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A few posts back, I went into a bit of detail discussing the benefits of a wall safe, and one of the primary perks is easy concealment. Now, if you read the article, you may also remember that I recommended not storing anything terribly valuable in them because, in most cases, if a burglar really wanted to, it’s quite feasible that he could simply pry the unit out of the wall and run off with it. A floor safe provides the best of both worlds; it offers the potential for incredible concealment, and can be extremely difficult to break into, remove, burn or flood. If installed properly, a floor safe can be a fantastic home security investment.
The majority of these safes, like the Sentry 7250, are built with the option to mount the unit to the surface of a concrete or wooden floor. Though I can’t exactly blame the manufacturers for offering this configuration as an option, I think it’s pretty darn ridiculous. If all you plan to do is anchor it to the floor, you might as well buy a cheap gun safe with better security, access, and capacity for the same price. In my humble opinion, you’re only benefiting from the product if you opt for the in floor safe installation. Choose a low traffic concrete section of your basement or garage where you want to place the safe, and start shopping (or digging if you already bought it).
Last summer, I neglected to address my dying sump pump, and…let’s just say I’m glad I wasn’t hiding any important financial records under my basement floor. First and foremost, I would highly recommend seeking out a waterproof safe (technically – water resistant), like the previously mentioned Sentry 7250. Water is the most likely cause of damage to the contents of a floor safe. If it were me, I’d take it one step further, and secure any documents or photos in a waterproof bag within the safe as well.
You’ll also want to consider a model with some muscle. If your average burglar happens to move your large piece of furniture and carpet under which you’ve placed your safe, most likely he’ll begrudgingly walk away from it when he sees that it’s mounted in two feet of solid concrete. Of course, if he’s schooled in the black arts, came with the right set of tools, or he found your sledgehammer in the corner, he may just decide to take a shot at it. If this is the case, you’re going to want a safe with some extra security features. American Security makes a beefy home floor safe; their B2200 is crowned with a UL Group II lock, a punch resistant relocking device, a dead bar to prevent a pry attack (even if the hinges are yanked off), and a B+ rated door (.75″ of solid steel). This safe in particular also offers fire protection backed by a lifetime warranty. Amsec home floor safes tend to cost a bit more than average (~$600 for the B2200), but solid steel, concrete, and fire proofing are a pretty darn good combination.
Unless you’re going to shell out several thousand dollars on a big ticket gun safe like a Liberty National Security or a Fort Knox Legend, a well constructed, carefully hidden floor safe is going to offer you the greatest security for your smaller valuables. Of course, they have their cons. First of all, as I just mentioned, they’re relatively tiny. Unless you’re going with a custom build or plan on planting these suckers all over your foundation, you’re going to have to be very selective on what you choose to hide in these compact craters. They’re definitely not gun friendly.
Even if you could fit a few rifles in your safe, you’re sure as poopfire not going to be able to get to them quickly in an emergency. As I mentioned before, a lot of these floor safes are very rugged on their own, but if they’re not installed within a concrete foundation, or stupidly left out in plain site, you’re just asking for trouble. The bottom line is, floor safes aren’t designed for casual access – don’t store anything in it that you wouldn’t bury in a time capsule…you get the point.
To wrap it up, they’re great if you invest in solid water and theft protection, take the time to install them properly in the floor, away from easy access, and accept ahead of time that you won’t be storing your everyday valuables. If you’re cool with all of that, they’re pretty darn slick.
I was thinking about doing this, but using a Sentry 14 gun safe (or similar rifle safe) and laying it down in a concrete “coffin” that I will pour when I pour the foundation to a small addition to my house.
My concern is, how heavy is the door?
I guess I could install a helper arm like that found on the back doors of minivans or the hood of cars. They have those the “under bed” gun safes. Yeah, this would be for when the zombies come and I would have time to get to it.
Hopefully we get the slow “Night of the Living Dead Zombies” and not the “28 Days Later” variety :).
A Sentry 14 gun model is around 200lbs. I don’t know for sure, but my guess is the door is around 65 lbs, which would be semi-manageable, but would probably put a lot of stress on the lever. That said, some kind of “helper arm” like you mentioned might be in order.
I think this would be a very cool project, and if you actually pull it off, I’d love to see pictures. On the other hand, I gotta say, I don’t think it would be worth the trouble. Here’s my logic:
First off – the obvious – laying a 14 cubic foot foundation would be a huge project in itself. Secondly, the lack of integrity in a safe like that would make it a fish in a barrel for any determined crook with a pry bar who happened to find it. I personally think it would just be too much work for the final product.
Again, it would be a very cool, but for practical purposes, I think you’d be better off anchoring the safe to a concrete foundation (vertically :)), and put it behind a false wall (to maintain concealment). This way, it would be a bit harder to break into, and you can still keep it hidden.
Regardless, I’d love to hear what you wind up doing. Thanks for stoppin by, CE.
Thanks for getting back to me. If the Sentry isn’t tough enough, then I guess I need to find something a bit better. I have not seen the Sentry in person but thought it would be tough by the photos. Guess I need to upgrade.
Unfortunately, the house is so small that there isn’t room for a false wall (or at least another one 🙂 ). I guess I could do one of those in-wall safes you mentioned in your other article, then I could conceal it behind paneling (that thin cheap stuff) or even behind the back wall of a cabinet I intend to build.
tonight I started to dig the hole. I figure it needs to be about 60″ long x 30″w x 28″ deep. Well, I got about 16 inches down and smacked something so hard my hands hurt. I think I hit some hard pan. I’m in a residential neighborhood so that rules out using something…with a break to break it up.
I’ll bookmark your page and send you a photo if I do go through with it. While I sometimes like practical, the engineer in me see the challenge and wants to conquer it.