Gun safe in the garage

[tinroad37e]

I am planning on buying a gun safe in the near future, but I have no room for it in my house. I thought about putting it in my garage. I have a well organized and clean garage that it would look great in. Is this a good idea? Will the heat and cold weather be hard on my guns? I am thinking with a golden rod to keep out the moisture, I will be fine.

 

[M60]

I've had my safe in my garage for about a month now. No problems so far. I have a golden rod in it.

-Mark.

 

[esq_stu]

I've thought about this and cannot get comfortable with the idea that someone could back into my garage with a pickup truck with lift gate and, after breaking the safe free of the concrete floor, load up the truck and drive away.

Whether that is likely I do not know. I'm inclined to pay a safe mover to install one in my basement.

 

[Farnorthdan]

Garage works great

My safe is in the garage, I have it bolted down (4 heavy anchors) to the concrete slab, it ain't going anywhere trust me. My garage is climate controlled and I have a dehumidifier in the safe. My guns have been stored this way for years with no problems what-so-ever....

One other advantage to having my safe in the garage is that this is where I clean my guns, as well as fondle on a regular basis, so its allot more convenient.

 

[Polishrifleman]

My grandfather had his in the garage for years before he passed away. He constructed a closet around it to conceal the safe. Let me tell you, it was a monumental task getting the safe out after he passed and the estate sold the house. The door to the closet, steel fire rated was smaller than the safe so we had to demo the closet, metal stud 2x4 construction with double sheeted gyp rock, then the safe bolted to the floor and the back wall.

Never an issue with heat cold condensation issues, guns stayed safe, and all he had was a golden rod.

 

[Ghost Tracker]

Shouldn't be a problem. Golden Rod deals with moisture, heat extremes won't hurt guns (unless, of course, you've already melted a lawn mower in there).

 

[M60]

I've thought about this and cannot get comfortable with the idea that someone could back into my garage with a pickup truck with lift gate and, after breaking the safe free of the concrete floor, load up the truck and drive away.

Whether that is likely I do not know. I'm inclined to pay a safe mover to install one in my basement.

They better break the thing free with a quickness. As soon as they touch it the alarm is going to go off, which is going to do three things. Get my neighbors attention, get my attention, and then it gets the cops attention. I work in the Private security industry and have a few tricks up my sleeve for the safe.

-Mark.

 

[TAB]

as long as is bolted down, I would not worry about it.


Also remember not to leave tools around so they could break in. you would be amazed at how quickly most safes can be broken into.

 

[2nd 41]

I've thought about this and cannot get comfortable with the idea that someone could back into my garage with a pickup truck with lift gate and, after breaking the safe free of the concrete floor, load up the truck and drive away.

Whether that is likely I do not know. I'm inclined to pay a safe mover to install one in my basement.

Same here. Conceal it the best you can and BOLT it to the floor/wall. Why advertise.

 

[jkingrph]

I have had mine in the garage for about 8 years now, with no problems. Now my garage is my woodworking, reloading shop, you could not get a car in there if you tried. Before I got the safe I had to get a new overhead door, so I got an insulated double sided steel door, no windows. When the safe was installed, the dealer wanted to bolt it to the floor, so I let him. It is fit tightly into a back corner, one wall is a closet adjoining the living area, the other is an outside, brick wall for the front entrance. Prior to installing I put down a pad of vinyl tiles as a moisture barrier between it and the concrete floor. I then got a piece of an overhead curtain track, basically an aluminut I beam with little loop rollers you hang a curatin from, an bent it to go completely around the exposed side and front, so If I open the garage door it does not show as a safe. Since this is my workshop, and I had a good insulated door, I had a 10" duct run off the central heat/air so it is climate controlled now. I had to replace the old heat pump at that time and went from a 3 to a 4 ton high efficency unit and actually noticed a good decerase in electric that summer, and had a cool workspace of about 400 sq feet added. I rarely open the overhead door, leaving it locked most of the time and have since added a free standing two car carport, so neighbors know I have a workshop, but not the gun related equipment and safe.

 

[mlw332]

I would bolt it to the concrete. You would have no worries about it walking off then. And something to help with the moisture. but other than that i see no problem

 

[mr_blove]

Mine has been in my garage for 3 months now, I wouldn't want one in my basement incase of a natural disaster where my basement flooded or my house collapsed or for whatever reason in which I might need a firearm for protection and couldn't get to one.

 

[a1abdj]

Also remember not to leave tools around so they could break in. you would be amazed at how quickly most safes can be broken into.

Only gun safes and inexpensive document safes. Most other safes are fairly good against common hand tools.

Bolting it down would be my primary concern. We install them in garages on a regular basis.

 

[disneyd]

I've often wondered how a decent safe (1/4" plate sides), properly anchored to a 4" thick concrete floor would fare against a full size pickup truck with a chain. If you have enough chain you could get a good bit of momentum with the truck.

