Gun safe in garage

[jnojr]

I know, I know... some folks, first response is "Don't do it." But this is for a location where I have to have a safe, and there's nowhere else to put it.

It will be anchored to the floor and bolted to the wall, and will have a cabinet around it to A) keep it from passing eyes; and B) make it even harder to get to. And there's an alarm.

What I'm looking for is any ideas or fixes others have come up with to mitigate the non-optimal nature of doing this. One thing I've heard is to have it bolted down via some kind of stand-off, like pieces of 4X4, so the base isn't directly on the floor, to help prevent condensation. One thing I'll be looking for is some kind of humidity / temperature control. This will be in the Show Low area, so summers may touch the 90s but winters are teens and below, so I'm assuming usually dry.

 

[Suck My Glock]

I've mentioned this before, but I think you might consider one of those converted vending machines.

While obviously not as strong and resilient as a safe, they are less likely to be identified by a burglar as being a gun container, and they are usually CHEAPER too. You can see from the shot of the interior that they raise the floor of the compartment up off the floor, so they don't allow spills or small flooding to get up into where the guns are. They lock using those rotary tumbler key thingies which are incredibly difficult to pick.

 

[jnojr]

Where do you get those??? That's kind of awesome!

 

[Boriqua]

Were I going to make standoffs for something that will sit for years I might use something like Kindorf instead of wood. Now I dont have a safe but .. have been around building a thing or two.

 

[QuietM4]

I've mentioned this before, but I think you might consider one of those converted vending machines.


While obviously not as strong and resilient as a safe, they are less likely to be identified by a burglar as being a gun container, and they are usually CHEAPER too. You can see from the shot of the interior that they raise the floor of the compartment up off the floor, so they don't allow spills or small flooding to get up into where the guns are. They lock using those rotary tumbler key thingies which are incredibly difficult to pick.

While I think that is a very cool idea, if I were a moderately experienced thief and I saw a soda machine in a garage, I would immediately think it's a gun safe. Also, tubular locks are just as easy to pick as any other lock...it just takes the right set of tools. (https://www.lockpickshop.com/tubular-lockpicks.html). A battery powered grinder with a cutting wheel would take less than 60 seconds to cut through the top and bottom hinge, rendering the lock useless. Bottom line; light subterfuge is not going to stop a determined thief.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNXhKwiO1OA

 

[Suck My Glock]

Where do you get those??? That's kind of awesome!

There used to be a guy here locally on Craigslist who sold them for about $500. I don't know if he is still around.

I found some other people on the internet doing it. The closest one seems to be Albuquerque. http://www.vendnm.com/gun-safes/

If you absolutely wanted one that ALSO functioned as dispenser of cold drinks (all the better to pull off the subterfuge), these guys will do one for you for $3000. https://www.mountainsideoutfitters.com/products/pkg-821-vending-4374

Or, just go out and find an old one that is defunct and not worth refitting to still operate, and buy it cheap, then build it out yourself. That's what this guy did. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4GKyAXDC18

 

[That Guy]

I know, I know... some folks, first response is "Don't do it." But this is for a location where I have to have a safe, and there's nowhere else to put it.

It will be anchored to the floor and bolted to the wall, and will have a cabinet around it to A) keep it from passing eyes; and B) make it even harder to get to. And there's an alarm.

What I'm looking for is any ideas or fixes others have come up with to mitigate the non-optimal nature of doing this. One thing I've heard is to have it bolted down via some kind of stand-off, like pieces of 4X4, so the base isn't directly on the floor, to help prevent condensation. One thing I'll be looking for is some kind of humidity / temperature control. This will be in the Show Low area, so summers may touch the 90s but winters are teens and below, so I'm assuming usually dry.

