Installing a floor safe

If you are considering installing an in-floor safe, you need to take a few items into consideration as part of the project.  Before you begin you need to take some time and do some research to understand safe types, their ratings and do some home safe reviews.  At my information (.info) website “Installing a Floor Safe” I have details on safe ratings, discussions on planning your location for installation as well as the complete step by step instructions with drawings for installing an in-floor safe.

So the first thing to consider when installing an in-floor safe is the location.  Your location needs to be discreet, some place easy to access without calling a lot of attention to what you are doing when you do access it.  If you are moving the sofa in front of your bay windows facing the street to access the safe, it is probably not an ideal location.  Also the location needs to be someplace that a guest (or a burglar) will not step on it while moving through the house. Last, but certainly not least, consulting a contractor is advisable because some homes will have plumbing or electrical wires running below or even inside of the concrete floor.

Once you have selected the location for the installation and the in-floor safe you intend to use, it is time to begin.  The installation of an in-floor safe is really not that complicated, but it certainly has an above average level of effort involved.  The first step is to get careful measurements of the in-floor safe you intend to install.  If you cannot get these from the manufacture, it may be advisable to have the safe on hand before starting any physical work.  Careful measurements are necessary to prevent the need to either enlarge to hole at installation, or more importantly having a hole far larger than required. The latter of the two is more difficult and potentially more costly to fix.

Armed with precise measurements, you will need cut into the slab and dig out a hole that is 6” larger on the X, Y, Z  axis then the size of the in-floor safe being installed.  To cut the hole in the slab a number of different tools are available, such as a jack hammer or a concrete saw.  Each tool has its advantages, but I would consider using the jack hammer if this is a finished home because of the dust that the saw will kick up.  The prepared hole below the slab will need to be of sufficiently deep enough to ensure that a base slab can be poured at the bottom and leave enough room to place the safe, with dust cover installed, and bring it level with the floor.  Having the safe with cover installed perfectly level with the surrounding floor is critical to keep the in-floor safes location discreet in the long run.  Just a tip, make sure the slab has had a chance to harden enough to support the weight of the safe before continuing.

Don’t forget about moisture and seepage.  Since your safe will be installed in a concrete box, in most cases below the floor level of the house or basement, you stand the risk of water, in some cases just excessive dampness seeping into the in-floor safe.  Before placing the safe into the hole, you need to wrap the safe with a moisture barrier in accordance with the manufactures instructions.  However, as it turns out some safe manufactures actually produce in-floor safes that are encased in water proof material.