Vault Door/ Safe room experiences?

[siscoe308]

Hiders, I’m looking at getting a house built.

Does anyone have experience with setting a vault door for safe room?
My guns have multiplied enough that safes aren’t a reasonable option any longer.

I’m thinking of setting it in the basement and set into the concrete of the foundation.
Mainly guns & have the reloading setup outside the locked room.

Any advice or recommendations are welcome.

 

[_Windrider_]

Contact rhino safes. The have a nice door and can help you spec out the walls for your builder. There’s also a company in the www somewhere that does online design and spec for safe rooms. I would use SIPS for the walls and pour a solid slab for the ceiling. Depending on where you live it could also double as a storm shelter.

 

[theLBC]

 

[BuildingConceptsllc]

Hiders, I’m looking at getting a house built.

Does anyone have experience with setting a vault door for safe room?
My guns have multiplied enough that safes aren’t a reasonable option any longer.

I’m thinking of setting it in the basement and set into the concrete of the foundation.
Mainly guns & have the reloading setup outside the locked room.

Any advice or recommendations are welcome.

Yes, done it many times for clients. Pretty much like you do any door in concrete, but I prefer to use angle to frame out the rough Opening with pressure treated. The manufacturer will give you exact Rough opening. You will have to form your wall sides with plywood. If you have a good welder, that's the easiest way. You can make a frame for it out of square tube and set your rough opening ect... then just pour that frame into to wall.

 

[high right]

Went through the same thing 6 years ago when I built my house. Concrete walls and ceiling. Drop extra Rebar in the walls. I went with "Sturdy Safe Door"
They build to your dimensions. Any thickness AR plate. Very reasonable. Do an in swing door if your doing a walk in vault/ safe room. I'd do the same in a heartbeat.

 

[GH41]

One would have to be pretty crazy to do outswing doors on a safe room. If the room was any size I would have doors on opposite ends of the room and maybe an inswing overhead hatch!

 

[Hippy_Steve]

One would have to be pretty crazy to do outswing doors on a safe room. If the room was any size I would have doors on opposite ends of the room and maybe an inswing overhead hatch!

Put down your crack pipe, outswing doors are fine. Study Safe in particular makes a quality door to your specifications. All safe doors have an emergency latch on the inside, so there's no chance of getting locked in your own safe.

 

[TxWelder35]

CMU walls, rebar tied into the slab, slug the holes with concrete, Fort Knox, etc type of door, concrete roof.

 

[high right]

Put down your crack pipe, outswing doors are fine. Study Safe in particular makes a quality door to your specifications. All safe doors have an emergency latch on the inside, so there's no chance of getting locked in your own safe.

Fire or tornado debris blocking a out swing door if you ever plan on using it as shelter is the real reason.

 

[Ravenworks]

Remember there's a huge difference between a safe door and a vault door.
If you want a true vault door you'll be miles ahead of the game by having the manufacturer set their door.

Major difference between a safes door and a vault door would be tons,literally.

 

[Ravenworks]

Fire or tornado debris blocking a out swing door if you ever plan on using it as shelter is the real reason.

Plus it's fire code.

 

[high right]

Most Thiefs are opportunistic. I've talked with several gunsmiths and gun stores that have had break ins. Pipe on the safe handle, broke the shear pin, pry bars, etc. They generally aren't the safe crackers you see on TV. My concern was fire and a vault room. Put it under a porch frt or rear and you can do a concrete ceiling relatively inexpensive. Since your doing new construction, a few extra poured walls is easy.

 

[1moaoff]

Biggest worry with basements is flooding. Either storm or house fire. Don't rule out just having plate walls installed if you so desire. Along with appropriately thick Drywall or similar for fire protection

 

[bghartm]

I highly recommend Pella Security in Pella Iowa. They are extremely nice and will answer any questions you have. They are pricey but I guarantee you wont find a better vault door.

 

[Aftermath]

Put down your crack pipe, outswing doors are fine. Study Safe in particular makes a quality door to your specifications. All safe doors have an emergency latch on the inside, so there's no chance of getting locked in your own safe.

Except...a real heavy object placed against your outswing door and you get to starve to death inside.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

AMSEC BF, buy once, cry once. They’ll custom spec it with upgraded steel too if you’re willing to pay for it. I did AR500 on everything.

