle.

Face the seam towards the outside

and stick together.

TASK 28 – CUT OFF ANCHOR BOLTS

Your final, very important, step is to cut off the anchor

bolt, on the Door Mount L Plate foot, that is located

behind the Escape Hatch. Do this on both sides.

If you don’t reduce the length of this anchor, it will be in

your way if you should ever need to remove the escape

hatch when the doors are blocked.

We provided two extra nuts for these two 3/8” anchors.

What I do is screw on a second nut and use it as my

cutting guide to cut these bolts down to the top of that

double stack of nuts. I use a sawzall to cut this anchor,

but a hack saw will work. When finished, you can leave

this extra nut on the anchor or remove it. The picture to

the left shows the anchor cut off a bit longer than I like.

That’s why I started using the double nut as my cutting

guide.

HEADBOARD AND FOOTBOARD INSTALLATION If you told us that you will be installing a headboard/footboard, you should have received a bag of

slotted straps that contains flat and “L” shaped pieces. At the head and foot of the shelter, outer

edges, you will see a vertical row of small holes. These are for installation of the headboard and

footboard. In this bag of slotted straps are the small nuts and bolts needed to attach the straps to the

shelter and to each other. Headboard and footboard designs vary so much that it’s impossible for me

to instruct you on how to do this installation. In my experience mounting two of the “L” shaped straps

with one facing up and the other facing down, provides a way to anchor the straps to the

headboard/footboard and then to the shelter. We do not supply any wood screws for installation to

wooden headboards/footboards since most people have these wood screws.

Give me a call when you get to this step and I will talk with you about some of the ways I have

attached the headboard and footboard.

ADDITIONAL CUSHIONING Around the door opening and the top and leg edges, you could attach duct tape or black electrical

tape as added protection. Just be sure to verify the door still operates properly. You could also tape

the Mattress Lip edge that’s above the door opening. This will help protect you from these,

potentially, sharp edges.

As you can see, this anchor

bolt has been cut off so it

doesn’t get in the way of

removing your escape hatch.

PUT SUPPLIED TOOL BAG INSIDE SHELTER AND MOUNT YOUR TWO LIGHTS Be sure to put the bag of tools we supplied, inside your shelter. Take the two magnetic lights and

place them near each door, easily accessed when you get into your shelter. Same for the battery

operated fan we supplied. I put 10 year guarantee leak proof batteries in the two lights and the fan. It

would still be wise to check the condition of these batteries before tornado season each year (set a

cell phone reminder).

I would also suggest that you place some additional items in your shelter each year before the start of

tornado season like some clothes and shoes and some water and snacks.

REGISTER YOUR SHELTER WITH YOUR CITY

I strongly recommend that you contact your city offices and ask if they offer the ability to register the

location of your shelter. If it is done online, you may need to explain that your shelter is located under

your bed, because, from my experience, that will not be one of the “Location of Shelter” options.

GROUNDING YOUR SHELTER

I had questions about the possibility of lightning striking our shelter and putting the occupants in

danger, so I sought out an expert in lightning, I found Michael Stringfellow, who said: “Personally, I

wouldn't concern myself with lightning for an indoor shelter, especially if you're more

concerned with tornado protection. Lightning would hit the house first and would find its way

to earth through all the metalwork leading to ground - mostly electrical wiring these days - and

your shelter wouldn't be much of a target. I certainly wouldn't bother trying to ground

it. You're pretty safe from lightning inside a house, even if it's mostly wood.”

If you want to be extra-safe (always a good idea), I would recommend that you attach a ground wire

to your shelter and properly ground it to an outside ground rod. You can have an electrical contractor

do it for you or you can find instructions on the Internet on how to do it yourself. It’s actually quite

easy and inexpensive, if you do it yourself.

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Last Updated 2-25-20