You are in a state of panic and ordered a 900-pound gun safe that measures 3.5 feet wide and 2.5 feet deep.
The safe is arriving in three days, and you are worried it will crack the floor.
Your wife wants you to cancel the order she is afraid everything is going to tumble through. Stop and do not stress!
The important thing is you have taken the first step in making sure the firearms not hidden all around the home. You need a heavy safe! You want to prevent thieves from taking it with them. So ordering one that weighs half a ton is an excellent choice.
With a hidden wall safe, burglars can carry it out of the house while a gun cabinet fixed to a wall you can cart off easily.
This is only one scenario many gun owner’s face. So can your house floor support the gun safe you have bought? Let us find out.
Let Us Solve the Weight Issue First
The fantastic thing is the floor in the homes built according to a code. The minimum requirement for flooring is 40-pounds per sq ft with a dead load. The floor beams act as a structure when placed diagonally between the trusses. You can easily have a 40-pound weight on each square foot of the flooring surface, and it will not collapse.
The best way to think of it is that there is no weight like that scattered on the floor. If there were, you would not be able to walk freely. On the average floorboards, there is loads of open space, and if you plan to secure it in a room like this, you have no worries. Let’s think about this carefully maybe you have a 10-feet x 12-foot room.
The total square feet of the room is 120, and you can have up to 4,800-pounds of furniture in the room. The truth is we doubt you will have that much weight scattered around the room. Once you have set the gun safe in place, it will distribute a load of weight in one spot.
The dispensed load will be 103-pounds per sq ft where the safe is standing. Where the problem might arise is when you place it in the middle of the room. In our opinion, the best place to keep the gun safe is along the wall where the best support is on the foundation wall.
According to building regulations, there should be a floor joist or even a bearing wall below. The fantastic thing is you can place heavy loads on trusses with no issues. You might also be interested in my post, how much does a gun safe weigh.
Will a Raised Floor or Platform be Strong Enough?
First, you need to understand what a raised floor is. The flooring is a wooden framework spanning from one outside wall to another. Sometimes you do have added support placed beneath such as rafters or trusses. The structure usually comprises of wooden beams that run parallel to each other and vary in intervals ranging from 16-inches, 12-inches, or 24-inches.
The floor joists capped at the ends with headers and supported by bearing walls. The spacing and size is determined by your local building codes and engineering requirements. The sub-floor is usually made of plywood and nailed to the top of the framework.
The top framework is where you cover it with tiles, carpets and more. As with the above weight solution, it also has the same 40-pound square foot requirement.
Placement
The best practical solutions close to a bearing wall as possible. Further, you need to place it perpendicular to the floor beam as close as possible to the wall. By doing this, it helps to distribute the weight over the trusses and provides a stronger position.
The majority of gun safes sit flush on the floor compared to a table with four corners on the flooring. The problem is that you do not know how long the floor joists are—if you did it would be helpful. Luckily, you can bridge floor joists with a two by ten blocking, an X-braced wood slat, or even metal straps.
This allows you to place heavier weight in the location to prevent bending or twisting of the beams. If not possible the other solutions to put a steel plate on the floor under the gun safe to help distribute the load over more trusses. The fantastic thing is steel does not bend or twist under pressure, unlike plywood and dispenses the weight evenly.
Another thing you need to take into consideration is the type of wood used to make the floor. By nature, the timber can have imperfections, such as insect damage, dry rot, or know high-stress zone. Small things like cutting out a notch to run pipes or placing ducting through make a huge difference—so remember to consider these factors.
Questions Related to Other Types of Flooring
When it comes to installing a gun safe not all floors are the same. Here we look at different ways to how you can make sure your safe is secure whether living in a home or apartment:
The Basement
Placing a safe in the basement comes with its own problems such as water. You can elevate the gun safe with 4-inch-by-4-inch wood or put it on concrete blocks. They might not look great but works to prevent water damage.
, make sure it’s supported right out to the front edge, or it may fall forward. If you decide to raise it, you will not be able to bolt it down and makes carting away easier. Another way is to use hockey pucks to create ventilation underneath and looks great.
Finished Hardwood Floors
What to put under gun safe on hardwood floor – you know how easy the floor can scratch when you need to move it in place. Here you can do two things by using a carpet upside down. The gun safe slides easily without scratching the floor. Alternatively, you can use thick felt pads as well. The option is only if you are not concerned that a burglar hauls it away.
Rented Apartment
Renting an apartment leaves you with loads of problems when wanting to bolt a safe down. Your proprietor can be unhappy with you when drilling holes in the hardwood floor. So what is there to do? You can follow two solutions:
- Bolt the safe to the wall – compared to bolting it to the floor the property owner may not approve of this method either, but you can patch it up after moving. Preferably, pick a corner making it able for you to bolt it to two walls. Locate the studs in the wall and mark exactly where you need to drill the holes to line it up with the middle of the stud. The best option is to hire a professional to help.
- Bolt the gun safe to a steel slab – this methods less time consuming and works efficiently. Use a ¼ -inch thick piece of steel that is larger than the doorframes width. Place the slab where you want to mount the safe. Bolt the gun safe to the steel using the pre-drilled holes at the bottom of the safe.
Second floor
This shouldn’t be a problem as long as you take into consideration the weight load on the floor and position of the safe. If in any doubt, contact a local builder or building surveyor who may be able to advise you before trying to install the safe on a second floor yourself.
How to reinforce a floor for a gun safe
When it comes to owning a firearm, you are probably aware that you need to be able to store it in a safe space to ensure that no one steals it – lest you be held responsible. To do so, you will most likely consider installing a gun safe to protect the firearm.
