Question about vault doors

[Thinking]

So I have a nice safe (thanks to the boys at Eastern Security). I will likely be building another house down the line and have thought about how cool it would be to have a room to store my “gear.” Eastern, and other folks, sell vault doors and I thought maybe that is a way to go.
But after thinking about it more, really the weakest link on the vault door concept has to be the walls and ceiling that surround it.
So for those of you who have a vault door, or know about them, what do folks make the walls and ceiling out of (or floor if it’s not in the basement)? I’m really perplexed by this.

 

[bigpick]

View: https://youtu.be/_AAZYTLvNnI

 

[Kevin_NH]

You're on the right track -- the "vault door" is the easy part, especially if you're building the house around it.

 

[Brewer]

I was musing about this a while back, too. You don't even need new construction for cinderblock walls with overlapping cavities, then rebar down the channels and concrete poured over.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYDbNtuyDS0


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ouq0_S5O9vE

 

[Waher]

In MA a vault isn't considered "safe storage" by the letter of the law and court precedent. This is retarded, but if you built such a vault you'll need a locking display case (how the @#^@! that is different than the vault door) out of welded wire mesh (like a storage locker) or glass to meet the MA standard.

 

[boscru]

• there was a thread some time ago---4ish years maybe??? one of the thoughts, as i remember, was 2 X 4 walled construction with rebar spaced horizontally 1 foot spacing on all sides. holes bigger than the rebar so it would spin if attacked with a sawzall. that doesn't prevent cutting or knocking out a large enough piece of drywall for someone to retain with a stillson/pipe wrench.
• 
  
• cinder blocks with rebar sounds good, but pricey, not to mention buying and properly anchoring the vault door. if it were me, i'd stick with a quality safe+quality alarm system

edit: where the heck did these bullet points on my post come from????

 

[42!]

A buddy of mine in PA built more of a secure room than an actual vault. It had a vault door with a steel frame and was built into the corner of his basement, it still had 4 walls built with 2x6 12" spacing, plywood (screwed down), then drywall. There was rebar running horizontal set loose (so it would role if a saw was used). Ceiling was the same construction. Not impervious but coupled with his alarm system it would slow them down enough for the PD, and more importantly his good neighbors, to get there.

 

[watchman]

You would have to form out the walls during the pour of the concrete foundation for the vault area in a basement. Remember you then have to pour a reinforced concrete slab on top for a ceiling. This would be costly and may or may not affect future sales given real estate based on square footage.

Even the loss of precious space in a basement for those who don't need a vault could narrow your future sales prospects. Me.... I would just buy a safe or two much easier than having the crack head foundation guy you're hiring tell their buddies of the vault they just poured with address and all.

 

[Fixxah]

A friend had one in his basement. Door was 1,290 lbs. He paid for the door, rigging, install, and security
10" concrete walls, ceiling reinforced with steel. Bobody getting in that thing.

 

[Jayvs]

2x4 walls 16” on center with 3/4” plywood strips to fill in the voided area and in between the plywood put woven fiberglass mats! Any method of cutting would just get jammed up in the glass. Cheep and very effective

 

[Waher]

A friend had one in his basement. Door was 1,290 lbs. He paid for the door, rigging, install, and security
10" concrete walls, ceiling reinforced with steel. Bobody getting in that thing.

Bank vaults used to be 10" of reinforced concrete on all sides with 1/4" plate steel on each side of the walls and ceiling. Doors in the 10-25 ton range.

 

[Fixxah]

The door was separate from the frame and took three guys and winches and shit to lower into basement.

 

[KBCraig]

Someone I know in Arkansas (he's older, but lives in my hometown) custom-built his home. Before the walls went up, the first thing built was his vault, all reinforced concrete walls and ceiling. It stood there on the slab until they built the house around the vault.

He's an engineer, so I'm sure he did a good job of it.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

In MA a vault isn't considered "safe storage" by the letter of the law and court precedent. This is retarded, but if you built such a vault you'll need a locking display case (how the @#^@! that is different than the vault door) out of welded wire mesh (like a storage locker) or glass to meet the MA standard.

Can you please provide something to back up this claim. You seem to be spouting nonsense, but a lot of MA law is nonsense, so it's worth seeing if you can back your claim.

Where in the statute is does it say that a vault is not safe storage, and where does it say a locking display case meets the requirement?

And what court precedent are you referring to? The model jury instructions for the unsafe storage offense require the jury to find the gun was not stored in a locked container (see https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2016/08/sh/7630-improper-storage-of-firearm.pdf). If you read the entire jury instructions, you will find that a safe is cited as an example of a locked container.