Home Built Wall Safe. Any Reasonable Ideas?

Less important than the dimension is having concrete thick enough to insulate the contents for a reasonable period in the event of fire.

Safe room is another topic.

I think you first have to decide what will be kept in the safe....guns, collectibles, gold, jewelry, important papers...and not just now, but in the future...and certainly it needs to be waterproof and fireproof, how secure is another decision....nothing is 100%, but should it be alarmed, and what sort of alarm, are additional considerations...I just insure everything, and keep a safe deposit at the bank...so the purpose of the safe should be considered, is just to keep prying eyes away, or to secure valuables against theft, keep guns out of the hands of others....?

^{"certainly it needs to be water and fireproof.}

^{Yet somehow most safes on the market are ovens after 45 minutes or less... fewer would be water proof.}

^{..ok.. those are guesses..}

I've made a door with sliding bolts only once. 48"x7'?.. huge!

.. back on topic. Hidden is important, but ease of operation and difficulty of penetration.are key. Alarm is good. Local and loud for a timed period upon tampering.

Safes can be fun to make.

I've inset locks.to make use of standard deadbolt locks for lesser security.

I'll try to send a picture. Over the weekend of a strange setup I'm working on.

I've always liked the secret room behind the bookcase idea....

You can never have enough space. Where else would you covertly keep those tires before you burn them?

Seriously though, can you think of something of great value to you that would require a larger space? Why would you need vault space at all?

I don't have anything I value that much now!

It's more of a passing thought before I start pouring walls, really.

I would prefer a floor safe (cement floor, lower level such as a basement) over a wall safe... just due to its safer in a fire. At least from fire... maybe not from water to put out the fire or flooding.

A bearproof PVC can under a compost heap should do.

Make sure you have a 'bait safe', this is a 1 meter cube of hardened steel with a fine line milled into it outlining a fake door, with a combination dial on it.

They will have fun cracking that safe, so will the IRS.

Then hide your real safe in the basement floor

Reminds me of an old story about a (not really)reformed criminal that brought a set of floorplans to a gamer friend, claiming the building was part of a campaign the (not)ex-con's gaming group was playing. The gamer immediately dismissed the small safe just outside the Manager's office as a 'bait safe' likely containing a couple hundred bucks, the 'take this and go away' budget, as it were. He also questioned the need for twelve inch thick concrete walls with extra rebar and a reinforced door for the basement 'broom closet.'

My dad worked on a bank building job in London in the 50's. He said the vault holding the safe could not be made thief-proof.

It only had to slow thieves down enough to be caught by the security guards doing their rounds.

OT comment. Mr. and Mrs.Smith sat upstairs all night guarding their jewelry, when burglars broke in and watched TV.

The cheapest safe is still worth more than I have to put into it.

Same here. I've never put anywhere near the value on material things as to ever need a safe to keep anything in. Stuff can be replaced.

I just figured it would be fair time to add such a thing for future use while the basement is under construction.

Since you are near Minot why not put in a door like this. You might not have anything behind it but it will be fun to see your neighbors faces when they stop by for a visit.

Not having anything behind the door is ok. Just tell visitors "I can't show you what is behind the door".

<...have a lead on a early 1900's small town bank vault...haven't yet figured out how to move it...> A "safe job", eh?

If one has more stuff than one has room to store, then internet auction sites (names withheld) are the way to go.

I used to sell stuff online all the time until someone tried to scam me on som bigger ticket items this spring. I ended up shutting down my whole online sales work to protect myself since ebay doesn't do crap to protect its sellers any more even when they have proof confirmed by third party businesses of a scam being in play.

Same with paypal too. As helpful as hell until proof of what happened came into play then they just tried passed the buck to ebay who had already shut down the claim with them when they go proof of the scam and it became obvious that protecting me would cost them money.

I ended up shutting down a personal bank account (they can't forcibly draw from a closed account) in order to force both of them them to eat a combined $2000+ loss since they decided that a buyer didn't have to return an item that was suposedly damaged in shipping plus who had also successfully taken the full payment the shipping insurance was valued for as confirmed by the freight carriers own records.

My item didn't come back nor did I get the shipping insurance claim payment and my sales fees were not dropped either despite proof a a bad sale so they got stuck with the bill.