Sooooooo, I was once given an old (as in very old) stand up Army safe about the size of a small refrigerator. Wasn’t fire proof, was only about 1/8 on all sides (corners and door was 1/4” thick), only had three bolts to lock the door in place, and woulda taken a determined strong guy with a crowbar, sledge, and chisel about ten minutes to pop it. So I emplaced an element of surprise and installed one of those booby trap CS spray dispensers inside. What you’d do is open the door about five inches, disconnect the trip line, then open the door all the way. When you closed the door you reengaged the trip line to arm it. Did it work? Well, never on a burglar but one time I had a buncha sh!t on my mind and was in a hurry. I opened the door and WHAM! Got CS spray right in the face and since I was a little preoccupied the entire can sprayed out in the room.

Use your imagination. Just remember booby traps can work BOTH ways.

 

[brandyspaw]

Anything you can do to hide/disguise the safe you'll use is for the better. This regardless of where you'll have the safe or what kind of safe you use.

A thief can't steal what he doesn't see and the important thing is to disguise or hide your safes. Thieves spend less than 15 minutes in a home (usually more like half that much time) and they can't risk spending a lot of time searching everywhere for your valuables.

 

[Cmoor]

I would not use a stand off because if you can get a pry bar under it then it will be much easier to pry the safe off the bolts holding it down. Once it is no longer bolted down it will only take a few minutes to open the safe up.

 

[QuangTri]

Keep a golden rod in there to prevent temps dropping below the dew-point (when condensation forms)

Of course, if you can keep the humidity low enough, no worries. I use a rod as well as an electric "peltier' dehumidifier gizmo to extract moisture from the air. In my house, but even with infrequent door openings, get several ounces a week in the reservoir.

That is hawaii, Arizona house barely registers on the rechargeable dessicant as there being any moisture absorbed.

 

[BigNate]

In my opinion, its a question of "adequate" protection for the things that you are trying to protect. If you live in a neighborhood where you expect a burglary of your home every three weeks and you have $1,000,000 of gold bullion to protect, and you brag to all the corner-boys about all your gold and guns - well - then putting it in a cheap gloss black safe with gold embellishments in the center of your garage and leaving the garage door open is a bad idea.

If you live quietly in a middle class, low-crime, area and don't advertise the fact that you have a few thousand dollars worth of guns and you want to put a safe in the back corner of the garage to store overflow stuff - I'd think you don't have a lot more risk of loss than you do with the safe in the house. I'd worry about the following:
1) Environmentals - primarily heat fluctuations based on it being out of the climate controlled environment. I'd put it against an interior wall and out of direct sunlight if possible. As others have said - a dehumidifier would be a good thing.
2) Visibility - I'd cover it with a tarp, put it in a cabinet, etc. Making it not immediately identifiable as a safe by folks driving by would be a good thing. Unless it is visible and recognizable from the outside, I don't think it is at much greater risk of theft than a safe in the house.
3) Ability to reduce pry / manipulate access. A safe tucked tightly into the back corner of a walk-in closet is harder to work on than one out in the open. If you can put it in a spot where it's "boxed in" a bit and lagged to the slab - that is better than not for sure.

That said - if I'm putting a safe in the garage it's going to get the less valuable stuff and if I have space for it in the house I'm putting it there first. I'd also hang a camera over it - whether it works or not - it will provide some level of deterrence to some subset of burglars.

My 2 cents...

 

[rockbronco]

I just stuck a safe in the garage and due to its size I was somewhat limited to where I could put it but made some provisions to hide it from the street view and tossed some desiccant bags in there and keep a humidity sensor inside as well. Ive talked to alot of people with garage safes and for the most part in AZ its not a big deal. Hiding it from the street is the biggest concern. Mine appears as storage from the street view unlike some neighbors that you can more or less read the model number from the road driving by. Also I would think its common knowledge but keep the garage door shut if your going to be accessing the safe.

Its not my first choice but there was no way this thing was going inside so the only option was to put it in the garage so far its worked out well and started as an overflow safe but quickly becoming the main safe as it has more storage. Ironically I think my bedroom safe would be easier to rip out and leave with if it came down to theft.