Bolting a safe down through Berber carpet, tips???

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Hammerdown77

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Ok, I KNOW someone has done this before, so I thought I'd ask before I turn this project into a disaster.

I have my safe sitting on Berber, under which is a carpet pad, then a concrete slab.

I know from having dogs in the house that Berber comes apart like a sweater when you snag a single strand, and I can imagine how quickly it would once it got wrapped around a drill bit.

So, for you guys who have done this before, what slick technique did you use to cut the carpet before drilling?

I was thinking maybe burn it, using either a soldering iron or maybe one of those mini butane torches? Maybe a hole saw with really fine teeth?
 
I would lightly mark the location with a marker for where you need to drill. Then take a razor blade and cut an X through the carpet and padding before drilling. If you catch one of the berber strands you can unwind your carpet. I would remove just a little padding but I would leave the carpet as is with the X cut to wrap around the bolt. Then if you need to move the safe you can glue a small piece of padding back in the hole and it won't look too bad.
 
On concrete, you are going to use a hammer-drill to drill the anchor holes. That won't grab the yarns as much as a regular drill into wood. I agree with the X and fold those four corners back and drill right into the concrete with a rotary hammer and use lag screws with lag shields.

Make sure there are no radiant-heating pipes within the concrete, or under it!
 
Hmm, good idea on the X cut, although I don't know if I can get the knife down there through the hole (the safe's already in place, and I can't move it without some help).I'll have to look at it more closely when I get home. Should be able to get an X-acto down there, though.

Shouldn't be any pipes at this place in the slab. I think...
 
If you are going to leave the safe in the same place till the end of time or hell freezes over bolting in place is not required. Cut the carpet out for the area the safe displaces. A 3M two part resin epoxy applied to the concrete secures the safe to the point of nothing in heaven or earth can move it.
 
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What you are looking for is called a gasket punch. It's a sharp circular punch that you put down the hole and pop with a hammer. It will cut a plug out of the carpet.

You don't need to snag the carpet to get it to start attaching to the bit. The hot bit will stick to it like glue.

It's always a mess, and you'll almost always get some running. The key is to keep the damage beneath the safe.
 
What I think I would do, depending on if this is a "forever and ever amen" type thing, is to cut the carpet and pad out to fit. Put down some "Schnee Butyl type tape on the base of safe , it is a sound deadening and vapor barrier tape used a lot in custom made stainless steel equipment for restaurants and such, and pin/bolt it directly to the crete.

If this is only a temporary thing, try what "a1abdj" said or cut out a square in the area of each pin or bolt that's just an inch or two larger in square than what you need so you can replace the "plugs" with a carpet iron and tape at a later date.
 
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I havent tried this and recommend that you test it on some scrap piece of carpet and pad first, but would a soldering gun melt a hole thru it and fuse the fibers?
 
I've got some scrap, I might try the soldering iron thing. But I imagine that will be a big melted mess.

I don't want this install to be permanent for ever and ever. But it needs to be strong. I'm looking into what types of anchors to use.

Here's another question. Because it's not bolted down, when I open the door it swings open on it's own, due to the safe tilting forward slightly from the weight of the door. This a Liberty Fatboy. Should I add some shims under the bottom front of the safe to make the door balance "neutral", or just wait until I add the floor bolts and let the tightening of those level out the safe? The carpet and pad under the safe is part of the reason it can tilt forward slightly, I imagine.
 
Being the size safe that it is, I really don't see anybody trying to walk out with it for sure.

You could try some shims on the front/door side to keep it level for sure. And to try and keep the floor or carpet from being damaged,you might want to put a 3/4" plywood base on it that you could attach the shims to. That way you could screw or nail the shims down in just the right spot(s) and not fear destroying the flooring.
 