 

[SouthFork]

Walls and ceiling will be your weakest entry point if you do a good door. I recommend out of site. A Murphy door works well. Custom Tongue and Groove Paneling can hide the safe door. Don’t show your friends. Because someone will talk to someone about your really cool walk in vault. Triple up the rebar in the walls. Expanded Metal Sheets is a good option as well. Just really depends on what you want to spend. If just doing rebar keep it close together. 3 sides of the safe should be back filled around which leads to less area of exposure inside. Make sure you have proper drain tile on the outside of the concrete. Tar on the exterior of the walls will help with moisture. A vented dehumidifier can also be a good option depending on where you live.

 

[Ser Arthur Dayne]

So this is one of the topics, how do I say it properly? I'm never going to have one of the nicest rifles or optics or setups on this forum. (Well, if I hit the lottery, then definitely. Short of that, probably not.)

I definitely have a pretty sweet, extremely strong "Safe Room".

We built our house with Fox Blocks ICF - 8" of double-double rebar, matrix-reinforced premium concrete - I guess you can choose different sizes , but really you only save in the actual concrete costs. The Blocks themselves are pretty close in price, so if you think "Well, I'll buy 4" instead of 8" blocks, and save Half!" - it doesn't work like that. Unlike the rest of the house, the 'Safe Room' (which really is more of the house Office- it has two separate Office rooms (including mine, which is my Gun Room), a pantry, a small bathroom, a half-aced lounge, etc. - the Safe Room has a 4" fiber-matrix reinforced concrete roof (on top of the 8" double-double-reinforced walls.) - The Architect basically was told, "Spec it out to be a fortress, whatever amount of Rebar you think should be used, then Double it..." - and he did, no problem - then the Concrete Wall contractor (as opposed to the concrete pad / foundation contractor, who was a *real* professional) was all enthusiastic at first, "This is going to be like a Castle! We could even DOUBLE the amount of reinforcing Rebar your Architect spec'ed out (and doubled) ... if you wanted, if you pay for it , we'll put it in, it will be awesome to do!" - It wasn't much of a cost in the long-run, so sure, we'll pay for that extra steel and it will be that much more strong. (And I should be clear here, I'm talking also about the entire house walls, not just the Safe Room. We wanted to make sure the entire exterior construction was as solid as possible.) When the Rebar was delivered, you could see the guy looking like, "What am I going to do with all those rods?" - and sure as sugar, a few days later (and the rods need to be hand-laid into the plastic pieces that are molded into the ICFs, so when the concrete is poured, they're aligned properly both up and down & side-to-side etc...) - he starts complaining, "You know... you don't really NEED this much reinforcing ... it's really just a lot of work for nothing... I don't think you should even worry about it, we'll just use it for a different job..." === yeah, no, you not only agreed to do it, you *suggested* it, put all the rebar in.

The roof (of the Safe Room I mean now) was a little odd ... it has a 4" fiber-matrix reinforced concrete composition, whereas the walls are all the 8" Fox Blocks ICF rebar/matrix reinforced concrete. (As is the rest of the house)

The door was something we wanted quality but not necessarily Fort Knox because we're not exactly expecting to have Delta Force breach us, we're just regular people. We went with Smith Security Safes "Magnum Vault Door" - the owner of the company specifically recommended that and told us that for our purposes (mostly trying to provide security from hurricanes, while retaining the ability to serve as a secure room in an unlikely-yet-extreme scenario or emergency etc.) - Very nice, it's got a 1/2" solid steel plate along with very solid channel-iron frame and extremely thick and strong solid stainless steel plungers etc. The next step up would have been a 1" steel plate (and they have an extremely expensive 1 1/4" model) - but they were very nice and honest - unless you're *specifically* planning on blocking someone from concerted breaching, even the 1/2" is overkill, and that's why they sell more of that one than any other. (they go as low as 3/16" for Light Vault Door applications etc.)

