building gun closet/safe

[zclevenger]

My dad and I are going to be under going a project of converting a good sized closet into a fireproof gun safe, has anyone else here done this? If so any advice. Our plan is to take a basement closet with a concrete floor and lay brick on the interior walls. Then we plan on taking 3/8 steel plate and laying that on the floor and wall inside the brick and welding the seams. how does this sound? all advice is appreciated.

 

[DestructionDan]

That's a lot of weight without a footer under it.
Leave the brick out and use 1 or 2 layers of 5/8" firecheck X drywall
I don't see is a roof.
How are you going to keep fire out from the building above your vault.

What about the door, going to use a vault door or safe door?
Don't think you need the steel on the floor, but if you do, protect it!
Make sure you have a phone, air, or a way to open from the inside!
Good idea all in all!

 

[radar44]

Will your basement flood if a fire or anything else takes out the sump pump ? Something to think about. Other than that , best of luck to you both and remember the most important part , take and post a lot of pics. ! maintaining your secret location , of course

 

[Icarry2]

If you reseach the typer of room you want to build you will find that most of the "rooms" like what you want will be designed around a corner of an existing basement area utilizing the two existing walls, this is the cheapest anyway. They will be built with at least 6-8 inches of concrete on all 4 walls and ceiling with a substanial concrete floor. The purpose is to act as a heat sink and disapate the heat on the outside.

Also if the room is being built just as a fire proof room with security features then do not consider hiding in the thing. Air tight means you die fast. If your wanting to build a safe room then there are many other things to consider and much higher costs.

I discourage the steel plating unless your worried about security, meaning someone will have time to drill or blast through the wall to get to your stuff... It is a large cost that could be used to invest in a proper door. I would also say that simple hollow block or a spaced brick wall would not be as good as a poured wall. I have seen block filled with concrete and or a sand motar mix or the cheapest way would be just sand but I do not think it will rate as high.

The key to a safe lasting is being air tight, no worry about water if no air can get in or out. Look into doors like these or something similar.

Graffunder Safe and Vault Doors from Sage Safe Co. | Products | Commercial & Residential Vault Doors

or

Vaults, Doors and Modular System Designs for Commerical Construction at Banks, Government, Pharmaceutical, Mining, Precious Gem Jewelers & Gun Rooms

Just my suggestions..

 

[chuddly]

go to your local Rural king/tractor supply or something like that. They have fire place bricks and put those on the ceiling then a piece of steel screwed to the studs over that Then do the walls the same way but you can leave off the steel if you really want to and just do fire proof drywall. the steel for the roof is to keep it safe if the top floors catch fire and start to give way. I know not much is going to hold up a whole house from crushing your guns but it might just save them. Plus if you line it all with steel it makes a great storm shelter

 

[snapping turtle]

Basements flood.

Just mentioning again.

 

[aronhubbard]

Great discussion! I am considering turning a small bedroom closet into a gun safe. I'm more interested in theft prevention / safety while keeping the guns close at hand when needed the most than survival of fire / disaster. Aside from a good sturdy steel door with a door code, what are my considerations? I was thinking of welding a steel bar cage inside of the closet so people couldn't just cut through the drywall to get at the guns...

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Well, he said "closet", so I'd assume they don't mean it to be a room that someone would enter or occupy. Steel is for security, insulation is for fire. You'll want both. I wouldn't worry about a footer for one layer of bricks the size of a closet; it's not supporting the weight of the house, but do look into the fire rated sheetrock. That's what's used in the safes you buy. If you make a steel box inside of either the bricks or layers of sheetrock (really, look at that, I think it would be easier and reduce your space less), then you could line the door with a seal for water. I have a fire/water safe that they say you'd better bolt down because it will float if you don't. Not that I wouldn't bolt it down anyway, but you're building something into existing structure, so it's not going anywhere.

 

[zclevenger]

thanks for the advice, I'll start looking into fireplace bricks and fireproof drywall. My dad and I are planning on starting the safe within the next few weeks I will posts pics of the proccess

 

[kboom524]

Looking forward to seeing what you and your dad come up with. My house was built in 1928, in the basement I have a room that was originally a coal bunker. My reloading bench, all my gear and my gun safes are in this room. I have been looking for a vault door to turn the whole room into safe.

 

[JML]

Basements flood.

Just mentioning again.

And just when you think they wont flood..they FLOOD!

 

[zclevenger]

We have thought about it and are still kind of struggling about the flood problem, only two things we have came up with are welding all corners and water seals along the vault/safe door. The good news is we have lived in this house for 8 years and it hasn't flooded yet. Any other ideas on flooding will be aprreciated.

 

[chuddly]

We have thought about it and are still kind of struggling about the flood problem, only two things we have came up with are welding all corners and water seals along the vault/safe door. The good news is we have lived in this house for 8 years and it hasn't flooded yet. Any other ideas on flooding will be aprreciated.

raise the floor 6". most floods are just enough to get things wet. Raise the floor a bit and you should be fine.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

You might think about a dedicated circuit to your safe...that way you can power
things like a humidifier too and you won't have to worry about something tripping it out and your guns rusting up. (especially for a basement).

 

[boileralum]

You might think about a dedicated circuit to your safe...that way you can power
things like a humidifier too and you won't have to worry about something tripping it out and your guns rusting up. (especially for a basement).

You probably want to run a de-humidifier

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

You probably want to run a de-humidifier

Dang auto-correct! Yeah that's it, the auto correct....

 

[zclevenger]

those are both good ideas, will definitely do the separate circuit and humidifier, and talk to my dad about raising the floor thanks for the insight.

 

[Yote69]

You can purchase a battery operated sump pump that would operate if you lost power. Another good thing to do is put an alarm in your sump pit. It is just a float that sets off an alarm if the water gets above normal level.

I built a room for my guns a couple of years ago and used 2 layers of 5/8" drywall all around and built a rack to hold all of the guns about 2 1/2' off the floor. Instead of a dehumdifier I used a golden rod that makes no noise and runs very efficiently. Use firestop caulk on any holes or cracks and you will be fine. The main issue is the door. I couldn't find an actual safe or vault door so I had to do with an insulated steel entrance door with no windows. It took a while to install so it closes just right but it will work. Not air proof but a whole lot better than what I had and not that expensive to build. With any luck I won't have to endure a fire or a flood!