Wall safes are not very safe. They're easy to break into, so the idea is to hide the location as good as you can.

If you're planning to put valuables in a safe, my recommendation is to buy a good brand. We had a couple of Israeli ISM safes when we had our business. One other benefit is that they're fireproof. Also, look for the TL rating - most have 15 or 30 minute tool rating (TL 15 or TL 30) and mst are too heavy for someone to move - we had to use a pallet jack and most thieves won't have one with them!

You should look for one locally, because they cost a lot to ship. Here's an example of one for less than $1K. Ebay TL 30 safe

I've been thinking about putting one in our garage, but I haven't made the move yet.

Your advice reminds me of the 'Fire Safes' you can find in the Big Red Box Office Stores (I don't remember if they've all merged into one company yet or not, but even so, you have to read the nametags on the employees to tell which one your in, they're so identical in design). Those are designed primarily to protect from fire, and secondarily from theft. They have a 'drillout' plug in the bottom that you use to attach to a bolt in the floor to prevent removal, and in case of a fire, the outer shell softens and fuses the lid with the body, providing additional protection from the flames.

I lost the key yo my fire safe during a move, and was forced to 'safecrack' it open. This confirmed that the fire safes are for fire protection only, unskilled, I would estimate the TL at <1. However, when you are recovering what is left of your possessions after a fire, it is more important that you get quick access to your fire insurance policy than it is to keep burglars out, so it makes sense that one swing from a 4 lb. sledgekey will open it.

Over 20 years ago, we had a fire in our garage (at around 2 in the morning). My neighbors were great as they tried to wake me up and get me out of the house - I still remember that!

We had a garage full of our manufacturing equipment, supplies and molds/waxes to make our merchandise. In the center of the garage was an extra safe (we moved it from the store when we closed up one of our shops). It was the big one, an ISM TL 30 that was about 5 1/2 feet tall by 30" deep and 30" wide. It had one tumbler with a key lock and a break apart skeleton type key. I'm going to guess that it weighed 2 tons, but I could be wrong.

We had Oxygen tanks, propane tanks and all kinds of chemicals in the garage. I know that all the tanks were emptied in the fire - heat damaged the seals.

The fire was really hot and I thought the contents of the safe would be damaged. It was hot enough to melt my Cannondale aluminum bike into a puddle of metal! The dial was melted. The glass inside the lock mechanism (the glass breaks if someone tried to force the tumber, which in turn jams up the lock mechanism) shattered and the glass jammed the lock/unlock mechanism.

We hired a safe specialist to open the safe for us. When he finally got it open, we peeked inside to find nothing, except for some papers and other misc things.

"When he finally got it open, we peeked inside to find nothing, except for some papers and other misc things."

In other words, the contents were fine, correct? Your mastery of wordplay is on par with several British Satirists.

I was trying to hold you in suspense! I should've written this instead: When he finally got it open, there was an eerie shriek! Then wham!!! When things settled, the safecracker was gone - he disappeared into thin air! We slowly and cautiously approached the moaning behemoth. We could see nothing! Then out of nowhere ... we got a peek inside of the safe and ... EEEEEEEEKK! the evil screeech!!! Drats, just some paper!

I'm reminded of that old Now-Considered-Offensive joke:

Person A: "How do you keep a [Ethnicity of Person B] in suspense?"

Person B: "I don't know, how?"

Person A: "I'll tell you tomorrow."

I guess it could be made socially acceptable if instead of referring to race you refer to profession. But then it just feels like 'whitewashing.'

I'm reminded of that old Now-Considered-Offensive joke:

Well, we'll wait until the new sheriff arrives to discuss this farther...

in the meantime,.. lets have a sing-a-long.... anyone know 'Camp Town Ladies'?

Ah, Blazing Saddles, a classic Mel Brooks film.

Yes it has implied and overt racism in it, but it you look, the only deliberate, unapologetic racists are the bad guys. The Townsfolk start out suspicious and racist, "But you have to remember, these are simple farmers, the common clay of the New West, you know ... morons." The Townsfolk learn the error of their previous preconceptions and accept Black Bart for who he is, A human being, and a lawman, and they are truly sorry to see him ride off to Nowhere In Particular.

