Not Bolting Down a Safe

[Caribouriver]

When a lease agreement clearly states "no holes to be drilled anywhere", how does a person secure a safe? To be legal, is it a requirement that a safe be bolted down? Thanks in advance.

[downdiver2]

To be safe and legal, firearms inside a safe or "Locked up" is legal.

IMO I would bolt it down anyway.

[stix213]

Put the safe in a carpeted area and just bolt it down. When you eventually remove the safe, the landlord won't even notice the bolt was there.

[OlderThanDirt]

These isn't any legal requirement to bolt the safe to the floor. Weight is your friend: boxes of bullets, lead weights, etc. will slow down a burglar.

[Mountain Max]

Bolt it to other furniture to make it more bulky. Like a metal filing cabinet or, another safe for more guns and ammo :-)

[downdiver2]

Put the safe in a carpeted area and just bolt it down. When you eventually remove the safe, the landlord won't even notice the bolt was there.

^^ Yes

Subfloor damage that 90% of the time wont be found will costs you a lot less in repairs when you move out vs. a stolen safe full of goodies.

The holes will be so small going through the carpet, they wont even notice. Especially, in the corner of a carpeted closet or something like that, or even a hallway closet that is carpeted.

[lumwilliam]

Careful, landlord might rock the safe during an inspection. And immediately tell it's bolted. Use butterfly bolts and leave a little play....or loosen up before any inspection so it can wiggle a little. And yes, Mount it in a corner so it can't be rockedone loose

[kayaker]

Use 1/4" diameter bolts so you leave smaller holes through the carpet.
If you can't bolt it down then put as much weight as possible. When I was preparing to move, I put my safe in the garage so that I could refinish the floor in the room my safe had been in. I put bulk bullets and steel weights in, as much as I could fit. My son and I tried to lean it back to get a dolly under it, no way.

[Bansh88]

I've rented most of my adult life. Never seen this clause before, nor would I adhere to it.
Taking care of the home or the apartment is the landlords first priority. If you leave the place clean and orderly with a few holes, they wont care.

I have 2 safes, neither are bolted down. If someone has the equipment to remove and haul the safes from my residence, they likely would have the means to rip it out off some bolts.

[MarikinaMan]

I manage apartments to rent. You put a hole in a wood floor, that goes out of your deposit. Put a hole in the wall, the fix goes out of the deposit.

At the end of the day, what's it worth to you?

[Montu]

A cheap safe that is bolted is most likely going to provide better security than a more expensive safe that is not bolted.

As mentioned, I would bolt it anyway...in fact what I might do if possible is put it in an area with only a small section of carpet, replace the carpet with something cheap and bolt through it, on move out put the original carpet back covering the holes.

[ZeroHour]

[MarikinaMan]

From my life experience as both a renter and a property manager I can say that I have never seen a clause like that specifically written in a lease agreement. That said, the simple fact that they took the time to add it tells me you are going to have a wonderful time trying to get your deposit back no matter what you do.

If I were in your place I would bolt it down anyway. The worst thing they can do is charge you a reasonable fee to repair the damage. If possible, bolt it through the back into the wall studs. The holes left by the bolts could easily be filled with spackle by you when you leave. The landlord may not even notice if done well. If they DO notice about the most they could charge you would be $50-$100.

If the floor is wood/laminate etc., I would think about not bolting it to the floor. The holes will be very difficult to disguise and wood floor repairs are not cheap. To that note bolting through the carpet IS an option, but if you have a particularly heavy safe sitting there for a year or so, the carpet may not be able to be fluffed back up. Once it’s matted down really badly they could say it is “damaged”.

I hope my incite is helpful.

^^^ this is good advice. The walk through is done, and you've already moved in. If you do get an inspection while youre there, your not liable to pay for anything until you move out. When the time comes, move your stuff out, come back with a tub of spackle and some Navajo white paint (if that's the wall color). Done, finished. Anything on the floor, fix it with wood putty a week in advance. When cured, step on it with some dirty tennies to age the fix a bit. Done. Get your deposit back.

[nedro]

To be safe and legal, firearms inside a safe or "Locked up" is legal.

IMO I would bolt it down anyway.

Put the safe in a carpeted area and just bolt it down. When you eventually remove the safe, the landlord won't even notice the bolt was there.

^^ Yes

Subfloor damage that 90% of the time wont be found will costs you a lot less in repairs when you move out vs. a stolen safe full of goodies.

The holes will be so small going through the carpet, they wont even notice. Especially, in the corner of a carpeted closet or something like that, or even a hallway closet that is carpeted.

Use 1/4" diameter bolts so you leave smaller holes through the carpet.
If you can't bolt it down then put as much weight as possible. When I was preparing to move, I put my safe in the garage so that I could refinish the floor in the room my safe had been in. I put bulk bullets and steel weights in, as much as I could fit. My son and I tried to lean it back to get a dolly under it, no way.

I've rented most of my adult life. Never seen this clause before, nor would I adhere to it.
Taking care of the home or the apartment is the landlords first priority. If you leave the place clean and orderly with a few holes, they wont care.

I have 2 safes, neither are bolted down. If someone has the equipment to remove and haul the safes from my residence, they likely would have the means to rip it out off some bolts.

A cheap safe that is bolted is most likely going to provide better security than a more expensive safe that is not bolted.

As mentioned, I would bolt it anyway...in fact what I might do if possible is put it in an area with only a small section of carpet, replace the carpet with something cheap and bolt through it, on move out put the original carpet back covering the holes.

Renters.
Scum Bags, the lot of them!
Get your own damned house if you want card Blanche to screw stuff up!

[tmorse]

Not likely but possible it is a post tensioned slab. That would be a good reason for the no holes drilled clause.


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