Question on mounting a gun safe on a second floor

[UncleSugar]

I have a 450lb safe that I recently had moved into my bedroom on the second story of my house.
This particular safe does not have the option of wall mount like my other safe, this one must be anchored to the floor.
The location I would like to keep it does not have much room to move the safe around so that holes in the safe would line up with the floor joists.
What is the best way to anchor this thing to the floor? I was thinking of something similar to a drywall anchor, except more heavy duty and designed for OSB/Plywood anchoring.

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[G1GRANDEUR]

can you drill a holes on back side of the safe? so you can mount on the wall?

otherwise just use lag bolts from Home Depot.

 

[duane black]

I would lag bolt it to the floor joists AND drill holes in the back so I could mount it to the wall.

Remember. If you could get it up there, someone could get it out.

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[Sgt Nambu]

Just off the top of my head, if you can get one side over a joist and then sandwich a mild steel or aluminum plate between floor and safe, drill so it all lags down, the longer lag bolts in the floor joist would help stabilize the weaker side.

PS: beware of mounting a plate across two joists in such a manner that any bolt heads are reachable. That is why I suggest using the safes original bolt holes. If the safe can't bridge two joists then one joist with the plate and bolting the other side thru the plate into the floor should be pretty solid.

 

[Snopczynski]

I wouldn't drill holes in the walls or cut out any of the fire insulation. I would drill 3 small holes around each boltdown hole in the floor. Then use #14 deck screws with threads all the way up to the bottom of the head to anchor it to the floor. That's how we bolt down safes for customers who are in your same position.

 

[akmewon]

Why not anchor a steel plate to two floor joists then fasten safe to that .then no drilling on your safe at all

 

[duane black]

I wouldn't drill holes in the walls or cut out any of the fire insulation. I would drill 3 small holes around each boltdown hole in the floor. Then use #14 deck screws with threads all the way up to the bottom of the head to anchor it to the floor. That's how we bolt down safes for customers who are in your same position.

My dad mounted a commercial tool chest in his closet like this for guns and ammo, it was nice. When I helped him move you couldn't even tell we put the deck screws through the carpet.

I liked it, worked well.

If you could line up the safe with the floor joists well enough, I would still just lag bolt to them. A dewalt cordless and the correct nut driver bit would make it a 3-5 minute job.

Lots of ways to do this...

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[duane black]

Why not anchor a steel plate to two floor joists then fasten safe to that .then no drilling on your safe at all

I like this as well. I had a gun cabinet in a apartment once where I did something similar. I had home depot cut me a sheet of 3/4 inch plywood the same dimensions as the safe, deck screwed this to the studs in my closet , then lag bolted it it.

I'm 230 and have been weight training for about 6 years, I couldn't rip it off the wall.

I could cut it open with a reciprocating saw though... That I also kept in my apartment. :screwy:

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[jbett98]

You could get some 1/4" or thicker steel plate that is just slightly smaller then the outside dimensions of the bottom of the safe.
Drill some slightly over sized holes where your bottom attachment holes line up and then drill a bunch of counter sunk screw holes around the perimeter and center of the plate.
Invert the correct length and diameter carriage bolts up through the plate, then screw down the 1/4" plate in the desired location and then lower the safe onto the carriage bolts.
Use the widest washers that you can, and tighten down the nuts.
The best scenario would be to locate at least one floor joist and drill some screw holes in the plate that would line up on it.
If your mounting the steel plate over carpet, I would put some vinyl shelf liner on the bottom to protect the carpet.

 

[redmud]

Its been said I would mount my safe to a steel or aluminum plate that spans the floor joist lagged to the joist. Just line up the safe where you want it on the plate, drill pilot holes in the center of each leg mount hole, flip over the plate drill the correct size hole for your bolts ,use the bevel head machine bolts, counter sink your holes with a larger drill bit until the heads sit flush, measure out your joist lay out your plate with the correlating dimensions drill the correct size holes for your lags, lay your plate over the place you chose mark out your holes pre drill your joist using a drill bit that is slightly smaller that the shaft of the lag excluding the threads, pop your machine head bolts through the plate, bolt it to your safe and lag it down. Done and done. I would use aluminum its easy to work with.

I wouldn't use multiple deck screws in one hole of a mount. Deck screws are to brittle. If I need to get a stripped deck screw out of a deck I just kick it to break it off. If that 450 pound safe started to tip they wouldn't stand a chance.

 

[DeadEyeMcGoo]

My next door neighbor was recently burglarized. The &^%#@ thieves retrieved an axe and a splitting maul from his garage and literally chopped the safe out of the floor. They had it loaded up and were gone in under 30 minutes. I was home the whole time and didn't notice a thing.

On the up side, I'm told that insurance quickly paid out for those brand new cameras, jewelry, and the $4,000 of silver he kept in the safe.

 

[UncleSugar]

Thanks for the help, I think I try the steel plate approach, it sounds like a very solid mounting solution.

My other safe had a wall mount option, that thing was very simple to install.

 

[UncleSugar]

I may reconsider moving my smaller safe, it is sitting on a larger patch of real estate that I believe may accommodate mounting this new larger one to the floor joists. That smaller one is much easier to find a good home for.

 

[NW SAFE]

Like this plate we made for bolting a drop safe down to a wood floor?

 

[duane black]

Like this plate we made for bolting a drop safe down to a wood floor?

That's awesome man. Very nice solution.

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[Kid@Heart]

Wow, what a great idea...

I wish my house had reinforced joists between the first and second floors like yours.

If this was my house, I would be more than a little worried about putting a 450 pound safe, loaded with who knows how much weight in steel and lead, onto the joists I had just weakened by drilling a bunch of mounting holes in them.

But, you are probably right.

On the other hand, you could end up with a new "Liberty Steel" dumbwaiter.

 

[Hook686]

^^^^ What he said.

 

[NW SAFE]

450lbs is fine even on a second story. the plate screws into the sub floor, your not necessarily bolting it to joists. Your refirgerator, bed, or couch will put more lbs per square inch on a floor vs a gun safe that spreads the weight out over the entire bottom surface of the safe. Most 2nd story installs can handle 1100-1200 Lbs. empty safes with items in them without an issue at all. We install them ground floor and 2nd story all the time, and the safes have been in houses for years and years without any issue at all.

 

[Kid@Heart]

Interesting statement. I will defer to your obvious expertise in this arena.

Of course, most of the previous posts specifically called out attaching the mounting plate to the floor joists. I guess you could do that without drilling holes?

It is a real relief to know your company will stand behind your expert assessment of the structural calculations that went into the construction drawings for UncleSugar's home. Perhaps you would be comfortable sharing the name of the university that awarded your Civil/Structural Engineering degree and the State where you are licensed as a Professional Engineer?

 

[wolfcreek]

Unless you live in an area with no building codes (rare these days), your local building code is likely based on the UBC which specifies a minium per/sqfoot floor loading. A dance party with 30 people in a room is a much tougher test for this.