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Anyone have their safe in the basement?

SeanT

SeanT

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I recently bought my first gun safe and am going to keep it in the basement. Should I put the safe up on some wood to prevent moisture from leeching from the concrete into the safe? As I'm planning on both floor and wall mounting, should I have a wood spacer between the safe and the wall as well?

Thanks for your responses!
 
Definitely spacers to let the air circulate. If you don't you will have rust issues.

A dehumidifier is A Good Thing, as is a circulating fan.
 
Use the Azak (?) trim board under and behind the safe. It is made from PVC and will not absorb moisture like the wood will. Scriv is right on.
 
I have my safe in the basement. I put it up off the floor to avoid moisture issues. The problem is that if the safe sits directly on the floor - you get a transfter of heat/cold from the metal safe body - to the concrete floor. Since - especially in summer and winter the difference between air temp and concrete floor temp can be pretty drastic - this can lead to condensation. Putting the safe up off the floor helps prevent this. I have noticed over many years that things left directly on a concrete floor will tend to rust much more quickly than things that are set up off a concrete floor. Especially in a non temperature controlled area.

I have one of those "golden rod" heated rods in my safe - mounted on the floor so the heat travels up. And there are a bunch of the small dessicant type dehumidifiers in the safe itself too. This seems to work pretty well at a keep moisture problems at bay.
 
I have mine up off the floor, Golden Rod in safe, Dehumidifier on top of the safe with a direct drain into the washing machine drain, and 3 Damp Rid cups in the safe. In the Humid summer I do get water in the Damp Rid cups, but none in the winter.
 
Thanks for the replies. The hardware that came with the safe seems to be either steel or zinc-plated, should I worry about these rusting due to their contact with the concrete (even with it raised)? I suppose I could see about getting stainless lag bolts but don't know if this should be a concern.
 
bostonasphalt2 said:
no easier that tipping it forward and sticking a foot truck under it. Its the 650 ponds that it has going for it that protects it the most.
Click to expand...

650 pounds aint nuthin for a pallet mover!!
150_LIFTRITE_Pallet-Truck-New-Style.jpg


And they look legit if they have one of those or a forklift!
 
dagwag77 said:
650 pounds aint nuthin for a pallet mover!!
150_LIFTRITE_Pallet-Truck-New-Style.jpg


And they look legit if they have one of those or a forklift!
Click to expand...

that wont make it over the lip between the basement and garage! and a pallet mover coming into my house would look seriously bizarre, even to odd-duck neighbors. Next up: vault door. That will solve all problems.
 
dagwag77 said:
650 pounds aint nuthin for a pallet mover!!
150_LIFTRITE_Pallet-Truck-New-Style.jpg


And they look legit if they have one of those or a forklift!
Click to expand...

Mine is on the original pallet as well. I'm not worried about it one bit. My safe weighs almost 1000 lbs. empty, so your typical junky isn't going to move it anywhere.

I don't live in a house that would inspire an, "Italian Job" type operation. They'd need to show up with a moving truck, a pallet jack, several sheets of plywood to pull it up the grass hill beside my house, and some common sense. I wonder how long they'd struggle with taking my doors off and removing the woodwork as well. I'm sure my neighbors wouldn't take very kindly to a production like that.......

I'd probably come home to find one of them trapped under the safe, on the side of my house.
 
BeerGuy said:
Mine is on the original pallet as well. I'm not worried about it one bit. My safe weighs almost 1000 lbs. empty, so your typical junky isn't going to move it anywhere.

I don't live in a house that would inspire an, "Italian Job" type operation. They'd need to show up with a moving truck, a pallet jack, several sheets of plywood to pull it up the grass hill beside my house, and some common sense. I wonder how long they'd struggle with taking my doors off and removing the woodwork as well. I'm sure my neighbors wouldn't take very kindly to a production like that.......

I'd probably come home to find one of them trapped under the safe, on the side of my house.
Click to expand...

and then that dirt bag woudl sue you for their injuries and win. I wish I was kidding, lol!
 
bostonasphalt2 said:
I left mine on the pallet it came on, kept it off the ground to prevent rusting and other moisture issues.
Click to expand...

I did the same thing. It's a 700 lb safe. If someone has the determination to break into my house and steel this safe by lugging it up my bulkhead, bolting it down really isn't going to stop them. Plus, given enough time a knowlegdable theif will get into just about any safe. I'm not too worried about someone like that trying to break into my townhouse.
 
thinking....my safe's in the basement & not that heavy. I need to bolt it down to the floor....how about carpet between the floor and the safe?
 
Palladin said:
thinking....my safe's in the basement & not that heavy. I need to bolt it down to the floor....how about carpet between the floor and the safe?
Click to expand...

I would use some sort of basement subflooring or even those commercial plastic snap together tiles.

http://www.racedeck.com/freeflow.html

something like this but I would check with MSC direct or something because im sure they have em cheaper.
 
My safe is in my basement but I make sure it's not contacting concrete directly.

It sits on a piece of plywood which in turn sits on a layer of foam (the pink stuff from Home Depot). It's then anchored to the wall with some of concrete anchors where you hammer in the pin. I made plywood washers to space the metal off from the concrete. The safe is a Winchester and weighs 500lbs empty but good luck to anyone trying to steal it.
 
Rockrivr1 said:
I did the same thing. It's a 700 lb safe. If someone has the determination to break into my house and steel this safe by lugging it up my bulkhead, bolting it down really isn't going to stop them. Plus, given enough time a knowlegdable theif will get into just about any safe. I'm not too worried about someone like that trying to break into my townhouse.
Click to expand...

If your safe is sitting in your garage - where somebody could pull a lift truck up and cart the thing out - then yeah, I can see why somebody would be - and should be - worried about somebody carting off the whole safe. If you have large bulky safe that is down in your basement - and the only access is thru a bulkhead or a stairway of ANY sort - then I honestly don't know why you would be worried about anybody carting your safe off. Take a 500lb safe - add 10 to 20 rifles - and you are talking about 750 pounds easy.

The easiest way for somebody to steal the contents of your safe at that point is to bring a large grinder with a metal cutting blade - or a skilsaw with a metal cutting diamond blade - and just cut a hole thru the side of the safe and take out the contents.

I have a break down safe - the thing weighs somewhere in the vicinity of 800 pounds - for just the safe. Add in in the contents - and it probably adds another 500-600 pounds.

NOBODY is moving it out of the basement as a single piece easily. If burglars have the kind of time inside your house it would take to move something like that it's because you are on a long vacation - and they are taking EVERYTHING in your house with a big moving truck.

You need to worry about an alarm system - not your safe.
 
This is what I use in my basement. Cost less than 20 bucks at home depot, very satisfied with the results. The rubber keeps it off the floor and I have a goldenrod dehumidifier on the inside.


 
Last edited:
Mine's on the floor in the basement with a golden rod inside that's rated for a safe 4 times the size. After reading this post I am going to buy some vinyl trim board and bring it up off the floor.
 
Burgermeister said:
Eastern Safe delivered mine and their recommendation was to keep it on the shipping pallet, which was made from 4x4s.
Click to expand...

ES delivered mine, also. Instead of the pallet, I used pressure-treated 4x4s.

As for those mats, they also make for comfortable reloading while you're standing at the press.
 

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