That's the thing about Brooks, while you're laughing and enjoying the antics, you might accidentally learn something that makes you a less rotten person than you were when you bought the ticket. Not everyone learns, but that's life.

(Sorry if I got a little preachy there, I think I'm entering One Of Those Moods.)

A movie like Blazin Saddles would never be made today.

there was an recent interview from Mel Brooks and he stated how PC from overly sensitive people has wreck the slap stick type comedy like Blazin Saddles,... the thing that comes close is a sitcom such as "the Big Bang Theory"

I like to add that it went to the other side of the spectrum with vulgarity in comedy, an example I loved Eddie Murphy on SNL as well as Beverly Hills Cop.

I rented his 'Raw' standup back in the 90's, and I returned with out watching the whole thing. I don't recall who said it, be he stated that if you have to use vulgarity language for comedy, you're not a comedian and is just going for the shock effects.

You know, it could be made today, BUT by someone like Key and Peele.

A couple years ago, I was invited to the taping of the Key and Peele show. Some of the skits weren't funny, but others were hilarious! It's a funny thing about live comedy; you get a better effect when you sit close to the stage, however you don't dare do it, because you might get picked.

A very long time ago, I was at the Comedy Store and Dice stopped by to practice some new material. He destroyed some of the people up front in the audience, including some young women. After I saw that, I didn't like him or his type of comedy.

"A very long time ago, I was at the Comedy Store and Dice stopped by to practice some new material. He destroyed some of the people up front in the audience, including some young women. After I saw that, I didn't like him or his type of comedy."

Yeah, Andrew Dice Clay needs to either retire the "Diceman" character, or limit him to picking on a-holes, Like when Bugs Bunny went to town on Groebels, or when the Warner Brothers (and the Warner Sister) get treated rudely by some jerk who they then designate as their "special friend for the day."

I personally try to NEVER 'go blue' when doing comedy. The closest I will go, aside from the rare occasions I tell The Funniest Joke In The World ('The Aristocrats"), is to set up an innuendo or subverted rhyme that you will get only if you already possess a dirty mind. (Look up the "Shaving Cream" song if you want an example.)

Dice is no Don Rickles, because Don Rickles can destroyed everyone... and everyone loved it even when they were getting destroyed by Rickles. ^{(I loved Rickles character in 'Kelly's Hero's' too)}

"Dice is no Don Rickles"

I don't think anyone will be able to hold a candle to Mr. Warmth. One of the reasons is that, while the Merchant of Venom had his stock phrases like "What're you looking at, ya hockey puck?" he tailored his barrages to the target, he was clever and observant in his insults, and, to the best of my knowledge, he never worked blue. Even his most vitriolic tirades was still clean enough to go into a Disney animation, unedited.

Being here is like listening to Sirius XM channel 7.

When I was a kid, I remember a song on the radio titled "Shaving Cream". It was some man singing about sh*t, but instead of saying the word, someone would sing "Shaving cream, be nice and clean, shave every day and you'll always look clean" ... that doesn't sound exactly right ... it was something like that. I'm pretty sure I was in the 4th grade when that song came out - 1974 I believe???

Its on YouTube, several times, with the original singer, if you wish to hear it again!!

Thanks! That brought back memories!

Whatever you do (I am assuming that a burglary is possible, or needs to be catered for) remember that a safe is only good if nobody is around when the robbers enter your house, otherwise they may threaten to start shooting if nobody gives them the combination/key.

So make two safes, one in a basement wall, where it will be eaily found, filled with important (looking?) papers (copies?), but no valuables!! Key only, give it up when requested....

Put a second safe, in a basement corner (workshop?), under a cupboard, (which should be firmly attached to the wall for "safety", but in reality to stop movement, with hidden castors to make movement easier after the wall connection is undone....) IN THE FLOOR (or behind, as long as no one can see behind of course!

Maybe not tell anyone else in the family about this one? Only put details in a sealed letter to be given to your heirs in the event of your early demise?

Nothing is 100%, but that will give you a good start I feel!

Some might even say hide two other safes in the floor.......but you have to say stop at some point!!

I hope this gives you some good/better ideas that you should not discuss here or anywhere else!!