Safes come in various sizes and weights, but the most important thing to consider is if your floor is able to support the weight of the safe. The answer: reinforce the floor for a gun safe. If the floor is unable to support the weight of the safe, it would be best to support the weight by placing braces (in the form of additional joists) underneath the floor. If you are unsure how to do this, it is probably best to consult and professional joiner or building to do this for you. The last thing you want is your gun safe falling through the floor. You might also be interested in my post about the top gunsafes.
The first thing that one should consider is that fact that there are building requirements when it comes to constructing your house. This means that each square foot of floor area has a minimum code requirement of being able to support 40 pounds of dead weight.
However, this spans for the entirety of the room from wall to wall and not only one area. Usually, there is plenty of open space in the room, and you won’t be several heavy-weight safes in one room, so it won’t be too much of a concern. You are best to double check this before you start any refinforcement work.
Where Should the Safe be Placed?
The first important thing to consider is where are you placing the safe? If you place a heavy weight safe in the middle of the room, chances are that the floor might not be able to support the weight. Usually, it is recommended that one places the safe against the wall. For small personal safes, usually placed in one’s closet, it is best to do so and then fix it to the wall. This both supports the weight of the safe and protects it from easily being grabbed.
For larger safes, however, one does this because the structure of a house is most supported where walls are placed. This means that if you place a safe against the wall, and perhaps even also fix it against the wall, the wall helps the floor support the weight of the safe. It does so, since the weights are directed onto the joists through the wall, and not only directly on the floor.
Something else to consider is what is beneath the floor where the safe is going to be located? Is the safe being put on the basement’s floor, on the main floor above a basement, or perhaps above a crawl space? What kind of floor and it’s location in the house can make a huge difference in terms of safety and how much you might need to reinforce the floor, if at all. This will all influence if, and how, you should reinforce the floor for a gun safe.
a. Basement
If you place the safe on the basement’s floor, chances are that there won’t be the need to reinforce the floor. Basement floors are typically made of poured-into-place concrete or concrete blocks.
As you might already know, concrete is an extremely strong and durable building material, and chances are that it won’t be necessary to support the weight. You might want to put the safe on a wooden pad to protect the floor, but only against scuff marks. One disadvantage of placing it in a basement is obviously greater risk of flooding and damp, so you will need to take that into account.
b. Above A Basement
If you are considering placing the safe on the main floor above the basement, there is a bit more to consider. Inspect your basement and the condition of the supports already in place. Now, as mentioned before, it is best that you place the safe against a wall, this allows some of the weight to be directed into the basement wall, preferably where the joists are perpendicular.
You do this is because then most of the load of the safe is absorbed by the basement walls and not by the center of the joist span. Also, consider doubling up on your joists if they are anything less than 10×2”, as they might need the extra strength.
c. Above A Crawlspace
If the basement is set above a crawl space, it might also be necessary for it to have a few additional supports put into place.
Consider adding a pier, which is a vertical loadbearing member that helps support the weight placed above. In this case, consider putting the pier under the front of the safe as the back of the safe should be fine against the wall.
The Influence of Size and Weight
As mentioned before, it is possible to have a small personal safe installed into your home. Nevertheless, this is NOT recommended for any firearms as personal safes are usually relatively lightweight and easy to transport. For your firearms, large, heavy weight safes are recommended, which make sense when you think about it.
Generally, the weight for a firearm safe spans between 700 and 1000+ pounds, with various shapes and sizes. In the context of this post, 700 pounds will constitute as a medium gun safe, while 1000+ pounds will constitute as a large safe. This is why it is so important to make sure that the floor you plan to place the safe on is able to bare it’s weight.
a. Shape of The Safe
The very first thing that will have a major influence regarding the weight of your safe, is the shape of it. As aforementioned, floors are designed to support weight per square foot.
That being said, it is best to go for a square-shaped safe as it distributes the weight of the safe over a larger surface area. Vertically, rectangular safes will place more weight over a smaller surface area which might cause problems with supporting the safe.
b. Medium-sized (and Weights)
A medium safe is usually between 700 pounds to just below a thousand pounds. The actual dimensions for the safe spans between 30” (W) × 42” (H) but can go up to 40” (W) × 50” (H). The safe sizes might even be much smaller, or much larger, for the same weight, depending on how thick and from what metal the walls of the safe is made off.
Once again, place the safe on an oversized wooden platform, to take away the weight being focused on only the floor corners. Also place the safe so that it spans over three joists (one on each end and one in the middle), rather than only two. This will also help to support the weight of the safe.
Should you still be concerned about the weight, even though the floor should be able to carry it if it is placed against the wall, you can consider putting smaller joists, of about 2×4” thickness, perpendicular to the original joists. Once you connected the smaller joists to the original once, it will also help to spread the weight.
c. Large-sized (and Weights)
Large safes are over a 1000 pounds and ranges between 30” (W) × 72” (H) to 36” (W) × 59” (H), also depending on the shape of the safe. Once again, start by placing the safe against the wall. Then, if possible, double up the three joists over which the safe is resting.
Also, consider the possibility of building a weight-bearing wall, or a strong wall closet, underneath the floor where the safe will be placed (if the safe is placed with a basement or other floor underneath). Make sure that you place screws every 16 to 24 inches, and that they are placed tightly. Should you still be concerned, repeat the process of putting perpendicular joists in (as for medium-sized safes).
Wrapping It Up
Overall, the best way to ensure the strength of your floors is to reinforce the floor for a gun safe is by strengthening the joists of the structure beneath the safe.
If you aren’t too sure of how to do so, contact your local carpenter to have a look and help you. Just be sure to do so before you install the safe, as doing so afterward might be tough. The repercussions of not taking proper care before installing a safe aren’t even worth thinking about. And I am sure many insurance companies might not pay out for something that was down to your own actions.
