And one more for now - gun safe on concrete floor in shop?

[Marty Gulseth]

Yup, me again.

I will be keeping my gun safe in the new-to-me shop. Logistics reasons, nothing more. I do not think it prudent for the safe to sit directly on the concrete floor as I understand minute amounts of moisture can wick through the concrete and the soil here gets pretty wet in the winter and spring seasons. I read about the "dri-deck" stuff, it looks like it might do the trick but I think that it's primarily designed for personnel loads. Has anyone used that material under something such as a gun safe?

I'm also open to other suggestions. Thanks!

Marty

[Jim Barkelew]

I have used roofing shingles on concrete in the past as a barrier because they are thick and tough (and free because I had them). My safe is bolted to a slab but I never thought about the bottom sitting on concrete and moisture. (Hmmm... Maybe time to re-think) Not easy to check the bottom of a 400 lb safe. It's an old slab well inside the walls so I hope moisture isn't a problem.

Jim

[Tom Bender]

How about setting it on a piece of foam?

[Thomas Wilson]

If the concrete is that damp, wouldn’t the relative humidity in the air be pretty high? That would cause rust no matter what the safe is sitting on. I use temperature/humidity gauges to monitor conditions and a dehumidifier to keep the RH around 50%. The dehumidifier does consume some power. My concerns personally are mold and allergies so I need to keep the whole space dry.

[Jim Becker]

Rubber, shingles, etc., could all be used to isolate the safe's "feet" from direct contact with the concrete floor. No need to get too complicated.

[glenn bradley]

Hockey pucks or thick rubber squares (truck mud flap, scraps of tire-cap from the highway) would keep it off the floor and allow air flow to keep things dry.

[Bill Dufour]

A scrap of sheet vinyl flooring is what I put under file cabinets. I have no good ideas how to seal the penetrations of the holddown bolts that would not glue everything down with caulk. I suppose you could caulk the bolt holes in the vinyl and let the caulk dry before placing the safe. Or my favorite, caulk then put handiwrap over the wet caulk and install the top piece. It should seal well and be a easy to remove. maybe use painters tape on the bolt threads to keep off caulk.
Bil lD

[Wes Grass]

1/4" masonite (or plywood) worked fine for the last 20 years on mine. And I didn't even know there were holes for anchors in the bottom until I laid it down last week to move it.

[Jeff Heil]

Lots of great ideas. I wanted to add make sure to bolt it down. I cannot stress enough to bolt it down to the floor or wall. Don't make it easy for a thief. I can think of several thefts where the bolts to securely attach the safe were sitting on top and the owner intended to do it someday (and were still there after the safe was gone). I recall one where some "friends" of the victim's teenagers used his hand truck to steal the whole safe out of his garage. If possible, try to hide the safe from plain sight. If someone in your home does not know its there, it won't be a target. Unfortunately, people we let into our homes, repair people, service technicians, carpet cleaners, etc. might be looking for soft targets. There might or might not be a fireproof safe in my home, but if there was, it would be hard to find.

[Jeff Body]

Any safe that isn't bolted down it a portable safe. I don't care how heavy it is.

[Andrew Hughes]

I agree bolt it down. When I bought my gun safe I paid to have it delivered because it weighs 900 lbs empty. The two guys that delivered it were are giant humans. They were pretty clear to me about thru bolting.
They said thieves will pop it up on pipes and roll it right out easily.
I have raised foundation so if they want my safe they’ll be taking a part of my house with them. :)

[John K Jordan]

I set my gun safe directly on the concrete, bolted to the floor with four large concrete anchors, AND bolted to the wall studs behind with long lag screws near the top and lower. The combination should make it harder to break loose from the floor by rocking.

I'm not concerned about moisture. Along with the safe I installed a dehumidifier made for gun safes. It's basically a gentle heating rod on the floor of the safe, very similar to the Damp Chaser I used to control seasonal humidity in a upright piano. A couple of vent holes near the top allow any moisture to escape with the warm air. A humidity meter shows very low humidity. This has been in place for 15 years now and not a hint of rust on anything inside or on the safe itself. Even my huge stacks of $100 bills feel bone dry. (joking!)