I guess it would boil down to how much force the chain could transfer before it broke. I think the momentum of a 4000+ pound truck going 20 mph would be plenty if you could get a strong enough chain.

Also, on cutting torches. Wouldn't you typically introduce enough heat into the safe with a torch to destroy whatever is inside?

A1abdj, any thoughts on those scenarios?

I'm just curious because my next safe will have to go in my garage...

 

[MinnMooney]

One other advantage to having my safe in the garage is that this is where I clean my guns, as well as fondle them on a regular basis, so it's a lot more convenient.

Well said!

I have friends with safes in barns, garages, basements... everywhere. Keep lots of silica or a golden rod in the safe and you'll be just fine. As far as someone backing into the garage and ripping the safe out by using a truck.... they can do the same thing by ripping it out thru your bedroom wall like they do in convience stores with ATMs. If they want it, they'll get it.

 

[30 cal slob]

cover it up with a tarp or canvas.

 

[RaspberrySurprise]

Something tells me that the pickup truck would be the first part to fail not the safe mount or chain. Now that would be funny to see.

 

[catfish101]

Also, on cutting torches. Wouldn't you typically introduce enough heat into the safe with a torch to destroy whatever is inside?

That would depend, allot, on who was using it. I could open one up with no trouble.

I have heard of safes that were supposed to be made so you can't cut them open but that is false security.

 

[QuarterBoreGunner]

Another guy with safes in his garage; it's an old house with a very small single car garage... that I couldn't fit my truck in even if I tried. I guess cars were smaller back when the house was built.
My are bolted down pretty solid and my garage door, when open, doesn't face the street.
Unfortunately, no free outlets in that corner so I went with desiccant for my safes. I should amend that to say, that since I'm almost *on* the beach, it's actually a whole heck of a lot of desiccant.

 

[ditchdigger]

garage floor should be six inches thick. four 3/4 inch diameter wedge anchors at full depth should have roughly 100,000 lb shear strength. A chain capable of 50 tons tensile would be extremely heavy and at todays steel prices probably cost at least $1000.00. And if the safe is tight against a wall, they couldn't get the chain around it anyway. My semi-professional opinion is the would-be thieves would be walking home empty handed and you would be the proud owner of a beat to crap truck with a bent frame.

 

[moga]

I've thought about this and cannot get comfortable with the idea that someone could back into my garage with a pickup truck with lift gate and, after breaking the safe free of the concrete floor, load up the truck and drive away.

I also have that concern. Also, how hard is it to get the oxy torch from the back of their truck onto the floor and on to your safe when they can back the truck up into the garage, where the safe is?

I don't have a basement, but if I did, that's where I'd put it, cause it's gotta be a lot harder to haul the machinery down basement stairs than it is to drive the truck into a garage.

Someone said that the connection to the truck would likely fail from using brute force to divorce the safe from the floor. How much merit does this idea have?

 

[Scott Skawronska]

you would be amazed at how quickly most safes can be broken into.

Some safes aren't burglary rated, they're FIRE rated, which means SAFE FROM FIRE, and not BURGLARY. Trouble is, it's easier to manufacture a fire safe and call it a "safe" than it is to manufacture a burglary safe or a burglary AND fire safe.

So those "safes" you buy at Wal-Mart may not do what you want them to.

I can guarantee you that MY safe is not one that can be easily broken into: It is TL and TR rated. Those in the industry know what this means: Good luck breaking in; I could come back from a 3-week vacation, grab some leftovers out of the fridge and cook them, eat them, then go back to the pantry and finally beat the burglar senseless with a sheaf of dried spaghetti before he gets into that baby.

He wants to use my tools? Fine. He better put 'em back or he gets another spaghetti beating.

S

 

[a1abdj]

Many of the concerns here are more likely to be a risk in the commercial field than in a residential setting.

I have never seen a local burglary where the safe was ripped out of the floor using a truck at a home. I have seen ATMS stolen this way out of businesses. I have also only seen one safe in a home that was attacked using a torch, but many more commercially.

 

[Bruenor]

I can guarantee you that MY safe is not one that can be easily broken into: It is TL and TR rated. Those in the industry know what this means: Good luck breaking in; I could come back from a 3-week vacation, grab some leftovers out of the fridge and cook them, eat them, then go back to the pantry and finally beat the burglar senseless with a sheaf of dried spaghetti before he gets into that baby.

This has to be the funniest thing I have read on this board yet.

 

[Taurus 66]

Give your safe extra added protection by placing an motion sensor alarm system around it. Anyone who enters within the approximate 20' radius has 30 seconds to disarm the alarm, or else an electronic signal is sent to LLE and if at this point in time the thieves want to continue in a race against time, they'll get guns for sure.

The integrity of even the best safes is slightly above minimal. Don't give thieves the luxury of 'all the time in the world' to get your goods. The first line of protection should be a good quality alarm system.