Gun Safe In The Garage Okay?

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45shooter

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Anybody here keep their gun safe in the garage?

I purchased an old but very large and VERY heavy safe really cheap from a jewelery shop that is closing their door. The safe is large enough to hold all my toy and have some space left over but the problem is the weight. The safe is over 1,400 lbs. and I can not move it into the house due to size and weight would crack the tile inside the house. My options are to keep it in the garage in the foyer and wife said no on the foyer.

Anybody here keep their gun safe in their garage?
I'm concerned with the humidity. In the summer, which is 6 months out of the year, the garage get to about 95 degrees and 99% humidity during the day. I'm afaid to keep my blued guns in such high humidity. Is there anything I can do to decrease the humidity? I thought about those moisture removing canisters but I think they would have to be changed daily. What about those goldenrod or two? Would that be enough? Anything else I can do?
 
Over 1400lbs? Nice.

I think moisture would be a problem alright. My Garage varies in temp too much for me to store anything like guns in there. In the summer, it'll go from 40deg to 100deg in a day, and that would be sure to bring some condensation by noon... Well that's my garage, what's yours like?
 
Sounds like a secure enough real safe if it was used by a jeweler. Do you have a name & model number? I know that we have a few locksmiths who might be able to share their opinions.

If you have such high humidity, definitely invest in a couple of goldenrod systems. If it were me, I'd back it up with one of those moisture removing tubs (that fill up with water & need to be replaced). They're cheap and you can visually check how much water is accumulating in the tub, just make sure you don't spill it.
 
There are good moisture traps you can buy that will keep the humidity out of a large bedroom and only has to be changed once a week in a large bedroom. I can't remember the company right now, but one of the things it is recommended for is walk in gun safes holding antique or valuable firearms that need to stay in a humidity free environment. Just don't put one in your humadore, or your cigars will taste like crap.

Michael
 
Garage is Okay

The garage is a good spot. Take moisture prevention measures. It wouldn't be a bad idea to cover the safe with something for a little lower profile. Sounds like yours is big enough and heavy enough to be secure.

Now the Big Challenge: "How to Fill Up the Gun Safe with Toys".
 
I have 2 gun safes in my garage. I'm in central CA with very hot summers and foggy winters. I keep desicant and even bbq briquettes (hung in nylons) in both safes. Been 6 years now with no problem.
 
Not all jewelry stores use the properly rated safes themselves....your safe could be anything from a document safe to a TL rated unit. If it is large enough for guns, and is only 1,400 pounds, I would think it would be a fire rated safe. Most jeweler's safes are going to be 2,500/3,000 pounds plus.

How you control the humidity is going to depend partially on the construction of the safe. Document safes are designed to be moist, and can be very difficult when it comes to humidity. Plate and composite safes are easier to deal with.

1,400 pounds may also be a guess at weight. I can't tell you how many times I've been told it's a 1,000 pound safe only to show up and find a 4,000 pound safe. If you could provide me with any of the information shown on any of the rating tags, or send photos, I could tell you what you have, and what you would need take into consideration.

Putting safes in garages is fairly common around here. That in itself wouldn't be a major issue for me.
 
I was told that the garage was open to safe theft by backing a pickup in, winch in pickup bed to drag it in and be off to the boonies to open it up. That assumes you are not home to notice all the noise and to voice your concern:fire: (with a longarm you didn't keep in that safe?)

Well, after discussing it - we keep the safe in the master bedroom:cool:.

Since you don't have much choice except garage I would weight down a lot or secure it to the garage floor to stop/slow down above method of theft.
 
I have 3 safes bolted to the cement floor of my garage. As long as your guns are properly oiled, there should be no problem as far as moisture is concerned.
I used to have golden rods in them, but because of the intense atmosshere of Hoppes #9 and MADDOG XF-7, there is little chance of rust.
 
Your wife said no? Is her name the only one on the title to the house?
 
In regards to someone stealing it in a pickup, I have a friend who is a locksmith that has a pic somewhere of someone who tried to do that. Nobody is quite sure how they managed to lift a 2500+ pound safe, but the truck(With the safe still on it) was found the next morning backed up to the stores loading dock with 3 flat tires and a bent frame :eek:
 
Depends on where you live and the humidity there. But with dessicant packs and they'll be find. After a while, throw the packs in the oven (gas pilot lit) to dry them out.
 
What would it cost to insulate and A/C the garage?
Click to expand...

I would think a cheap dehumidifier (Sears, etc.) would be the least expensive route, and probably use a lot less electricity than A/C.
 
My father has had his safe in the garage when he lived in Florida. He had no problems at all with moisture or corrosion. And this with no dehumifiers or anything. Now it is in his garage in West Virginia. Again , no problems. ;)
 
I live in Western WA - plenty of humidity. My gun safe is in the garage lagged into the concrete floor. I check my guns regularly for rust and apply a light coat of Break-Free to the bore and outside surfaces. I have a cottage cheese container full of cat litter as a dessicant- cheap and seems to work.
 
I have a garage safe...i use a goldenrod and dessicant in it with no problems...i keep it covered with a tarp to keep prying eyes away...:)
 
It would be slick if you could build a small chase around it and cover the opening up with something useful. A pegboard on door hinges that holds some extension cords, etc. but can swing away allowing access to the safe would be one idea.
 
Don't you have other things stored in the garage that moisture effects? What do you do about those?

I bought a de-humidifier from WalMart for the garage five years ago and really only run it during the summer months. It cost a little over $100. It typically will pull two gallons of moisture out of the air in a 24 hour period. I run it two hours on-two hours off. I have no trouble with moisture effecting my stuff that is in here. I do not keep the safe in there but if I did I think that would be good enough to keep the guns from rusting.

If you do stick it in the garage my only advice would be to have wood between the concrete and base of the safe. Moisture will pull out of the concrete and eventually rust the bottom of the safe without this barrier.
 
I have one in a concrete block garage in Florida. With a golden rod in it I've never had a problem with rust. The key is that the golden rod keeps the inside of the safe at a relatively stable temp compared to the outside temp. If the temp goes up outside, so does the safe temp but more slowly. Ditto for going down. This keeps moisture from condensing inside the safe. And condensation is what causes rust to form.

And also it's a good idea to set it on some uni-strut. Just bolt through the uni-strut into the floor. This allows air to circulate under the safe and keeps moisture from migrating up through a concrete floor causing the bottom of the safe to rust.
 
Radio Shack (and quite a few other places) sell small digital temp/humidity gauges that you might consider putting inside of your safe so that you can get an actual measurement of the conditions. Some safes tend to be 'wetter' than others as I understand, so this is worth looking at. I would guess that your safe is big enough to really moderate any ambient temperature changes, so that probably wouldn't be much of a factor to your guns. I'd be more concerned with humidity.
 
I have a small (8 longgun) safe inside my A/C-equipped house and have a pair of Remington mini-dehumidifiers in it. The have to be recharged about once/month. I would think out in a garage, they might need charging on a weekly basis. If in doubt, I'm guessing a Golden Rod or two would be cheap insurance.
 
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