My safe is in a dry area. If I positioned it in a garage near an overhead door where water might occasionally some in or in a area that sometimes felt damp, say near a retaining wall that might seep moisture after a hard rain, I would do something else in addition. Perhaps insert a 3/4" thick rubber horse stall mat.

JKJ

[Mike Heidrick]

Mine is on hockey pucks

[Roger Feeley]

John,
I think the OP was concerned with moisture rusting the bottom of the safe. I think it's a good idea to put it up on some pieces of acrylic. Just squares at the corners where the bolts are. That should give you plenty of air circulation and provide a moisture barrier where it counts. I would recommend those rubber furniture pucks but the safes are pretty heavy. I like the suggestion about running some bolts or screws into the wall near the top. That would deprive the thieves of the leverage when they try to tip it forward.

[Jim Dwight]

Hockey pucks sound good but what about PT wood? Good for concrete contact but does hold moisture. My son's safe is very heavy like Andrews. It sits next to the garage door. I don't know if it is bolted down or to the wall. Both sound like good ideas. But, from experience, it is very challenging to move. It has one of those dehumidifier rods that has been mentioned.

[Marty Gulseth]

John,
I think the OP was concerned with moisture rusting the bottom of the safe. I think it's a good idea to put it up on some pieces of acrylic. Just squares at the corners where the bolts are. That should give you plenty of air circulation and provide a moisture barrier where it counts. I would recommend those rubber furniture pucks but the safes are pretty heavy. I like the suggestion about running some bolts or screws into the wall near the top. That would deprive the thieves of the leverage when they try to tip it forward.

Exactly what I was wondering about. Some good ideas have shown up here. And about bolting the safe to floor or wall, I’m not even sure mine has bolt holes, I’ll have to check. As to dehumidifying - I have a dessicant (sp?) type that sits in the safe, I take it out about every two weeks and plug it in overnight to “recharge” the dessicant material.

[Brian Backner]

Bolting a safe to the floor is truly mandatory but, if you add a spacer between the floor and the bottom of the safe to prevent moisture migration, make sure you consider the thickness of that spacer. If you use hockey pucks, 3/4" or so thick, that is more than enough space for a long blade in a sawzall to get in there and cut through the bolt! Might be difficult to get at all 4 bolts, but once you get two of them, a toe jack can be used to lift one side of the safe and provide better access to the remaining two. To remove this option from uninvited guests, my safe is bolted to the floor with 1" grade 8 bolts and then grouted in place with hydraulic cement used to level heavy machinery, i.e., there in NO space under the safe. There is a new material becoming available for security applications called "Proteus." It is uncuttable by most sawing methods (probably wouldn't survive a cutting torch, though, but then most things wouldn't). I will probably replace the floor bolts on my safe when it becomes available in that form. See: https://newatlas.com/materials/proteus-non-cuttable-bike-lock-armor/

[Ryan Yeaglin]

When we decided to have a second child, I moved my reloading room to the basement, my concern was if my basement flooded so I made a stainless stand to get it up about 4 inches off the floor. It might be "mobile" but anyone that wants to get 650lbs up a set of steps and then out my garage better have a strong back and a lot of time.

[John Lifer]

If you do put it in your garage, make sure it can't easily be seen when you have the door open. I'm assuming you do some woodworking out there and folks wander by when your doors are open. Turn it sideways to the open door so no logo and door is facing that way, put up a wall on the open door side, (not bad idea to make it harder to get to the safe, and make sure to bolt to wall and the floor. I would get some of the harbor freight foam floor mats under the safe. These will squish down and leave no gap for a sawblade or even a prybar. Sheet of ply can be broken out leaving gap to pry up.

[julian abram]

I built a 2x4 platform to set my safe on. Basically a box with 2x4's turned edge up, decked with 3/4 cabinet plywood so the bottom of the safe is about 4" off the floor. This is a 900 lb Liberty safe with a Golden Rod dehumidifier, probably 20 years old and stills heats the safe just fine.

[Mike Cutler]

Put it on top of a section of "Stall Mat". and through bolt it to the floor.
A safe will exert much less force per sq/in than a horse's hoof. ;)