Should I bolt my gun safe to the floor?
Should I bolt my gun safe to the floor?
You should always anchor your safe to the floor. Anchoring helps prevent damage to your home and accidents that could result in injury or even death to a loved one if your safe tips over. If putting bolts into your floor has you saying, “No way,” consider the damage a 1,000-pound safe can do if it tips over. You should always anchor your safe to the floor. Anchoring helps prevent damage to your home and accidents that could result in injury or even death to a loved one if your safe tips over. If putting bolts into your floor has you saying, “No way,” consider the damage a 1,000-pound safe can do if it tips over. By fixing your safe to the floor you’ll be getting another layer of protection for your cash or valuables. Regardless of size or weight of your safe, it is highly recommended that you bolt down your safe. A good, heavy-duty gun safe can weigh more than 1,000 pounds. That’s a lot of weight on your second-story floor. You don’t want a safe falling through your ceiling. If you want your safe on the second floor, make sure to have the floor and ceiling below it evaluated for support strength. It’s best to avoid placing our gun safes in the garage, but if there is no other choice, it’s a good practice to bolt it to the floor and build a closet around it. Although the gun safe can be placed inside a bedroom closet, the best place is once again the basement. One way to protect your safe from moisture damage is to put a hard rubber mat under it before bolting it down. Another way is to seal the concrete with epoxy before you have your safe installed. Both methods will help protect your safe from moisture damage.
How heavy does a gun safe have to be to not bolt down?
Category A & B firearm safes may be constructed of hard wood or steel but it is suggested that all gun safes be made of steel. Should the safe weigh less than 150kg (when empty) it must be securely fixed to the framework of the premises. The safe locks must be of solid metal. Category A & B firearm safes may be constructed of hard wood or steel but it is suggested that all gun safes be made of steel. Should the safe weigh less than 150kg (when empty) it must be securely fixed to the framework of the premises. The safe locks must be of solid metal. Entry-level gun safes typically weigh between 200-600 pounds. Mid-range safes weigh between 600 and 1,000 pounds. High-end weigh in between 1,000 to 1,600. And commercial-grade safes can weigh anywhere from 2,000 all the way up to 5,000 pounds. A good, heavy-duty gun safe can weigh more than 1,000 pounds. That’s a lot of weight on your second-story floor. You don’t want a safe falling through your ceiling. If you want your safe on the second floor, make sure to have the floor and ceiling below it evaluated for support strength. Generally speaking, your floor should have no problem supporting a gun safe as long as you are mindful of how the floor is supported (e.g., the arrangement of joists in a raised floor) and where you place the safe. With careful planning, you can even put a gun safe on the second floor of your home. The 2016 survey found that 46 percent of gun owners stored all household guns locked, of whom 22 percent stored them in a gun safe or cabinet, 13 percent in a gun rack, 6 percent in a locked gun case, and 5 percent in another locked location.