One thing I highly recommend, whomever you go with - take the installation and make sure you have some help. Strong help. They told us they highly recommend that they do the installation, and it's only a hundred or so extra (since they're delivering it anyway.) - We thought, great! I'm not a big dude, only 5'8" , my Dad was getting close to 70 so it's not like I want him manhandling this thing, and they assured us they can take care of it. When the day was approaching, we got an email from the delivery & install gentleman, who basically said, "I just need a few extra sets of hands, 1 or 2 people" - we made sure, "Ok, do we need to do the work or do we need big strong guys or is it hard?" .... "Nono, I have a fully-auto lift truck, I have tools and do this all the time, I just need a few extra sets of hands, it's easy, no problems.." I had arranged for 4 extra people to come, 2 couples. One couple cancelled because of some family issue that morning, the other husband cancelled, only his wife. (Smaller than me.) Let me tell you, "I do this all the time, just need some extra hands" was BS. He expected to have 2 sets of Offensive Lineman hands. It took several hours to get it up into place. We actually resorted to maneuvering my JD Gator as close to the house as possible, hooking up the winch, and winching it up - and *right before* it got up, the cable snapped, dropping the thing on the ground, which nearly killed us and I'm literally lucky to be alive, I moved at the split second before it would have crushed me. The cable similarly almost killed the woman operating the winch on the Gator. I was getting pretty PO'd - you pay for "professional installation" and one college-age kid shows up and having been told he just needed a few extra hands to 'steady it' , what he meant was, lift it up off the ground and manhandle it into place. (it weighs over half a ton.) He's getting upset because he's supposed to be done and on to the next job in the next State by now, I'm getting increasingly upset because *if they TOLD US* they really expected a team of guys to lift the thing up, I could have made that happen. But that's not what they said - and I think we were all about to just give up when my Dad used his Kubota tractor and straps to lift it up, THEN the installer got it into place. Once he got it roughly into the frame area, it was gravy, he did a pretty quick and easy job from that part. Tough part is getting it maneuvered around.

And it's been absolutely perfect, with multiple daily uses, for coming up on 4 years now.

 

[CK1.0]

If someone was building a room as a dual-purpose storm shelter in an area where it's warranted: I get it. But going to some of the lengths brought up above, and dealing with all that's involved and dropping that kind of coin... IDK. I don't need my guns protected from some ridiculous scenario where the bad guys fast-rope in for a siege packing C4 or whatever.

My "gun room" is on a second floor with only one real access point (interior door) to the rest of the house. There's a window, but to reach that thieves would need a 20ft ladder. I think I'm just going with something like this, looks like it would tie someone up for a few minutes or so: https://www.snapsafe.com/specialty-safes/vault-room-doors
I have a security system and don't live in such a rural area where it'd take the local LE agency more than a few minutes to respond. Plus, I have insurance, and they're just guns, I can buy more (for now).

Unless it's the last house you plan on buying, it's probably a good idea to quantify how secure your guns really need to be. More than likely there will be zero return on your investment if you sell. (Jus' sayin')

 

[M4guru]

This is a great thread, I just moved and have a contractor coming Thursday to sort out where to build a vault. Safes aren't practical for me at this point, I am definitely better served with a vault and am not concerned with getting a return on it if I sell the house.

I was looking at the Snap Safe doors but checking out the specs of some of the others in here they're a lot better for not much more money.

Something I am curious about from the "I have insurance" gang...mine will only cover $10K without a rider, which USAA quoted me at $3200 A MONTH (yes, you read that right). Since most of us have single guns worth more than $10K...not really a huge help. Does anyone have any feedback for firearms insurance than the usual property providers? I got a couple quotes and decided the vault was my insurance, but I'd do both if it was somewhat reasonable.

 

[skip9693]

I did foundations for about 10 years after high school. I don’t remember doing a vault that wasn’t under the front porch. Obviously due to concrete on all sides top and bottom. We never reinforced the concrete more than the rest of the house with the exception of around the opening itself. We usually did #5 or 6 rebar continuous around the opening. As far as door mounting was concerned we would get 4” angle with Nelson studs coming out of the inside corner of the steel. These would get nailed to the form and would stay behind when the forms were stripped. Door hardware was welded to the angle. You can do the angle on either side of the opening depending on in swing or out swing door.

 

[tjh011]

This is a great thread, I just moved and have a contractor coming Thursday to sort out where to build a vault. Safes aren't practical for me at this point, I am definitely better served with a vault and am not concerned with getting a return on it if I sell the house.

I was looking at the Snap Safe doors but checking out the specs of some of the others in here they're a lot better for not much more money.

Something I am curious about from the "I have insurance" gang...mine will only cover $10K without a rider, which USAA quoted me at $3200 A MONTH (yes, you read that right). Since most of us have single guns worth more than $10K...not really a huge help. Does anyone have any feedback for firearms insurance than the usual property providers? I got a couple quotes and decided the vault was my insurance, but I'd do both if it was somewhat reasonable.

