Gunsafe ???s

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orsogato

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Anybody out there keep their gunsafes on an upper level floor of their home rather than their basement levels?

I am wondering if the thing is too damn heavy for an upper level floor. The basement is kind of damp and i dont need my guns exposed to all that moisture while they are out of harms way to amateur theives.

Any feed back would be appreciated. Oh the safe size is an 8-10 gun safe,
 
Mine is on the second floor of my house for reasons too long to go into here. I've got it in a closet and the safe is next to an outer wall and over a downstairs load bearing wall, if that makes any sense. The main problem was getting that d**n thing up the stairs. As I related on another thread, I cracked my hip moving it upstairs. If your going to do this you might consider having profesional help.

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Join the NRA.
 
Try to keep it centered over a load bearing wall or near the end of the span of the floor joists.(Where they meet the boxing)or over the area where the central girder is running through or under the floor joists preferrably near a supporting lollie-column.Try to keep it away from the center of any long span.

If you don't, usually what happens is the floor will begin to sag over time. I've seen this with water beds even though they span a greater number of beams than a safe would.

By all means get help to move it. It's not worth blowing your spleen out doing yourself.
 
Leaving out the stair problem, if you take a piece of plywood and a bunch of golf balls, one person can move a very heavy safe across rugs, down halls, around corners...

(Wish I'd thought of that before I moved my own 800-lb monster)
 
I've had a 700lb safe upstairs in my wife's closet/clothing warehouse for 4 years now. No problems as it sits over a load bearing wall as mentioned above.

I've moved four 7-800lb safes into my house over the last few years. The first one (the upstairs one) I moved my self with the help of three friends.

Two new stair banisters - $120
Repair two door jambs - $50
Patch hole in wall and paint hallway/stairwell - $150
Emergency room visit for smashed thumb - $312
None of my friends will return my calls :)

I've since learned that a call to a local mover and $50 will have your safe put right where you want it by two burly guys who know what they're doing. Just don't strain yourself lifting that beer while you "supervise." Just my thoughts on moving safes. Good luck!
 
Another thought: see if your safe door will come off. When I move my National Security Safe (+500 lbs), I take the door off and about a third of the weight. Helps whoever moves the safe.


Regards,

Albin
 
Plywood and golf balls are good, but you might bust a few of those balls getting the safe up on the plywood. Pipe makes good rollers.

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Better days to be,

Ed
 
As far a what JJR said NUFF SAID
I had a 800+ lb safe on my first and only floor in a house sitting on a coventional foundation {not a slab}. The house was built in 1949 for the GI trade but did have decent sub flooring. Every thing was fine.
Consider a 4' x 3' base safe weighing 800 lbs. is only 67 lbs. per sq. foot. When Aunt Irean comes over she's doing 150 lbs. on each foot!
If you follow the above guidelines on placement you should be in good shape.
Regards to all, Hank
 
I once asked a similar question about a car on a second floor garage. The house was on the side of a hill and the garage was actually above the house. The engineer stated that the weight of the car was no worse than furniture, because it was spread out. You don't think twice about having a refriderator or freezer packed to the brim on a second floor...not too much of a difference.

Of course, I wouldn't position my bed on the floor below the safe!

Good luck.
 
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