Special considerations for putting a safe in a garage.

[kd7nqb]

I am moving into a new house and will be purchasing a safe for my guns. The safe I will be buying will be in the $300-$400 range and likely wont be a super fireproof vault but wont be a sheet metal storage locker either.

However the safe will be in a garage, I am worried about condensation and possible rust issues. My current "gun safe" is more of the cheap sheet metal variety and I just have some bags of silica in there but its also inside the house.

Will an electronic de-humidifier or golden rod fix my issue?

Is there something better to use?

 

[Jolly Rogers]

Bolt it down. And maybe bolt it to the wall too! The garage is the last place I'd put a marked gun safe. Too much room around it to defeat it.
Joe

 

[G27RR]

If that's the only place you can put it, try to get it bolted down in a corner and build a plywood cabinet around it so everyone walking/driving by your garage won't see the safe. Maybe extend the cabinets along the wall for storage of other things and it'd be decent camoflauge. Then, get one of those electric dehumidifiers and keep your guns wiped down and oiled on a regular basis.

The reason for using a corner is to give a thief less room to work on it.

 

[brboyer]

I am moving into a new house and will be purchasing a safe for my guns. The safe I will be buying will be in the $300-$400 range and likely wont be a super fireproof vault but wont be a sheet metal storage locker either.

However the safe will be in a garage, I am worried about condensation and possible rust issues. My current "gun safe" is more of the cheap sheet metal variety and I just have some bags of silica in there but its also inside the house.

Will an electronic de-humidifier or golden rod fix my issue?

Is there something better to use?

but wont be a sheet metal storage locker either.

Unfortunately, for that amount of money, that's exactly what you will be getting.

Temperature swings in the garage are not good.

Put in a Goldenrod (or simply a low-wattage light-bulb) in it or use a desiccant or a VpCI emitter.

• The Goldenrod, or light-bulb will keep the interior a couple degrees warmer to help guard against condensation, but will not effect the amount of moisture inside.
• A desiccant, or dehumidifier will actually reduce the amount of moisture inside. Be careful not to let it run too long as it can reduce the moisture level so much that wood stocks (if you have any) can be damaged.
• A VpCIs (Vapor Phase Corrosion Inhibitor) emit safe chemicals that actually form a protective layer on metals to prevent corrosion. The layer is only a couple molecules think.

 

[russ69]

Short of being outside a garage is the worse possible location for a safe. Environmentally a poor choice for storage of metal objects and it's the least secure placement. A chain and a pickup truck will break it loose and then just haul it off. How about an inside closet instead?

 

[CraigC]

I agree that the garage is about the worst place to store your guns. But if you have to, I agree fully with the post below. I'll also reiterate that you definitely want some sort of dehumidifier running in it.

If that's the only place you can put it, try to get it bolted down in a corner and build a plywood cabinet around it so everyone walking/driving by your garage won't see the safe. Maybe extend the cabinets along the wall for storage of other things and it'd be decent camoflauge. Then, get one of those electric dehumidifiers and keep your guns wiped down and oiled on a regular basis.

The reason for using a corner is to give a thief less room to work on it.

 

[vaherder]

garages

I do not store anything in a garage I cant afford to lose. I do not store guns, tools etc in my garage. I have my tool chests in separate room off the garage that can be locked and has a secure door. I roll my tool chest back in there when I am finished working on my cars, trucks, ATVs etc.

Tough to make a garage door with an opener secure. My garage is not attached to my house.

I can use various scanners to open your garage door. I then close it. Now I can use the tools and power tools you have left me to pry open the door to the rest of your house and open this safe.

BTW you do have a deadbolt for the door leading into you house right? And the door is steel with at least long screws in each hinge going into the jam through the 2x4 studs right and you have long screws to secure the striker into the door jam and studs?

Consider the basement or other secure room in the house and not the garage.

Va Herder