How To Build A Secure Room The Best Way?

Joined
Jan 24, 2012
Messages
3,161
Likes
16,194
Feedback: 1 / 0 / 0
I live in a remote part of NH and I have started finishing off parts of my basement. One annoyance is every time I have contractors over here, they see everything I own and comment on it. It got me into thinking, I would like to have a small secure room dedicated to guns vs a gun safe. I don't think its a bad idea to also have a safe inside it. I'd like to be inconspicuous.

Has anyone ever build one and have any advice?
 
 
Thanks. Looks similar to what I was thinking. Build some walls with cinder-blocks and put rebar and concrete into the gaps. Then face it with some 8x4 sheets of A36 steel. Then build 2x4 walls framing around that. Drywall it and then put a cheap outward swinging door to a commercial fire rated door that swings inward
 
Thanks. Looks similar to what I was thinking. Build some walls with cinder-blocks and put rebar and concrete into the gaps. Then face it with some 8x4 sheets of A36 steel. Then build 2x4 walls framing around that. Drywall it and then put a cheap outward swinging door to a commercial fire rated door that swings inward
You don't want to be in your safe room when someone blocks the only exit. Swing in or have two ways out. A vault door is great and the exit door for emergencies would have no handle outside and heavy steel that would make it easier for a perp to go through the concrete. And the ceiling is the week spot.

A friend had a 1,200lb. bank vault setup. It took a crew of four to do the install. He re-enforced the ceiling and all else was steel and concrete. It fit lots of things.
 
There are a number of videos on YouTube on the subject (go figure) Here's one, for example, that's a little long...but pretty entertaining [popcorn]... This will also bring you to additional videos of the more simple variety of secure rooms.


View: https://youtu.be/iO04wXR6kAQ

Nope, this is ultimate:

 
A friend of mine has a setup like this. Cinderblock walls reinforced with rebar, drilled into the foundation and gaps filled with concrete. Poured concrete ceiling. Vault door delivered and installed. Seperate alarm zone and keypad. Cameras inside and out. Air exchanger, temp control and humidity control. Enviromental monitoring system. Access controlled outer steel door, a kill zone, and then the vault door. Same setup you would use in a gun museum. Guy owns a bunch of museum quality WW2 kraut stuff and some full autos. Thousands of pieces. Probably a $10M collection.
 
I was in an estate gun room for a job I interviewed for. Massive room built into a hill side. 100% concrete filled with steel covered in stunning wood work. Climate controled. VHF based alarm system with all sorts of firearms and NFA stuff. Had three secure doors the last being a bank vault door. Then to get at the NFA stuff there was a finger print reader that opened a secret wall.
I've seen some pretty fancy stuff in my day job for 30 years but nothing came close to this estate.
 
Someone I know built a foundation under their farmers porch, top poured onto a corrugated metal frame of some sort above (ie looks like a slab under the porch but is really the ceiling of the room). It is a 100% concrete room with a doorway into the basement, whenever he adds an actual door it will be like a bunker. Funny thing is he is not a gun owner.

A simpler thing might be pour a closet or room, or even just build a really secure room. Steel is another option or a mix of wood/steel/concrete to make it easier to build while still really hard to break into all are options, ie frame it with wood walls, 2x4's and plywood but fill it with concrete, or stack up cinder blocks and fill them with rebar and concrete etc etc.

Obviously you need a good door, a heavy steel door with a padlock behind a protective cover is the simple thing.
 
Real bank vaults have the building built around the vault. 25 ton vault doors and 1" steel plate over 18"-24" of reinforced concrete walls makes that a necessity.
 
Cinderblock walls reinforced with rebar, drilled into the foundation and gaps filled with concrete. Poured concrete ceiling. Vault door delivered and installed. Seperate alarm zone and keypad. Cameras inside and out. Air exchanger, temp control and humidity control. Enviromental monitoring system. Access controlled outer steel door, a kill zone, and then the vault door. Same setup you would use in a gun museum.

