Mounting Gun Safe To Wooden Floor Help?

[G11354]

I recently purchased a cheap "Stack-On" gun safe weighing only 168 pounds. I have no concrete flooring and plan to install the safe in my closet.

Any suggestions for securing the safe to a wooden floor would be much appreciated.

Gun safe dimensions are 20-7/8" W (53cm), 20-1/16" D (51cm), 55-1/8" H (140cm).

 

[Ohen Cepel]

If there is carpet on the floor you want some air flow under it still so I would leave a few small boards under it to serve as feet.

If it's bare wood I would mount it to the wall studs rather than put holes in the hardwood floor.

Tough to tear it out or flip it over to pry it open if it's bolted/screwed to the wall.
Also, easier to repair those holes in the wall than holes in hardwood flooring.

I'm worried about smash/grab types so would drill and use small lag bolts, 4 should do it. More if you like. Won't stop pros who show up loaded to do the job but will stop most scumbags.

 

[Hangingrock]

What is the construction of your wood floor and or sub floor?

 

[G11354]

Not entirely certain of the floor construction, I live in a mobile home and the floors are carpeted. Seems as if the joists are somewhere around 16 to 18 inches apart.

 

[slumlord44]

I am very familiar with mobile homes. Have several for rentals. I would think if you could catch one floor joist and one wall stud with lag bolts it won't go anywhere easily. It will stop the normal thief and nothing will stop a pro.

 

[DeepSouth]

I am very familiar with mobile homes. Have several for rentals. I would think if you could catch one floor joist and one wall stud with lag bolts it won't go anywhere easily. It will stop the normal thief and nothing will stop a pro.

When I lived in a mobile home that's exactly what I did. On through the bottom in a floor joist and one in the back of the safe near the top hitting a wall stud. I also put it in a corner with the opening side to a wall so it would make it harder to get leverage on the weak side of the door, it was a really cheap safe.

Like you said it'll stop the average smash and grab burglar, but the more determination and time they have the higher their chances.

 

[Bama Drifter]

You are right in wanting to bolt it down, no matter the make, model, or overall weight. To make mine have a little lift and "seal" it somewhat on the bottom I used a slightly oversize scrap of birch plywood from home depot. Same material I had used to build my reloading bench-- very stout. Lag screws going through that 3/4" and then into my floor made me feel it is very solidly planted. If you can screw it into a wall that is a closet corner, even better!

FWIW, my in-law's neighbor was robbed during daylight hours while the thieves knew their victims would be at work/school. The sad victims concentrated all precious valuables including passports, jewelry, cash into one of the wally world fire-proof boxes, not bolted down. I had to restrain myself from saying "How dumb could you be?!!" ALWAYS bolt down the safe!

 

[DeepSouth]

" ALWAYS bolt down the safe!"

Cannot be understated.


Not only for obvious security, but with most safes the door is almost heavy enough to tip the safe when opened at 90° and if it's on "slip on hinges" that can get even worse.

 

[jdh]

Duct Tape!



(more than one of you was thinking it)

 

[cdk8]

You are right in wanting to bolt it down, no matter the make, model, or overall weight. To make mine have a little lift and "seal" it somewhat on the bottom I used a slightly oversize scrap of birch plywood from home depot. Same material I had used to build my reloading bench-- very stout. Lag screws going through that 3/4" and then into my floor made me feel it is very solidly planted. If you can screw it into a wall that is a closet corner, even better!

FWIW, my in-law's neighbor was robbed during daylight hours while the thieves knew their victims would be at work/school. The sad victims concentrated all precious valuables including passports, jewelry, cash into one of the wally world fire-proof boxes, not bolted down. I had to restrain myself from saying "How dumb could you be?!!" ALWAYS bolt down the safe!

IMHO hiding this safe is much more important than anchoring it, because if a criminal sees it then it is going to be defeated almost instantaneously.

While I agree bolting down a safe-safe is important, if the safe has no real ability to resist an attack then bolting it down will have a very limited value. If the armor itself is thin and the bolt holes are not heavily reinforced, then solidly bolting a safe to the floor becomes difficult to accomplish and still with limited value given the safe's vulnerability to attack and the fact that criminals are becoming increasingly aware of just how vulnerable gun safes are.

The type of safe the OP has, much like the large majority of gun safe products, are not good candidates for the storage of any high value items such as cash, jewelry, heirlooms, important electronics, PII, etc. Such items should ideally be put in a true security safe and if any real meaningful amount of burglary protection is desired, then such items should only be put in a true security safe IMO.

 

[SwaneeSR]

I have suffered a daytime breaking. I lost my Browning A5 on that theft years ago. Found out 20 years later it was a neighbor kid.

If there is any location such as a linen closet etc to put the safe you could really improve your odds that an armature would miss your gun collection.

 

[Ente Leader]

Manufactured homes have steel floor joists, I don't know what the span is off hand. Wall are also steel studs in some and wood in others.

 

[CB900F]

G11354;

Once you determine the location of where you want the unit, go under the home & find the relevant frame points. It may very well be possible to bridge a couple of those frame sections with, say, a 4X4 timber. Get a gasket punch & put a 3/8" hole in the carpet at the correct point. Use the punch, not a drill! The drill will very likely snag the carpet fiber & create a run that you'll wind up paying for. Get a long bolt & a couple of fender washers. Put the washers on the bolt & thread it up through the timber & the hole in the floor. Set the container over the bolt & secure with a nut in the RSC.

When you leave, seal the hole with a good silicone goo & fluff the carpet. Properly done, it'll be extremely unlikely that it'll be noticeable.

900F

 

[jmorris]

When we had a pier and beam house we ran bolts up from the bottom with locking nuts in the safe.

 

[sage5907]

If I was in your situation I would locate the floor joists by either drilling very small holes in the floor or driving small finishing nails through the carpet. This would quickly tell you if the floor joists are made of wood. I would locate the wall studs by using a stud finder and then I would drill holes in the steel gun safe and screw it to the floor and wall with 3 inch lag bolts that are 5/16 inch in diameter. I would use 2 lag bolts for each floor joist or stud. Then I would go to Wal*Mart and buy some inexpensive exercise weights and place an extra 50 pounds of weight in the bottom of the safe. Lazy thieves won't carry a 200 pound object. Finally, I would buy a pound of FF Black Powder and attach it some way on the inside behind the lock. That way if someone tries to open the safe with a torch they would get a big surprise. You could even put a sticker on the front that says "Danger, black powder stored inside."

 

[jmorris]

The sticker would be a good idea and just put the powder inside. If you killed or injured someone with a "booby trap" you might go to prison and even if you didn't would be highly likely to loose the following civil suit.

Then again insurance might replace stolen firearms but could try and restore the ones you blew up.