Ideas for building a gun "room" as opposed to a gun safe.

[Maverick223]

12 years working as a welder in the construction industry = steel all the way for me. I really don't like working with wood, and I friggin' hate sawdust with a passion. I'm always busting out the plasma cutter and MIG welder for some project or another.

I feel the same way, but love the look of wood. I used to be an avid woodworker, but with my allergies the sawdust (especially from cedar and other soft woods) was too much, now I have taken up welding and metal fabrication. I used to hate when I made cuts too short...now it is no problem.

 

[CapnMac]

Well, having done some of this before, carefully consider your lighting. Sure, a plain, two-lamp 4' fluorescent surface-mount fixture will suffice, it won't necessarily be pleasant. Also, a centered ceiling fixture will cast your shadow on the walls, which can be less good. At the same time, you really don't want recessed can lights punching holes through the ceiling you just redid in fire-resistant wallboard, either. So, my vote is for cove lighting, which you can array around the room. Fixtures and lamps can be pricey to simple, too. Making a "drop" to create the cove alos gives you a place to add recessed fixtures, if the room dimensions warrant, too.

Now, on the walls, one of the spiffiest answers is to use slotboard. And, it's worthwhile to spend a bit more to get the store fixture grade slotboard too, if only for getting prefinished material, or a range of color choices in melamine-faced.

The slot board is a nice solid material on the wall, you screw it in inside the slots making it nearly no-visible-fasteners. The store fixture people have a huge range of hangers and brackets. But, regular peg-board fixtures work just as well (and sometimes better, using tool-grip PVC dip on the brackets). There are also storage bins in various sizes to go on slotboard as well.

If you are near to a middling-large-enough town, there's usually a plastic nameplate engraver who already has stock handy with a bend to seat in the slots, if a person were of a mind to label their collection on the wall.

The other nice thing about slot board is that you can rearrange things as your collection grows or changes.

OP's 5x5 room will be a little small for the ideal thing to have, a comfy chair in the middle of the room.

I always specify a good sized exhaust fan for these rooms. Which is nice if one is using cleaning solvents. But rather better if one is contemplating one's collection with an adult libation and a cigar (which is why a comfy chair is handy).

Rug over the floor is better than carpet. Tile (VCT, ceramic, quarry, etc.), wood (planked, parquet, engineered) are really more to individual esthetic and budget.

Oh, and in-swing doors are better than outswing, as that protects the hinge pins. If outswing is unavoidable, then for sure get pinned hinges.

 

[dispatch55126]

At the same time, you really don't want recessed can lights punching holes through the ceiling you just redid in fire-resistant wallboard, either.

There are 1-hour fire rated recessed lighting cans but they are expensive.

 

[CapnMac]

There are 1-hour fire rated recessed lighting cans but they are expensive

And, these rooms are expensive enough as is.
That, and I usually recommend going to a two-hour rating, when ever possible, it's generally cheap at the price being paid. (One layer of fire-taped Type "X" is enough work that the second layer is not bad.) 4" CMU can be even easier, if on a slab floor.

And, floors can be a bear unless in new work.

 

[dispatch55126]

And, these rooms are expensive enough as is.
That, and I usually recommend going to a two-hour rating, when ever possible, it's generally cheap at the price being paid. (One layer of fire-taped Type "X" is enough work that the second layer is not bad.) 4" CMU can be even easier, if on a slab floor.

And, floors can be a bear unless in new work.

Oh good, we now have a fire marshal and bricklayer in the same thread

For the sake of argument, lets not call this a true "fire rated" room. The floor/ceiling requirements would be too much of a hassle not to mention dampers.

If you wanted to make the "ultimate budget" safe room without tearing out the studs and making this a major structural construction project, you could double stud the door frame for strength, install 2" block between the studs for penetration protection, hang 1 sheet of Type-X sheetrock for fire resistance and install a security door or at least a 45-minute fire-rated door assembly.

Dang it, now this thread has me thinking...

 

[MCMXI]

I have to say guys ... EXCELLENT information for anyone thinking of doing this. The slot board is definitely worth a look and the construction ideas are very helpful. This is not my "dream home" so I don't want to pour thousands of dollars into a high end room. I could almost double the size of the walk-in closet by removing a wall and taking over the washer/dryer space but I don't think the wife would appreciate making trips to the local launderette.

Thanks for all the great suggestions though.

 

[ChCx2744]

I'm gonna post in here just to leave my mark...New favorite thread as of today.

