Water in the basement

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Blackbeard

Blackbeard

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I have a safe (ok ok, RSC) in my finished basement. It's bolted to the wall, sitting on a thin carpet that sits on the slab. Today, for the first time in the nine years I've lived here, I got some water in the basement. I got it all pumped and shop-vacced out, and the dehumidifier is running. My quesiton is, do I need to move the safe? I fear the carpet it sits on may have gotten wet, and there is a hole in the bottom of it for bolting to the floor. I'm afraid it may get a tad moist in there and rust things.
 
YES

move the safe, then build a "stand" from brick and morter and put the safe on it, this way you have a "back up" to water in the house.
 
I agree, raise the safe somehow. Concrete in and of itself is a pourous material and will typically leech or wick water. It might be a good idea to somehow raise it above any concrete so you have air flow underneath the safe (if possible). That way, you've covered as much as you can to protect both yourself (inhabitants) and your guns!
 
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Darn right move it.

+1 on what eric said. Take the opportunity to build a small platform today. Heck you go out and buy a 2x8 piece of wood. Make a box out of it. A frame. Put it against the wall. Then buy 3 bags of quickset. mix it in a 5 gallon bucket if you do not have a wheel barrel Then pour in your frame. Your probably looking at 20.00-30.00 bucks. Thats very cheap insurance and about a couple of hours start to finish. AFter that get some help putting the safe on top of it. Now your set. Can you imagine if that basement ever got a 2 inch spread of water when you were at work.

Spend the 20-30bucks please. Heck if i lived closer to you id come over and help.
 
Oh not spamming here but might I recomend you do a search for clean space basement systems too.
 
Ah, thats bad news. Gotta keep that thing plugged in all the time.

Its just like carrying, if you don't always carry it will be the one time your not carrying that something bad happens.
 
I do have a sump pump. Apparently it wasn't plugged in.
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Yes and don't plug it into a gfci outlet. If you get a lightning strike nearby the gfci may trip by itself. Now its a thunderstorm and It's raining and your sump pump is plugged into a dead outlet.
 
I've got mine mounted on a furniture dolly, and then bolted to the wall. It is off the floor, still secure, but I can move it around a bit if I have to.
 
Yes and don't plug it into a gfci outlet. If you get a lightning strike nearby the gfci may trip by itself. Now its a thunderstorm and It's raining and your sump pump is plugged into a dead outlet.
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lightning typically will not cause a GFCI to trip.

however, a dirty little secret about GFCIs is that often relatively minor power line fluctuations such as might be caused by lightning can damage them and cause them to fail, sometimes they fail open, sometimes closed. thats why you are supposed to test them regularly.
 
strangly dode requires sump pumps to be wired for gfi and i've redone several basements that flooded when the gfi tripped
 
I do have a sump pump. Apparently it wasn't plugged in.

You might hardwire the sump pump to a GFCI breaker. A breaker that is easily visible in the basement and one where the "broken"circuit light is visible at a casual glance. That way, it is always plugged in, you can shut it off by pressing a button and even if you aren't there, the pump will work if water enters the basement.
 
orionengnr said:
And so can anyone else.

I'm just sayin'...

Think about it. :)
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Only once they UNBOLT it from the wall, and you have to OPEN the safe to do that. And even then, there really isn't anywhere to move it to other than to get it out of the way for a moment. Not like you can use that little dolly to climb stairs.
 
I'd move the safe. It is the problem with having safes in the basement or garage. You can put the safe back in the same spot after things are completely dried out. Raising it up a bit on something like blocks is a good idea. 2x4's are okay, but will wick water upward slowly if they get wet. You don't need carpet beneath it.

Keep an eye on the carpet. I would suggest you have a large fan blowing across it immediately after you have sucked out all the water you can. The mold development danger is substantial and you may eventually yank the carpet and replace it. It just depends on how important mold and mold odors are to you.
 
Keep an eye on the carpet. I would suggest you have a large fan blowing across it immediately after you have sucked out all the water you can. The mold development danger is substantial and you may eventually yank the carpet and replace it. It just depends on how important mold and mold odors are to you.
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A very good idea. I had to do this about 2 months ago when my basement flooded (an inch of standing water-in CO!?!?). After two days, when everything was pretty much dry, I poured bleach everywhere that I thought could get moldy. Did this again a week later. Four gallons of bleach is a whole lot cheaper than ripping out walls.
 
When I first moved my safe into the lower level (3' below ground level) I had the safe on a small pallet so I could move it with my pallet dolly. It seemed like such a great idea to keep it elevated - but it didn't look very good - so I built a "custom sized pallet" out of decent looking wood and set the safe on that. It looks great & raises the safe about 5".
 
I've decided to relocate the safe to the upper floor. Being it's not a "real" safe, it only weights about 270 pounds, maybe 350 with guns & ammo. Should be no problem for the floor to support.
 
for all you who mount a box off the floor remember that any and i mean any freeplay is your enemy. if they can get it to vibrate thay can get it loose and gone. they will use a tiny movement of the box and the mass of the box against you no power tools and too damn lil noise
 
You might hardwire the sump pump to a GFCI breaker. A breaker that is easily visible in the basement and one where the "broken"circuit light is visible at a casual glance. That way, it is always plugged in, you can shut it off by pressing a button and even if you aren't there, the pump will work if water enters the basement.
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I am not sure code would allow you to hardwire something that came with a plug. besides, who would unplug their sump pump?
 
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