Gun safe location. Garage? Bad idea?

[TTSH]

The one bad thing about having a collection of just about anything is you don't want people to even know about it. Kind of sucks for showing off your guns or expensive collections.

That's a fact. As I've often said, the very best safe of all is the one no one knows about or could ever find.

 

[rwsmith]

Secure it....

Expanded metal on the windows, good door with top notch locks and enough of them. I had it demonstrated how easy it is for a knowledgeable person to break in.

 

[Targets Guy]

I wouldn't do it. I am in the midwest as well. I'd like to do it but I'm not going to.

 

[iibgdi]

How about killing two birds with one stone.

Since it is the Midwest, and the house is to be constructed, design
it with a dual-purpose, concrete tornado safe-room/gun vault, master-bedroom closet, outfitted with one of the vault doors readily available.

Gives a retreat area should a twister (or home invasion ) strike and a climate controlled gun storage area that is readily accessible.

That is how I think but he is the tightest man in america. LOL. He had a budget in mind for the house long ago. I warned him he would never be within it and at minimum to plan for 10% over.......He was adamant about it.....I was right... HA.

So, he isn't wanting to do anything further to increase his construction cost.

I understand the arguments for why that is not particularly smart but I doubt he will budge.

I did talk to him today and he is going to bolt it down but I doubt he goes to any further lengths than that and a dehumidifier.

He probably has 6 or 8 guns, nothing of special value to speak of. Mostly shotguns and a couple rifles.

 

[iibgdi]

BTW, after monitoring the temperature and humidity in my safe that was in the garage for just a few months, changes were made to avoid the big temperature and humidity swings.

Can you provide more details?

 

[Muss Muggins]

That is how I think but he is the tightest man in america. LOL. He had a budget in mind for the house long ago. I warned him he would never be within it and at minimum to plan for 10% over.......He was adamant about it.....I was right... HA.

So, he isn't wanting to do anything further to increase his construction cost.

I understand the arguments for why that is not particularly smart but I doubt he will budge.

I did talk to him today and he is going to bolt it down but I doubt he goes to any further lengths than that and a dehumidifier.

He probably has 6 or 8 guns, nothing of special value to speak of. Mostly shotguns and a couple rifles.

So this is just a gun locker and not a real safe?

 

[iibgdi]

Since it is new construction, this is an opportunity to put the safe in the floor. Easier to conceal, and much harder to break into. And you loose less floor space.

He already has a stand up, liberty safe. Probaby 24 wide and 40-50" tall

 

[iibgdi]

You say he is building the house? This would seem to be the opportunity to incorporate a safe, or even a safe room, just the way you wanted it. JMO.

I agree with everything you have said. Honestly, he never thought this through. The framing, roofing and windows are already in.

We actually just started having this conversation a couple weeks ago. He just never gave it a second thought. He just always assumed he would just put it in his garage and never considered any issues or concerns or doing anything special.

He doesn't want it in the basement either and there is no room on the main floor. That sucker is going in the garage. He just needs to figure out how to live with his decision the best he can.

He really isn't one to worry too much. We are wired a bit different!!

 

[TTSH]

He probably has 6 or 8 guns, nothing of special value to speak of. Mostly shotguns and a couple rifles.

Oh Lordy! That's a "mini-safe or gun cabinet in the back of a closet" kind of collection/accumulation. Cover it with a little insurance and call it done!

 

[iibgdi]

Oh Lordy! That's a "mini-safe or gun cabinet in the back of a closet" kind of collection/accumulation. Cover it with a little insurance and call it done!

Yeah, that's why he doesn't get too uptight about it. He isn't the kind of guy to stock pile. he just has a handful of average guns.

In all likelyhood, this probably wasn't the ideal situation for a massive thread debate but the concept in and of itself is certainly a good one.

I know I would never do it if I could avoid it. But that's just me

 

[shotgun693]

I was a Cop for 35 years. Bad guys get info on things like gun safes from the delivery guy, anyone who goes into your garage, the kid's friends, the meter reader, the wife's hairdresser......
Once I know it's in the garage, I back a heavy pu with a lift or a wrecker into the garage, opening the door is like opening a cardboard box, now with the garage door down I hook up to the safe or locker or whatever, open the door and drive away. If it's bolted down, I cut the braces. Around Houston and Galveston they used to, maybe still do, back into a store when it was closed and take the safes.
I'd put it as close as possible to the middle of the house.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Since I have a safe in the garage and one in the house, I'm doing it both ways already.
But one thing that I absolutely recommend- bolt it down hard and fast!

 

[Ranger514]

There are companies that specialize in building cabinets, bookcases, and other furniture that are designed to hide and secure firearms and other valuables, yet allow quick access. I know a man who built a storage space in his tongue and groove pine paneled walls to hide his firearms. You'd never suspect it existed.

 

[Kanewpadle]

Speaking from experience, putting a safe in the garage isn't a bad idea. Since I work on them routinely, I see lots of safes in the garage. Matter of fact most of them are.

People find creative ways to cover or conceal them when the door is open.

Mine has been in the garage for over ten years. I keep my guns in gun socks. No problems. It's on the other side of the freezer so you can't see it as well.

The constant rise and fall of the temperature in the garage could be a problem if you don't take steps to protect your guns. Also consider the dew point.

Dew Point Calculator

 

[faridania]

Having a vault under the floor is the safe location though might not be the safest place. Since, there is no safe place in authority investigation.

 

[yaktamer]

Easy solution. Gun safe in the master bedroom closet. Wife's shoes in the garage.

 

[Beemerguy53]

Liberty safes, and others as well, I would think, have holes pre-drilled in the bottom so you can use a lag bolt or other fastener to secure the safe to the concrete floor. This is essential for any safe, especially if it's in the garage.

In several homes over the years, my safe has never been anywhere but in my garage, and I have never had a problem with rusting, no matter the season. A Goldenrod or other electric dehumidifier works by heating the air inside the safe. The heated air then expands, which prevents humid outside air from getting in. As long as the air inside the safe is warmer than the air outside the safe, the principle remains the same.

I have an indoor/outdoor electronic thermometer in my safe. It always shows the inside of the safe to be warmer than the outside. In bitter cold winter weather, it might be well below freezing inside the safe, but as long as it's colder outside the safe, the Goldenrod is doing its job. In summer weather, the temperature is higher inside the safe, again expanding the air inside it, and keeping all that humidity out.

Your friend has nothing fear from putting the safe in his garage.

 

[LouisianaJoe]

When we designed our house, I specified the dimensions of one of the closets that would allow my gun safe to fit at one end of the closet such that the safe door aligned with one edge of the closet door. I can use the closet without being blocked by any part of the safe. This also means that the safe is in a air conditioned part of my house. Here in Louisiana, the range of temperatures and humidity at different times of the year would make it unwise to put gun storage in the garage.

 

[bigwheelzip]

I did talk to him today and he is going to bolt it down but I doubt he goes to any further lengths than that and a dehumidifier.

If he has the safe or can acquire a template of the bolt-down locations and hole diameters, and the concrete has not been poured yet in the desired location, a concrete embedment plate is a substantially stronger attachment than expansion bolts. Weave a few rebar over the plate, and its really planted.

 

[Retired LTC USAR]

When I purchased my safe in 2004, I had it placed in the garage. Placed it on some pieces of oak to keep it off the concrete floor. Did not bolt it down. Have had no problems with it being there.