Not Bolting Down a Safe

[Barang]

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.

I'm not saying one or the other but using both suggestions. Also, I'm not suggesting thin steel plate where it can be easily bent and cut with tinsnips.

[hermosabeach]

Side thought

Pipes run everywhere in multifamily units

EVERYWHERE
Next to a medicine cabinet in a 1/2 bath... the gas lines ran in the wall

floor of a closet, the water supply lines run....





so use your brain before you bolt something down

but I would absolutely bolt the safe into the wall or the floor

[rcslotcar]

My Cousin that rents bolted a 6'x7' steel plate to the bottom of his safe. Then placed carpet around it. That will not make it thru a door way.

[sigstroker]

Thieves don't want to take the thing home. They want to knock it over so they can pry it open. A plate that size would make it harder to tip over, but if it's heavy enough steel to not bend it probably costs almost as much as the safe.

[JMP]

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.

I think it's more to prevent people from drilling all over the walls to hang pictures. Bolting down is the safe play since you can always fill it in later. Otherwise, put a couple thousand pounds on gold bullion in the bottom to weigh it down.

[FresnoRob]

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.

Summed up pretty well. Weight will not do the job. I have an 1100 lb safe. I could rock it until I bolted it down. You are buying time, given enough time they can get in any safe. The steel plate will help. But as already pointed out it needs to be heavy as not to bend and that won't be cheap unless you have access to large pieces of scrap.

[russ69]

I guess I'm the odd man. A pro will get into any safe. They will come with the right equipment to force entry into anything. Even the best jewelers safes only give about a 20 minute of break-in time. A home safe is to stop the average kid from taking your stuff. Most of those guys just want to smash and grab the easy stuff.

[Sierra57]

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

Here's another one. It took them less than 2 minutes to open the safe using wrecking bars.



To prevent this, I think safes should be made with at least 1/4 inch of steel going past the frame opening and then wrapping 90 degrees around the corner.

Or course, professional safe crackers can play with the lock or drill it out to get it open. A thief could also use a rescue saw with a metal cutting blade if they aren't worried about noise.

[dozer wright]

[rcslotcar]

Cheep safes are easy targets.

[Blade Gunner]

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

Agree. Nothing like a renter vacating and leaving screw and nail holes all over the place, contrary to their lease agreement.

[sonofeugene]

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

Nice idea!

[Experimentalist]

Depending on the floor surface you are on, one alternative to drilling may be to epoxy the safe to the floor.

Certainly this is not as good as bolting. However, it will inhibit getting a hand truck under the front of the safe, and will make tipping it a bit harder as well.

Of course, if you really want to go crazy, dump an entire bottle of epoxy and bolt to the floor.

[qdx450]

if its a home make sure concrete floor is not post tension slap. you could be liable to pay for a new home.

[Gryff]

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.

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

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.

Just so you know, it isn't about making it too heavy to pick up or get a dolly under. If you are hit by guys who know what they are doing, it is about stopping the safe from being flipped onto its back (jump to 0:25 in the video).