Help with anchoring safe

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JBrady555

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Hey guys I got my new winchester safe in the house and I'm trying to figure out the best way to anchor it. My floor is a concrete slab of unknown to me thickness with 1/4 inch thick fake wood tiles on top. Can someone point me it the right direction to the best way to anchor my safe? Thanks.
 
wed_big.jpg


If you needed anything stronger, you missed the boat; you should have had the anchors set when the slab was poured.....
 
I have used the concrete wedge anchors that are pictured above when I have bolted a safe in the past. I rented a rotary hammer to drill into the slab. Be careful drilling if you have a post tension slab.
 
lysanderxiii said:
wed_big.jpg


If you needed anything stronger, you missed the boat; you should have had the anchors set when the slab was poured.....
Click to expand...
This place was built by some else many years ago. No way for me to set anchors before I was born. So I need to come up with a way to do it now. Im guessing I'll have to get a hammer drill that can drill concrete but I'm not sure what anchor would be appropriate.
 
A hammer drill will probably work, but I think a rotary hammer would be better if you are renting it. The wedge anchors can be installed after the fact. I drilled a hole, tapped in the anchors and then tightened. As you tighten the nut, the wedge expands out and presses on the sides of the hole.
 
We use those anchors a lot a work, they're available just about anywhere even Home Depot.
We drill the hole all the way through the floor so when the plan changes (and the plan always changes) we just drive the old anchor flush, or even right on through, and patch the hole.
 
How wet does your floor get?

Since you live in Florida i'm guessing basements are not used.

I would remove the wood flooring and build a base that raises the bottom of the safe several inches off of the floor. Anchor the base to the floor then the safe to the base.

I would not anchor the safe directly to the floor as any water that gets trapped under the bottom of the safe will eventually cause it to rust.
 
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BSA makes a good point. Build in an air gap, and then use wedge anchors that are long than you would have used otherwise.
Mine is also anchored to the framing of the walls adjacent to it. (With lumber shims to maintain an even gap)
 
Can you bolt it to the wall?

If by 'fake wood' floor .... you mean a Pergo type engineered wood .... that means you have a vapor barrier under it to keep the moisture out.


Because of that, I'd consider anchoring to the wall instead.... and also, I'd not want to ruin the floors.
 
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I use a tractor supply company stall mat (used in horse stalls) under the safe. Its similar to a hockey puck like material but probably 1/2" thick and comes in 4'x6' sheets.

My floors are terrazzo and my house was built late 1950s. Since my house was built pre air conditioner/heating it is uninsulated single pane windows. In the winter time it gets cold in here and the moisture condenses on the floors and walls if the humidity gets too high. The stall mat I seems to help out with this.

I drilled with a bosch rotary hammer and then set 3/8" tapcons with fender washers using a Makita impact driver. My slab was 4" thick. I know because I drilled through it.

Thanks, Dan
 
Just be careful with the drill pressure so that you don't spawl out the concrete from below when you drill. Most residential floors are 4" and if the bottom of your hole blows out you won't get adequate purchase on the drilled holes with your anchors.
 
Just to elaborate on what hso said: if you're elevating it, consider how an attacker could attack the base. For example, even with a just a 3/4 plywood piece and corner anchor bolts, can an attacker with a battery powered sawzall cut through the plywood and bolts at the corners. A taller base might provide even more possibilities for the creative attacker.

I put a couple of extra bolts in the center and along the back against the wall where they would be hard to reach, and also put a couple of lag bolts into the studs several inches down from the top. On both walls of the corner I put it in.

I've had those wedge anchors pull out when the hole was even slightly oversized. I tend to use the epoxy ones instead. YMMV.
 
Well then this is where you get to see if the builder ran any water lines in the vicinity of where you want the safe to go!

You can leave the fake tiles in place. Put the safe where you want it, drill through the holes with a roto-hammer drill and a new bit, and then install per instructions.

Using a template and installing the bolts and then the safe is a problem unless you can lift the safe and set it in place. Hopefully the safe builder kept the customer/installer in mind and put the holes in the bottom a few inches from the sides and corner.

And back the safe up as close as you can to the wall. You want to limit any potential rocking of the safe. Also, the door side opposite the hinges should be near a wall to limit crowbar movement.
 
My question to yours: if the safe weighs 800 pounds empty and by the time you put another 100+ pounds of guns and stuff in it, can you move it? Plus, you will have to move a king size bed out of the bedroom to get the safe to the hallway.

My house alarm will be going off while trying to moved it through the house and then down 3' to get outside. It took 3 big guys over an hour to get it off the back of the truck and down the hallway to where it rest.

Yes, I thought about bolting it down and decided not to. If you have some room in the bottom of the safe, put some lead in there.
 
RunninLate said:
My question to yours: if the safe weighs 800 pounds empty and by the time you put another 100+ pounds of guns and stuff in it, can you move it? Plus, you will have to move a king size bed out of the bedroom to get the safe to the hallway.
Click to expand...


Yes, all I would need is a wrecking bar and a few pieces of PVC pipe. There are obviously more obstacles in the way. But an unsecured safe at that weight is fairly easy to move around.
 
I'm 6', 150 pounds, and I can move up to 1,000 pounds quickly and easily. Add another man, and you could up that to several thousand pounds.

Bolt your safes. Even if the meth-head in your house doesn't try to run off with it, they may flip it over in an attempt to beat on it.
 
Drill holes in the back that line up with the wall studs and use 3/8" lag bolts with steel washers. Drill holes in bottom in the center if the safe and install 2 concreter wedge type anchors. Floor should be at least 4" think. Mine is almost 6" think in the basement.
 
RunninLate said:
My question to yours: if the safe weighs 800 pounds empty and by the time you put another 100+ pounds of guns and stuff in it, can you move it? Plus, you will have to move a king size bed out of the bedroom to get the safe to the hallway.

My house alarm will be going off while trying to moved it through the house and then down 3' to get outside. It took 3 big guys over an hour to get it off the back of the truck and down the hallway to where it rest.

Yes, I thought about bolting it down and decided not to. If you have some room in the bottom of the safe, put some lead in there.
Click to expand...
Realize that thieves aren't worried with damaging your safe or your house. I saw a burglary once where they used a cable to drag a safe through a house and out onto a trailer. The damage to the house was greater than the loss of the contents.
 
D'oh! I learned something today....
Uh, i mean...i knew that. I was just fishing for people who didnt know...yeah, thats it
 
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