Check out eastern insurance. They offer a lot of coverage for pretty cheap. Haven't had a claim yet so can't comment on that part but a lot of people using them.

 

[Ser Arthur Dayne]

So a few things -

I agree with having insurance 1001%. I also have had some life-altering experience with insurance... My house burned to the ground when I was in 1st Grade, what, 35+? years ago. Gone. Open area and black ashes where house used to be. We had insurance, and they paid, but it's never enough. And both figuratively and literally, many things are irreplaceable ... My parents had recently had their 3rd kid, they build themselves a house and *every thing they owned in the world* was gone. Stuff their parents had passed down from grandparents, etc. Gone. So, having protection in both "literal and figurative " senses - Insurance and physical security, like a Safe Room, is important in my family.

As far as the expense - well sure, it's not dirt cheap. But, we bought land, we were building a house already, so it was added in the plans rather than having to insert it, which would be much different. Insurance, as M4Guru pointed out succinctly, is good but it's not perfect. I also believe I have 10K without a rider for firearms, and then for a rider, at least the way they offered it to me, was having to itemize each and every firearm, serial number, accessories, value, etc. Possibility of having an inspection, etc. I didn't built a Safe Room in order to hold my guns - not really at all- but since I have it, it lends itself quite perfectly to the task.

There are several stories online , one was fairly recently and one was a couple years ago - where entire families were saved by a safe room in a surprise tornado : - This is not the one I was thinking of , but a very good example. The video doesn't lie - *EVERY HOUSE IN THE AREA IS TOTALLY DESTROYED*, but the "Storm Shelter" is standing without a scratch.

Miss. family saved from tornado by ‘grace of God’ and a storm shelter

It was a truly miraculous story of survival in the midst of the massive tornado that hit Jasper County on Easter Sunday.

www.wlox.com

I saw another one in a modest , regular-people development neighborhood, and a young couple had their house built on the small plot of land they bought, but opted to add a professionally-built safe room / Storm Shelter as their bedroom closet. It was not huge. Again, a flash tornado or hurricane ? came, and every house on the block was totaled, and the only thing left standing in the neighborhood was their closet Storm Shelter. I myself moved into my house (finally!!!) in July '17 and two months later we had Hurricane Irma. Let me tell you, we were pretty satisfied with the decision to build a Safe Room lol. I'm lucky in that mine is an actual decent-sized "Room" (further divided into Rooms) - but even a modest one can mean the difference.

And as far as recouping your investment, I've been told just the opposite - I am not looking to sell my house, we just built it really, but I have some friends in real estate and they all say that a professionally-designed-and-installed Safe Room with a professionally-built-and-installed Vault Door is a huge selling point. Again I'm not looking to sell but I know IF I decided to, I would sure as sugar be proud of that feature of the house.

 

[high right]

Again, go to "Sturdy Safe doors" web site. You won't be disappointed.

 

[cow0man]

Hiders, I’m looking at getting a house built.

Does anyone have experience with setting a vault door for safe room?
My guns have multiplied enough that safes aren’t a reasonable option any longer.

I’m thinking of setting it in the basement and set into the concrete of the foundation.
Mainly guns & have the reloading setup outside the locked room.

Any advice or recommendations are welcome.

Go bigger than you think you need. Personally, I would make it big enough to reload and dou b le as safe room for family.

 

[judgebill]

All great ideas. I remember visiting friends years ago, friends who were hunters and who had racks of guns on display in their den. Looked great...and anyone who broke into the house could open any gun cabinet with a simple screwdriver. The answer, of course, has been to hide the guns. But if you have some trophies or even photographs scattered about then that tips off the burglars that they might look for guns. Now to hide guns you can simply put them in a closet and camouflage the closet. What you have to consider is the amount of effort a likely burglar is going to exert to find and take your guns. Highly unlikely anyone will be equipped to break into a concrete vault. Also highly unlikely anyone will be prepared to break through a stout plywood wall (say 3/4" plywood nailed/screwed to 2x6 studs set on 16" centers. Double the studs if you are really concerned and consider lining the inside with chain-link fencing. Then get a good fire door. Can this be broken into? Of course but you really have to do a careful risk analysis and consider insurance as well as overall cost of construction. Just some things to consider.

