Not Bolting Down a Safe

[Maht_g]

A couple 1/4" lag bolts thru the back into the wall studs will make life much more difficult for thieves... not as good as concrete anchors but huge advantage over weight alone, and holes in a wall are easy to cover, use crest toothpaste!

[ElvenSoul]

Boltit to the wall

[Toxicxk23]

Can you bolt it to a large steel plate that would make it difficult to get through a doorway?

That's actually not a bad idea...Thanks for the idea!

[3006]

My safe is heavy not sure anyone would bother moving it when you can saws all the corner off in a few minutes?

[The Gleam]

2) Anyone saying ANYTHING along the lines of "don't bolt it / no need / the weight will keep you safe" are completely, 100% full of crap & have no clue what they're talking about.

.

Got that right...

If it's a carpeted floor, 4 5/16" machine bolts that you can anchor from the underside, or for lack of being able to get underneath, some 3/8" to 1/2" Lag screws into support beams underneath, and will do no visible damage to the carpet once it's moved - unless it's a low-pile carpet; at most, some combing and reassertion of carpet threads in those areas is the most you'll need to do.

Now if it's a bare-wood floor, especially something nice; I'd skip drilling into the floor. Find a way to secure/bolt into studs in the wall to keep it from being tipped. Easier to repair and paint over drywall and you can do it yourself to the point it's like your landlord will not notice the repair. Repairing damage to the planks of a nice wood floor is guaranteed to supersede the cost of the safe; and the landlord will be sure to make sure it does.

[Den60]

That's actually not a bad idea...Thanks for the idea!

You're welcome.

[Mayor McRifle]

2) Anyone saying ANYTHING along the lines of "don't bolt it / no need / the weight will keep you safe" are completely, 100% full of crap & have no clue what they're talking about.

I don't know. I had to remove both the door to the room my safe is in and the door on the safe itself to get my safe into the room. How would bolting it down benefit me? If a burglar takes the time to remove the door to the room (while my dogs and ADT are doing their thing), he or she would still have to remove the door to the safe to get it out of the room. At that point, why would the burglar still want to take the safe?

[FAS1]

I don't know. I had to remove both the door to the room my safe is in and the door on the safe itself to get my safe into the room. How would bolting it down benefit me? If a burglar takes the time to remove the door to the room (while my dogs and ADT are doing their thing), he or she would still have to remove the door to the safe to get it out of the room. At that point, why would the burglar still want to take the safe?

Usually it is not about taking the safe. It's about laying it on its back so with a pry-bar you can get all your weight (or a couple people's weight) on the bar.

It's a lot harder to do this with the safe upright.




Here's a video only taking two guys about 2.5 minutes to pry the door open once the safe is on it's back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktZyAQ6GK6c

[2761377]

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=731447

[maidendeth13]

If you bolt it in the corner you might only want to install 3 bolts at each corner of the safe that's near a wall and leave out the bolt that's on the exposed corner of the safe.

That's what I did when I was living in a house I knew I was going to sell and didn't want to have an obvious hole in the floor.

[bsg]

i wouldn't agree to terms that i have no intention of complying with.

[wpage]

Fill the holes nicely when you move out...

[Walking Fire]

What kind of floor do you have? Wood or Concrete?

[Barang]

What's wrong with a couple cases of 9mm, .45, and .223 placed inside to weigh it down?

Hurculean as a couple rocket surgeons might be, they are going to have a very rough time moving a 700 ls safe with 200 - 400 ls more of ammo, plus the guns and whatever else is in there.

Can you bolt it to a large steel plate that would make it difficult big to get through a doorway?

OP, do it the right way and the above suggestions are great!

[The Gleam]

OP, do it the right way and the above suggestions are great!

Actually no. "Weighing it down" is a ridiculous notion. In most cases when not using a cutting wheel to get into the safe, the idea will be to get the safe on its side to access either the door with a lever, or the back or side where it's thin, to use little more than a sledge and tin-sips.

That someone thinks 200 to 400 pounds is heavy to prevent toppling a safe that is already 800+ pounds is laughable. With that in mind, most 800 safes are laughable as it is.

In that regard, if you are weighed at the bottom, the top is acts like a lever against that weight even with no fulcrum; safe is easily toppled (where ironically they will likely USE a lever to get into the safe). If that weight is distributed throughout the safe, the safe is then merely top-heavy as it is tall - easy to topple.

"Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world." - Archimedes

Don't be dumb or naive; bolt it place somehow - wall or floor. Anyone in the safe business will tell you this.