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Old April 20, 2017, 06:27 AM   #1
Targa
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Safe placement suggestions?

Hi all, we are having a new house built and I would like suggestions on where to place a larger firearm safe.
The two options I am looking at are:
1. Place it at the front portion of a 3 car tandem garage and bolting it through a heavy rubber mat and into the concrete floor. The garage will be fully insulated to include the door.
2. Same bolting scenario but in the unfinished walkout basement, which will eventually be finished.
I live in Colorado so humidity is not a huge issue and there is little chance of any flooding damage. I would appreciate your thoughts and suggestions. Thank you, Darrin.
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Old April 20, 2017, 07:40 AM   #2
Hal
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A local guy here - NE Ohio - had a safe bolted to the floor of his garage.

The thieves wrapped a logging chain around it, hooked it to a (stolen) tow truck and yanked it out through the side of the garage.
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Old April 20, 2017, 09:05 AM   #3
g.willikers
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Easy in = easy out.
Making it as hard to take out as it was to put in should discourage all but the most determined thief.
Out of sight helps, too.
So, I vote for hiding it in the basement.
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Old April 20, 2017, 09:15 AM   #4
Oliver Sudden
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I'm in Colorado also and wouldn't put my safe in the garage because come winter you pull in with a wet and hot car then close the door. The cold objects like guns for instance will condense that steam. My neighbor put his safe in his insulated garage and although he does a good job of cleaning and oiling his guns he does have rust on them now.
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Old April 20, 2017, 09:36 AM   #5
Texas45
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BASEMENT WITHOUT QUESTION.
In an enclosed room separated from rest of finished basement by a separate locked door. That way when "people" gather in the area for whatever anyone YOU don't want to know of its existence doesn't know. Appears there is just another room in the basement.

I keep mine currently in the house in a closet with locked door.
My house is small so best place available.
When I relocate to my land in the future it will have a "home" in a dedicated area for those items.



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Old April 20, 2017, 09:37 AM   #6
shootbrownelk
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Plus one for the basement suggestion. Garage is not a good idea, at least in my case. I have sawzalls and a cutting torch in mine.
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Old April 20, 2017, 10:56 AM   #7
rickyrick
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When I walk my dogs, I'm kinda shocked about how many people have gun safes in their garages. I'm not even being nosy, they are pretty noticeable. I would neve put one in the garage, unless it could be hidden.
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Old April 20, 2017, 01:15 PM   #8
Targa
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Good points all...basement it is. Thank you.
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Old April 20, 2017, 01:39 PM   #9
mete
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There is a safe that is a take apart type . You could easily take the parts to the attic , assemble , and let them have fun removing it.
In any case make sure you understand rusting !! Especially condensation. don't store a gun in a closed case ,you may be enclosing moisture along with the gun !!
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Old April 20, 2017, 01:55 PM   #10
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Before you commit fully to the basement, let me offer one more option. That would be in the garage but with a wall built to separate the safe from the rest of the garage. The wall could even go all the way across the garage to the opposite perpendicular wall and be further subdivided into a "hidden" room that houses the safe and an unhidden room that houses all your ordinary garage tool junk (rakes, shovels, etc.). Building a simple wall is easy and cheap if you have some basic carpentry skills.
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Old April 20, 2017, 02:12 PM   #11
Targa
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That is an idea as well^^. The more I think about it though, I might do that and have it more as a workshop.
As for the basement, we are going to build a storage room in lieu of a bedroom, I think that is where the safe will live.
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Old April 20, 2017, 02:33 PM   #12
rickyrick
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Eventually my safe is going into a false wall.

I have "bait" items that I'd rather have stolen if I should ever be broken into again... cheap but shiny electric guitars and amps.
The may fill up on that stuff before they find the guns.