 

[Litshoot]

I've been thinking about something similar but in a built house in Florida. No basement, block walls. Thinking secure and discreet over vault. Expanded steel box all around with concrete board/ insulation/ more.concrete board outside for.fire resistance and some.extra strength. Plan is to keep it far e oigh from my plasma cutter that they cant cheat to get in. 1/4 steel door home built and hopefully am inconspicuous look that will get it ignored. Also planning to have about a foot high lip to the door to stop flooding from entering in extreme cases.

 

[308Gunner]

This is a great thread, I just moved and have a contractor coming Thursday to sort out where to build a vault. Safes aren't practical for me at this point, I am definitely better served with a vault and am not concerned with getting a return on it if I sell the house.

I was looking at the Snap Safe doors but checking out the specs of some of the others in here they're a lot better for not much more money.

Something I am curious about from the "I have insurance" gang...mine will only cover $10K without a rider, which USAA quoted me at $3200 A MONTH (yes, you read that right). Since most of us have single guns worth more than $10K...not really a huge help. Does anyone have any feedback for firearms insurance than the usual property providers? I got a couple quotes and decided the vault was my insurance, but I'd do both if it was somewhat reasonable.

I have my insurance with USAA and have my guns insured, it is like $70.00 a month for 65,000. I just have the ones that I really care about on the policy.

 

[StLPro2A]

Hiders, I’m looking at getting a house built.

Does anyone have experience with setting a vault door for safe room?
My guns have multiplied enough that safes aren’t a reasonable option any longer.

I’m thinking of setting it in the basement and set into the concrete of the foundation.
Mainly guns & have the reloading setup outside the locked room.

Any advice or recommendations are welcome.

You probably have noticed that vault doors only are disproportionately expensive. But, worth every penny....for your illusionary piece of mind. Just recently saw a well known name in safes advertising new entry into vault doors. Sorry, can't find the ad I saved this minute. I have gone with similar routes as you are considering whenever building new abodes.....several over 70+ years. Old Harley riding buddy was a professional locksmith. His favorite saying was, "Locks only keep out the honest and the terminally stupid." Even banks get breached. If you are out in the lonelys, gone for days at a time, only have the best available security system, even multiples thereof, you will get breached if targeted. At his urging, I have definitely decided that having a strong safe/vault is bettered only by having a strong safe/vault that no one FINDS to attempt a breech thereof. You have a clean slate at this point. Color brightly to your heart's content. Whatever you choose, DO make it well hidden and undetectable.....and then don't show your cleaverness to everyone you know and especially the Useful Idiot Masses on YouTube and Facebook (think geotagging). ....kids under threat of death if they talk. Plan (actually designate it as such on building plans) to make it a "future tornado shelter that you eventually will finish out to save money" in the eyes of your contractors, building inspectors, and especially the damn tax man. Be aware, many jurisdictions retain building plans on file for public access. Once, they leave, work your private magic mounting the vault door and making it disappear to the world. Have even left the face wall for the vault omitted by contractors for later addition by owner. Concrete, forms, footings, and re-bar aren't difficult to be creative with. (Don't show that on the plans, Dummy!!!) With a little thinking, one can rationalize without spilling the real beans about the concrete slab roof area.....under garage future shop area..... Coordinate with the door's manufacturer prior to room design. Installation is pretty straight forward if you follow their suggestions for anchoring and installation. Don't have it delivered to your home address though. Once you have the undetectable, secret vault, DO provide throwaway guns (maybe with barrels leaded) in a cheapy metal storage container (Stack-On, etc.) "lightly hidden" for the thief to find, breech, and promptly leave with. With bird dogs in the back yard, gun signs on your jacked up Jeep, an obvious reloading room, trophy mounts, a thieves will look til they find guns.....if not the first time, they will be back. Has worked several times in saving the good cache for myself, family, and friends. Have you considered rehabbing a former bank building....with high dollar "impenetrable" safe pre-existing.....for your unique home? Vault hidden, naturally You could ask me how I know about that approach, but I'd not have anything to share with the world, of course. A former bank might make a great secure storage and unique man cave/club house. One might find a real deal bank vault door from a to be demolished bank??? A lot of vacant bank buildings around....check small towns. Yeah, they can be moved by a man with a will. Color brightly to your heart's content.

 

[Sasquatch-148]

One thing to watch in your concrete room is moisture problems . My room is 12" reinforced concrete, about 14' x14' .
I have a ac/heat unit in it but I still have to run a dehumidifier in it too.

