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Home Depot testing pre-built storm rooms No. 1 home improvement retailer will sell in-house shelters in limited markets for the hurricane season. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Home Depot and DuPont have teamed up to launch pre-built storm rooms for sale to consumers in a few test markets. Home Depot (Charts) will debut the in-house shelters in a store in Houston. On Sept. 11, the company will roll out the product to four additional locations in the Texas market.
Depending on customer response, the retailer aims to expand the offering to storm and hurricane-prone regions across the United States. Consumers can also order the storm rooms directly from DuPont. CNNMoney.com first reported in March that DuPont was looking to partner with a major retail chain to market its Kevlar storm rooms in time for the onset of the 2006 hurricane season. DuPont (Charts), which invented such products as nylon, Teflon and the bullet-resistant Kevlar fiber, has been testing the market for pre-built storm rooms in the tornado-prone regions of Texas and Oklahoma for the past two years. DuPont said the room will resist winds up to 250 miles an hour. Electricity and plumbing can be added and cell phones and radios should keep working even at the height of devastating storms like last year's hurricane Katrina. Additionally, the walls and door are reinforced with Kevlar, the same material used in bullet-resistant vests. According to company information, Kevlar is five times stronger than steel and provides a powerful and highly resistant barrier against wind -borne debris, which is one of the leading causes of injuries in major hurricanes. The pre-built storm room comes in two sizes - 4 feet by 6 feet and 4 by 8 feet - but custom-made sizes can vary, DuPont said. Moreover, the company said homeowners can either convert an existing room to a storm room or incorporate into a new home for about $6,000 to $10,000. Custom-made rooms take three weeks or longer to deliver but the rooms can be installed within 24-hours, DuPont said. |
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