I think the best way to go about this is to use the original closet idea (given the closet doesn't have any windows). If you have a decent sized room with no windows with no ceiling fans or lights installed in them already, those would be easy to work with as well. This kind of project would only seem rational to someone who owns a home and does not plan on selling it for a long time or ever.

 

[Big_E]

Wow this is a great thread and gives me more ideas for my future armory.

I was planning on having it in the basement with a large "normal" area I could use as a man cave and then a sliding bookcase door into a hidden room. That way if its in the basement then it would be fireproof i would just have to fortify the ceiling. However, if the basement floods then what? Though I could find ways around it if pipes leak or something.

 

[Red State]

Great thread so far, guys.

Weapons rooms / storage lockers in public buildings (like police stations and hospitals) have metal lath built into their walls. Normally, the walls use metal studs, but wood is acceptable, too. This is a pretty easy solution if the studs are bare and accessable.

Metal lath like the stuff on page 1 of this link http://www.clarkwestern.com/documents/CW_metalLathTrims.pdf
is screwed onto the studs and then drywall is screwed over the top of the lath. It would take a sawzall with metal blades to get through the metal lath. And of course the rooms are fire rated with at least one layer of 5/8" type x drywall.

 

[CMP]

It wouldnt be to hard to make something like that^^^ It could save room to and I think it looks nice

You could make a rack like the one in this picture behind the door.
I just looked this stuff up on google

 

[PandaBearBG]

I say regardless of fire proof or "harden" plywood walls, hidden door or false door is a great deterent, if done correctly and cleanly you won't even know it's there. So concealing it would be step one. As funds increase you can harden your walls later it you's like. A solid steel door concealed behind a bookshelf or mirror or whatever is definitly fun.

 

[MCMXI]

This system looks like the bee's knees but it's going to be expensive I'm sure. I don't know how well it'd work with scoped rifles though. I emailed the company to get some prices.

http://www.datalinksales.com/security_cabinets_carts/weapons_rack_expand.htm#r

A steel door and frame sold at a local hardware supply store will run me about $700. This could get real expensive!! I could weld up a steel frame door (with sheet metal skins) and a frame for a lot less than $700. It won't be as pretty but it'll be stronger I guarantee it.

 

[CMP]

^^^Something Like that you could do your self^^^
But it is nice to look at

 

[SteveCase]

An old man i know actually used to work with made himself a cinderblock wall type room and some how got himself a bank safe door,

 

[JShirley]

I plan on going the concrete room route one day. Debating on whether I'll make it larger and also use it as my office, or smaller and weapon-only.

Ms. Wonderful said, "As long as I can have a wine cellar."

J

 

[Jubjub]

My sister's new house has a room built in to the basement that only lacks a door. It's intended as a tornado shelter, but it's plenty big to make a very nice man cave. It's built under the front porch/entryway, so there's concrete above, and with the inside walls poured to the same spec as the outside walls of the basement. It amounts to an L shaped room in the corner of the basement, with the door opening in the short leg of the L, maybe 6X10 for the short leg and 5X15 for the long.

Apparently it's not expensive at all to pour as part of new construction. Building something like it in an existing house, that could get ugly fast.

 

[rondog]

Man, I saved a photo once of a house under construction, it was a photo of just the basement before the house was started. There was a very large reinforced concrete vault right in the center of the basement, looked to be the ideal setup. But I can't find that photo to save my soul.

There's this.... http://www.rhinovault.com/

 

[MCMXI]

My sister's new house has a room built in to the basement that only lacks a door.

Is your sister single and tolerably attractive? Most importantly, how does she feel about firearms ... lots of them?

rondog, that's a great link to Rhinovault. I really like their modular closet safe rooms.

 

[BrianB]

Here's a modular system:
http://www.rhinovault.com/VAULTROOM.HTM

 

[hub]

Originally Posted by Jubjub
My sister's new house has a room built in to the basement that only lacks a door.

That's a good idea. A friend of mine that does concrete work said one new home owner had them do pretty much the same thing for a safe room.

Basically when they dug the basement they dug out where the front porch goes too. They pored the perimeter and another wall enclosing the front porch area with only a specified sized doorway. Then they set 4 I-beams across in pockets for support, covered it with a huge sheet of steel, and pored the front porch over the steel plate.

That sounds like an ideal safe room to me. Fairly cheap to do, completely enclosed by steel and concrete, and can be hidden easily.