 

[StLPro2A]

If someone was building a room as a dual-purpose storm shelter in an area where it's warranted: I get it. But going to some of the lengths brought up above, and dealing with all that's involved and dropping that kind of coin... IDK. I don't need my guns protected from some ridiculous scenario where the bad guys fast-rope in for a siege packing C4 or whatever.

My "gun room" is on a second floor with only one real access point (interior door) to the rest of the house. There's a window, but to reach that thieves would need a 20ft ladder. I think I'm just going with something like this, looks like it would tie someone up for a few minutes or so: https://www.snapsafe.com/specialty-safes/vault-room-doors
I have a security system and don't live in such a rural area where it'd take the local LE agency more than a few minutes to respond. Plus, I have insurance, and they're just guns, I can buy more (for now).

Unless it's the last house you plan on buying, it's probably a good idea to quantify how secure your guns really need to be. More than likely there will be zero return on your investment if you sell. (Jus' sayin')

Makes a difference what one is protecting. Multiple personal experiences with selling a home with vault....and also huge garages./shops/tornado safe rooms.......they may not always return all the investment....although many times they are a great ROI (cheaper to build in new construction than to retro), but they often make the difference between selling one's home or not.....never a negative. Buyers often salivate and become hooked over unique features. Vaults/hidden rooms make one's offering stand out.

 

[Major Wader]

For insurance, www.gunandtrophy.com

Low deductible, reasonable rates, reputable company.

 

[StLPro2A]

So this is one of the topics, how do I say it properly? I'm never going to have one of the nicest rifles or optics or setups on this forum. (Well, if I hit the lottery, then definitely. Short of that, probably not.)

I definitely have a pretty sweet, extremely strong "Safe Room".

We built our house with Fox Blocks ICF - 8" of double-double rebar, matrix-reinforced premium concrete - I guess you can choose different sizes , but really you only save in the actual concrete costs. The Blocks themselves are pretty close in price, so if you think "Well, I'll buy 4" instead of 8" blocks, and save Half!" - it doesn't work like that. Unlike the rest of the house, the 'Safe Room' (which really is more of the house Office- it has two separate Office rooms (including mine, which is my Gun Room), a pantry, a small bathroom, a half-aced lounge, etc. - the Safe Room has a 4" fiber-matrix reinforced concrete roof (on top of the 8" double-double-reinforced walls.) - The Architect basically was told, "Spec it out to be a fortress, whatever amount of Rebar you think should be used, then Double it..." - and he did, no problem - then the Concrete Wall contractor (as opposed to the concrete pad / foundation contractor, who was a *real* professional) was all enthusiastic at first, "This is going to be like a Castle! We could even DOUBLE the amount of reinforcing Rebar your Architect spec'ed out (and doubled) ... if you wanted, if you pay for it , we'll put it in, it will be awesome to do!" - It wasn't much of a cost in the long-run, so sure, we'll pay for that extra steel and it will be that much more strong. (And I should be clear here, I'm talking also about the entire house walls, not just the Safe Room. We wanted to make sure the entire exterior construction was as solid as possible.) When the Rebar was delivered, you could see the guy looking like, "What am I going to do with all those rods?" - and sure as sugar, a few days later (and the rods need to be hand-laid into the plastic pieces that are molded into the ICFs, so when the concrete is poured, they're aligned properly both up and down & side-to-side etc...) - he starts complaining, "You know... you don't really NEED this much reinforcing ... it's really just a lot of work for nothing... I don't think you should even worry about it, we'll just use it for a different job..." === yeah, no, you not only agreed to do it, you *suggested* it, put all the rebar in.

The roof (of the Safe Room I mean now) was a little odd ... it has a 4" fiber-matrix reinforced concrete composition, whereas the walls are all the 8" Fox Blocks ICF rebar/matrix reinforced concrete. (As is the rest of the house)

The door was something we wanted quality but not necessarily Fort Knox because we're not exactly expecting to have Delta Force breach us, we're just regular people. We went with Smith Security Safes "Magnum Vault Door" - the owner of the company specifically recommended that and told us that for our purposes (mostly trying to provide security from hurricanes, while retaining the ability to serve as a secure room in an unlikely-yet-extreme scenario or emergency etc.) - Very nice, it's got a 1/2" solid steel plate along with very solid channel-iron frame and extremely thick and strong solid stainless steel plungers etc. The next step up would have been a 1" steel plate (and they have an extremely expensive 1 1/4" model) - but they were very nice and honest - unless you're *specifically* planning on blocking someone from concerted breaching, even the 1/2" is overkill, and that's why they sell more of that one than any other. (they go as low as 3/16" for Light Vault Door applications etc.)