My personal experience with getting burglarized... when they run out of time and room to haul things, they leave.
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Old April 21, 2017, 06:18 AM   #13
rebs
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in the basement it will be much harder to bring it back up the stairs. If it took 3 strong guys to get it down there it will probably take 5 strong guys to bring it back up.
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Old April 21, 2017, 07:23 AM   #14
Don P
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Only issue with garage storage is, in general they do not put a vapor barrier down under garage floors, hence moisture will wick up through the concrete. Reason no vapor barrier in garages is that it is not considered a living space.
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Old April 21, 2017, 09:23 AM   #15
Hal
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Quote:
There is a safe that is a take apart type . You could easily take the parts to the attic , assemble , and let them have fun removing it.
I wouldn't trust an attic to hold the weight of a safe.
When we bought our house in 1986, the builder warned us not to store anything in the attic above the living spaces.
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Old April 21, 2017, 11:04 AM   #16
SocialAnarchist
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I saw someone suggest the attic for a gun safe. ABSOLUTELY NOT with newer light weight construction. Roof trusses are not designed to carry the weight load of a large gun safe on the bottom cord of the truss.

I vote for the secret room idea but in the basement instead.
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Old April 21, 2017, 11:34 AM   #17
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All those talking about the Attic, I think Mete originally meant basementand he just mistyped.
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Old April 21, 2017, 06:51 PM   #18
osbornk
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If I was building a new house, I would build a "gun room" into the house as a small closet. I would take a bedroom or hall closet and place rebar welded together every 3" or so in the walls, floor and ceiling before installing the dry wall and sub-floor. A strong secure would insure a safe place to store guns. Fire rated drywall would keep the guns safe from fire and the rebar would keep them safe from theft.
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Old April 22, 2017, 11:16 PM   #19
Phoenix54c
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If possible, you may also want to consider positioning it in a corner so that anyone trying to crack it open with a pry bar can't get any leverage.
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Old April 22, 2017, 11:57 PM   #20
AL45
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Another reason for choosing a basement is in case of a fire. I read an article about house fires and gun safes and a firefighter being interviewed said in the case of large house fires, the only gunsafe he had ever seen actually protect it's contents was found in the basement.
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Old April 23, 2017, 01:04 PM   #21
Don Fischer
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I don't have a gun safe, got a gun cabinet, looks better! My gun cabinet is in the bedroom at the foot of my bed. I can turn on the light at anytime and admire my guns! If I lived somewhere I had to get a safe to keep my guns safe, I'd move! For the sake of discussion, If I were building a house new, the safe would still be at the foot of my bed. But I would be sure to shore up the floor under the safe to take the weight of a good safe. I would make sure I had access at any time and controlled climate. Imagine a bad guy breaks into the house and your gun's are out in the garage. Think the bad man will cut you a little slack to go out and get one?
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Old April 23, 2017, 01:40 PM   #22
Targa
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Burglary can and does happen everywhere, heaven forbid it happens to you but if it does, that cabinet will mean absolutely nothing, they are for organization and are only secure enough to keep curious little hands from hurting themselves.
As for having to ask a burglar to hold up a minute while I get to the safe to grab a firearm, the home defense firearms are near me, not in a a safe.
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Old April 26, 2017, 11:05 AM   #23
jackstrawIII
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Anything that can be installed can be uninstalled. Hiding is the best option. Put it in a closet behind some towels or blankets.
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Old April 26, 2017, 10:40 PM   #24
bamaranger
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piece of mind

The day I got a real safe, and sold my cabinet, was the first day I had a bit more peace of mind regards my guns if I wasn't home. My home is pretty rural, not remote, but certainly not suburban. I can hunt across the road (killed a good gobbler this season about 1/4mi from the house). The nearest occupied residence is about 1/2 mi away.

My county is relatively rural.......but break ins and thefts are one of the #1 problems the SO deals with.
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Old April 27, 2017, 01:38 AM   #25
TXAZ
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Security wise = basement.
Likely dryness and quick access = garage.
How moist / damp is the basement?
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