I don't know what anchors you are going to use but I/we use a hollow carpet/gasket punch that matches the diameter of the fastener, you will probably use 1/2" or 5/8" fasteners. Set the safe and mark, punch holes and keep the plugs so if you move or get rid of the safe you can glue the plugs back in, try using the stud type anchors if you can lift the safe and drop it in place, they will remove easier if you move the safe. You dont need to crush the carpet/padding down to the concrete, trust me it aint going nowhere. If done correctly your install should be hidden and you won't have to replace the carpet when you move the safe. Mike
 
I should have read all the posts before I put in my 2 cents. If this safe is over 400 lbs you don't need to bolt it down. To correct the problem of the door swinging open use a piece of 1" oak plywood cut to the dimensions of the safe bottom you can then shim it so the door doesn't slam or swing open. If you must fasten it to the slab place the safe where you want it mark it then cut the carpet and pad to the slab keeping in mind that you can replace the piece you removed by using seam tape and an iron (almost unnoticed). Put the safe in place by drilling the slab with a hammer drill and using the drive in anchors don't forget to drill the holes in the plywood because you are going to set the safe on this and use it to level the safe so the door doesn't swing also use grade 8 bolts. I install safes all the time and most of them (if they are 400 lbs or greater) the customer doesn't want it bolted down. Also if it has a dial type lock pack DON'T SPIN THE DIAL this causes severe combo drift and it can be expensive to open to get to your goodies, just turn it to the numbers gently.:D Mike
 
a1abdj
a lock smith that specializes in Safes and vaults, regularly moves safes, he said that anything under 1000lb can be a 1 (yes one) man job if they know what they are doing, and showed pictures LONG ago of one of the installs with a few points about stairs, mostly that going up is MORE difficult but not nearly what most think. (hint, safes slide, esp. on carpet, more so when you don't worry about the paint)

bolt them in
 
Shim it level to start.
Heat up a 5/8 scrap bolt red hot, burn a hole in the carpet; the edges will be seared and not unravel. Set your anchors, glue them in, and it should be fine.
 
I move and bolt gun safes down every day. I can confirm that anything under 1000lbs can be a one man job. Also keep in mind I'm only 5'7" and 165 lbs. I prefer to use anchors (red heads) to bolt down with. No matter what, that Berber carpet will snag if your bit catches it. I often punch a hole using the carpet punch or gasket punch then move the safe and cut a bigger hole in the carpet with a knife or box cutter. You can use a sharpie to mark the hole or even punch a Phillips screwdriver more than once to mark the hole before moving the gun safe to cut the carpet if you don't want to buy a gasket punch. As for leveling the safe, if your against a wall on the back, most likely your sitting on the tack strip. Then again maybe not if it's concrete underneath. Regardless, gun safes have most of their weight in the door. It will settle into the pad over time but it's still a good idea to use composite shims under the door side, probably two on each side.
 
I used to install mobile phones back in the day when we bolted everything down in the car ( yes they were big) and we had a trick to keep from tearing the carpet.
Cut an x with a razor knife then use a short section of pipe or tubing of a size that allows your bit thru it and drill away, the tube keeps the carpet away from your bit.
Worked for us and we installed in some high dollar cars and did over 1100 installs with only a few goofs (before we learned to use this trick).
 
Here is a possible solution I saw just today in Handyman magazine. They suggest using a "Cookie cutter carpet tool" to cut out a disk of carpet and then uses an adhesive pad to glue it back in place. I did a search and found this tool that would cut out a disk so you could then drill your anchor holes and later glue the patch back if you relocate the safe:

http://www.tools4flooring.com/crain-174-carpet-repair-tool-p-97.html

Hope this suggestion is of help.

Red
 
I think an easier way to secure a safe is to locate the wood stud in the wall behind the safe. From the inside near the top of the safe drill a hole for a 3/8" lag bolt through the safe then drill a smaller hole into the wood stud for the lag bolt. Then using a large fender washer screw the lag bolt through the safe from the inside into the wood stud. I think this is stronger than securing it to the floor. If you later decide to move the safe you just have to unscrew the lag bolt and patch the small hole in the drywall. No holes in carpet to deal with and far easier to install and probably stronger.
 
Actually the experts suggest bolting into both wall and floor, BUT
the concrete will have a strength rated in thousands of pounds, and as such will be the more difficult to remove a properly placed anchor, a wall stud will bend then break before bolts in concrete will pull out. (depending on a number of factors...)
 
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