One thing I highly recommend, whomever you go with - take the installation and make sure you have some help. Strong help. They told us they highly recommend that they do the installation, and it's only a hundred or so extra (since they're delivering it anyway.) - We thought, great! I'm not a big dude, only 5'8" , my Dad was getting close to 70 so it's not like I want him manhandling this thing, and they assured us they can take care of it. When the day was approaching, we got an email from the delivery & install gentleman, who basically said, "I just need a few extra sets of hands, 1 or 2 people" - we made sure, "Ok, do we need to do the work or do we need big strong guys or is it hard?" .... "Nono, I have a fully-auto lift truck, I have tools and do this all the time, I just need a few extra sets of hands, it's easy, no problems.." I had arranged for 4 extra people to come, 2 couples. One couple cancelled because of some family issue that morning, the other husband cancelled, only his wife. (Smaller than me.) Let me tell you, "I do this all the time, just need some extra hands" was BS. He expected to have 2 sets of Offensive Lineman hands. It took several hours to get it up into place. We actually resorted to maneuvering my JD Gator as close to the house as possible, hooking up the winch, and winching it up - and *right before* it got up, the cable snapped, dropping the thing on the ground, which nearly killed us and I'm literally lucky to be alive, I moved at the split second before it would have crushed me. The cable similarly almost killed the woman operating the winch on the Gator. I was getting pretty PO'd - you pay for "professional installation" and one college-age kid shows up and having been told he just needed a few extra hands to 'steady it' , what he meant was, lift it up off the ground and manhandle it into place. (it weighs over half a ton.) He's getting upset because he's supposed to be done and on to the next job in the next State by now, I'm getting increasingly upset because *if they TOLD US* they really expected a team of guys to lift the thing up, I could have made that happen. But that's not what they said - and I think we were all about to just give up when my Dad used his Kubota tractor and straps to lift it up, THEN the installer got it into place. Once he got it roughly into the frame area, it was gravy, he did a pretty quick and easy job from that part. Tough part is getting it maneuvered around.

And it's been absolutely perfect, with multiple daily uses, for coming up on 4 years now.

Ah, man's age old challenge....communication..... Always, assume competency; plan for "NOT" ; follow up like Hell!!!! Been there, done that, made me a LOT of money.

 

[mcfred]

It's interesting the things that show up on Craigslist and the iike. Severe discounts abound.

If you install an expensive room/door, do it, then shut up about it. If no one knows it's there, no one has a reason to target you.

 

[346ci]

Great ideas in here. Speaking of interior rooms, has anyone replaced a standard wood entry door with steel and used the roll down metal shutters for windows? Trying to add some security to a room until LEO can respond to the alarm call.

 

[iceng]

I didn't read every post, however I have built 2 strong rooms, in Aussieville.

Current is concrete with a dual entry door. It's huge.

My advise is simply this. Data cables and sound proofing. Route seperate data cables for wifi or computer cables, as strong rooms destroy even mobile reception. So plan for a wifi repeater or a LAN cable for your laptop / computer / cameras.
Solid rooms are noisy. Echo-y. So I used sound deadening panels on the walls. SUPER nice in the vault now. Also helps control temp. Also make good pin boards or morale patch walls.

Electronic dehumidifier. Do it. Seriously. You NEED one. Lack of air flow from windows or doors. They are like $15 on eBay. Do it. Empty trays once a month.

 

[charger23]

I have had a claim with eastern insurance and I was blown away when I received a check 10 days after filing. Great group. Cheap insurance and reputable company. Policy covers almost any situation. Think hard about looking into a policy first, then decide how secure your room really needs to be. I went through this same process a few years ago. I was gonna go full retard and spend 15-20k between the vault door and build out, then I came to the realization that it was major overkill and since I also have my safe door hidden, the money would be better spent on ammo, gallowtech organization, climate control etc. Glad I went that direction. Something to consider.

Check out eastern insurance. They offer a lot of coverage for pretty cheap. Haven't had a claim yet so can't comment on that part but a lot of people using them.

