Safe Bottom Rusting

[Blackcloud6]

I have a Red Head safe in my basement. This week I had a sump pump failure and the carpet that the safe was on got wet. Water did not get in any of my safes or gun cabinets.

I pulled the safe out today to get the carpet it out. it was stuck to the bottom of the safe and when i pulled it off, there was a lot of rust. The has been rusting for awhile and I suspect that moisture from the cement floor kept the carpet moist and thus rusted the bottom of the safe. This happened over time and was not a result of the water from the sump pump failure. There does appear to be any perforation of the bottom of the safe.

I think it would be best to sand down the bottom of the safe, prime it and paint it. I feel leaving it as is would end up rusting through and ruining the safe. if this is what i should do, what would be a good paint and primer to use?

After I do this, I need to have a barrier between it and the floor. What should I do? I also have two of those Homack lockers next to it and would like to keep the same configuration and space usage What would be a good easy way to get these up off of the floor safe they are not affected by the moisture that cement floors always seem to hold?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Sam1911]

You can wire brush the loose rust off and paint it with Rustoleum's Rust Converter (I think that's what it's called) paint and then a top coat.

Better, you could get some POR-15 and hit it with that.

Or just sand it down to bare metal, prime and paint with several coats of a decent spray paint. (This is what I would do.)

Then, when you put the safe back, put down a piece of 20 mil pvc plastic sheet or EDPM rubber under it to act as a moisture barrier. (This is what we do at my company when we set timber posts and sills on concrete foundations.)

Even better ... in fact, MUCH better ... would be to set the safe on a couple of pieces of pressure-treated 1x4 or 2x6 board, laid flat, and cut to just fit under the safe and support its edges.

There's nothing better than letting air move around under it to keep things dried out.

-Sam

 

[dave from mesa]

Even better ... in fact, MUCH better ... would be to set the safe on a couple of pieces of pressure-treated 1x4 or 2x6 board, laid flat, and cut to just fit under the safe and support its edges. There's nothing better than letting air move around under it to keep things dried out.

+1 on that

 

[crawfobj]

I'd definitely clean up the bottom and paint it to stop the damage from getting worse.

I have mine on a rubber mat (like a truck bedliner) and then bolted to the slab. Too easy to get a dolly under a safe that's sitting on a 1/4, but maybe I'm just paranoid. Also, I think I'd still be worried about moisture wicking up through the wood you'd be setting it on. Also, how would you bolt it to the slab? Through the 1x4s?

 

[Blackcloud6]

Better, you could get some POR-15 and hit it with that.

After I made my post, I remembered I had a POR-15 kit I used on my Jeep. I'm right now in the prep process.

I sanded off the heavy rust and there are no perforations.

I went to Home depot and looked around for somethings to put the safe on. I came up with the instead of using the new composite decking stuff. They have 1x1x1 strips that I can 'slat" along the bottom. This stuff is strong, heavy and not supposed to wick up moisture.

Thanks to all.

 

[a1abdj]

I like to use rubber stall mat underneath safes. It's 3/4" thick, but very firm.

You can buy it at most places that sell horse supplies.

 

[Master Blaster]

Go to a plumbing and heating supply.
They will have 1/2" thick pads that come in a sheet perforated 2" square. They are for placing under a heater or AC unit to get it up off the floor. Two or three squares under each corner.

 

[DHJenkins]

Sand it, degrease it, prime it, then hit it with some truck bed coating.

 

[Blackcloud6]

The safe bottom is now repaired. I just need to decide which method to elevate it and barrier it from moisture. I like the your solution master Blaster. Seems easy.