Sounds like a sex dungeon to me did he have a Matt Lauer door switch too? [rofl]
 
Hide in plain site, just put up frame, plasterboard and normal door. Less interest in plan doors.

You could go next level, do double framed-in rooms. The outer room put lots of cheap S&M stuff, the inner room have all the stuff you want hide

No contractor will go further than the outer room, double win, you get the job done faster as they want to get the hell out of there.

Who knows with the write advert in Craigslist you could rent the room out
 
You could go next level, do double framed-in rooms. The outer room put lots of cheap S&M stuff, the inner room have all the stuff you want hide
Some of our NES members may prefer the expensive stuff.

Seriously, unless you are going to hide all evidence of guns (no gun magazines - paper, metal or plastic; no gun parts; no guns being worked on; etc.) it would also be worth putting a few of your lower end guns in a cheap safeoid like a Stack On cabinet as a decoy.
 
Real bank vaults have the building built around the vault. 25 ton vault doors and 1" steel plate over 18"-24" of reinforced concrete walls makes that a necessity.
You sure? My wife’s bank is building a new branch. Slab poured and they are standing up the walls as of yesterday. I can tell you I can look right thru 100% of the building and there’s no vault yet. They better hurry up. 😂
 
You sure? My wife’s bank is building a new branch. Slab poured and they are standing up the walls as of yesterday. I can tell you I can look right thru 100% of the building and there’s no vault yet. They better hurry up. 😂
Most banks don't have real vaults anymore unless they have safe deposit boxes and those are weak sauce.

Back when bearer bonds were a thing and people had to clip coupons to collect their dividends banks used to have massive safe deposit vaults because it was the only safe place to store those bonds. The real money stored in banks was never cash, bullion, or precious stones, but all those coupons.

When you think of all the manual accounting & filing labor, plus having to meet in person for various transactions/consultations, getting money for the week, making deposits, and all the time it took to clip and store coupons, that's why bank buildings used to be massive edifices. Now almost all of that is obsolete.
 
Most banks don't have real vaults anymore unless they have safe deposit boxes and those are weak sauce.

Back when bearer bonds were a thing and people had to clip coupons to collect their dividends banks used to have massive safe deposit vaults because it was the only safe place to store those bonds. The real money stored in banks was never cash, bullion, or precious stones, but all those coupons.

When you think of all the manual accounting & filing labor, plus having to meet in person for various transactions/consultations, getting money for the week, making deposits, and all the time it took to clip and store coupons, that's why bank buildings used to be massive edifices. Now almost all of that is obsolete.
You’re kinda right on size. I swear my garage in Maine has the same square footage. Teller lines are going by way of the dinosaur. You will be sitting at a desk with your banker.
When we had First Republic Bank that’s how they operated. Strange at first but kinda cool. I only went in to Boston twice for that experience.
 
Hide in plain site, just put up frame, plasterboard and normal door. Less interest in plan doors.

You could go next level, do double framed-in rooms. The outer room put lots of cheap S&M stuff, the inner room have all the stuff you want hide

No contractor will go further than the outer room, double win, you get the job done faster as they want to get the hell out of there.

Who knows with the write advert in Craigslist you could rent the room out

Even better maybe some life size gay porn posters and S&M stuff.
 
A friend of mine has a setup like this. Cinderblock walls reinforced with rebar, drilled into the foundation and gaps filled with concrete. Poured concrete ceiling. Vault door delivered and installed. Seperate alarm zone and keypad. Cameras inside and out. Air exchanger, temp control and humidity control. Enviromental monitoring system. Access controlled outer steel door, a kill zone, and then the vault door. Same setup you would use in a gun museum. Guy owns a bunch of museum quality WW2 kraut stuff and some full autos. Thousands of pieces. Probably a $10M collection.

Is your friend looking for new friends?
 
Back
Top Bottom