 

[Mudmarine]

Plan (actually designate it as such on building plans) to make it a "future tornado shelter that you eventually will finish out to save money" in the eyes of your contractors, building inspectors, and especially the damn tax man. Be aware, many jurisdictions retain building plans on file for public access. Once, they leave, work your private magic mounting the vault door and making it disappear to the world. Have even left the face wall for the vault omitted by contractors for later addition by owner. Concrete, forms, footings, and re-bar aren't difficult to be creative with. (Don't show that on the plans, Dummy!!!) With a little thinking, one can rationalize without spilling the real beans about the concrete slab roof area.....under garage future shop area..... Coordinate with the door's manufacturer prior to room design. Installation is pretty straight forward if you follow their suggestions for anchoring and installation. Don't have it delivered to your home address though. Once you have the undetectable, secret vault, DO provide throwaway guns (maybe with barrels leaded) in a cheapy metal storage container (Stack-On, etc.) "lightly hidden" for the thief to find, breech, and promptly leave with. With bird dogs in the back yard, gun signs on your jacked up Jeep, an obvious reloading room, trophy mounts, a thieves will look til they find guns.....if not the first time, they will be back. Has worked several times in saving the good cache for myself, family, and friends. Have you considered rehabbing a former bank building....with high dollar "impenetrable" safe pre-existing.....for your unique home? Vault hidden, naturally You could ask me how I know about that approach, but I'd not have anything to share with the world, of course. A former bank might make a great secure storage and unique man cave/club house. One might find a real deal bank vault door from a to be demolished bank??? A lot of vacant bank buildings around....check small towns. Yeah, they can be moved by a man with a will. Color brightly to your heart's content.

My modus operendi for the past couple of homes has been to throw a huge “completion” party at the end of the build where I invite over the architect, planners, and builders for a huge BBQ. At the conclusion, all the bodies get stuffed in my “Site Plan“ designated waste maceration room underneath my slab. Easy peasy, no witnesses that know about my safe room other than me and my direct family.


Stay safe. Don’t drink the kool-aid.

 

[barobbin]

Does anyone have a company they’d suggest for a safe room in Florida?

 

[Ser Arthur Dayne]

Does anyone have a company they’d suggest for a safe room in Florida?

Could you put a little context out? Are you building a new house and want to add a safe room, or are you wanting to have a safe room installed in your current house? I ask because I'm in Florida- and our concrete wall-"general contractor" built the physical safe room also, no problem, and the door was from a company in Ohio, that delivers nationwide and installs ...They make plans, I think our particular day, he was installing 3 of them ... We were first of the day, bright and early , then he was off to Georgia, and doing a 3rd somewhere between Georgia and his/their home in Ohio.

 

[SJ77]

A 'vault' door is typically over-kill in a private home. The walls, roof and floor become weak points and don't justify the investment in the door, unless, of course, you just want one because they look pretty cool.

They are typically a poor option for multi-purpose (security of asset, 'safe-room' and shelter) when compared to a simpler strong-room type door.

In a high security environment a vault is just a single layer of an overall security 'system'. That system is essentially just a means to deter an attack, or buy time in the event of one.

If the room is just for storage of high value items, reinforced concrete walls, floor and roof will deter all but the most determined theives when a relatively simple steel multi-bolt door is used. To be of any value, the 'lock-up' of the door (how it interfaces with the walls, roof and floor) is just as important as its construction.

Adding an additional hard-point (could be a simple metal gate) to the entry point before reaching the door itself is relatively cheap and adds an additional layer that buys time.

Basements typically suck at keeping moisture out. Budget for AC, water-proofing, drainage and de-humidifiers if you want to avoid issues with corrosion and mould.

If the room is to also act as a shelter - design for the worst storm you might expect.

If the room is to also act as a 'safe-room' or 'panic-room' - plan how you will get to your basement from the upstairs living quarters and assess your own threat. Do you need fire-suppression to avoid being 'smoked-out'? Comms to call for help? Rations? An alternate means of egress? Can you fight your way there with the family in tow?

Finally, if you decide to go to the trouble, make sure you install some simple, but reliable detection systems. Ideally with a redundant communications path. Starlink can be a great tool for this (so long as the send/receive unit is protected). Hardlines can be compromised and cell systems are typically early failure points in disasters and jammers are readily available.

You'll probably get more for your money if you invest less in the door and save some cash for some of the other considerations.

If you do decide to go down the 'vault' path, a free-standing modular vault (basically a room, within a room) is a solution to consider. Best part is you can pack it down and take it when you move.

 

[CageFighter]

stay away from Liberty Safe, they will sell u out to the FBI.