Before you come to a final decision about which safe you want to purchase you should spend a few moments considering where you are going to place the safe and how the safe will be mounted. First, you need to decide if you need a wall safe, an in-floor safe, free-standing safe, or even an under the bed safe?
For the most part, free-standing safes can be simply carried out of the house by a burglar, however this can be an obscure concept as the weight and location of the safe can make this extremely difficult. For the most part you should use an in-floor or wall-mounted safe. If you select a wall-mounted safe you should choose the location in your home very carefully. Some wall-safes are large enough to extend through the back side of the wall. All the fire rated wall safes are this way because they are especially large to accommodate insulation.
While choosing the location of your wall safe, check that the area of wall does not contain electrical, plumbing, or heating duct work. If the safe size requirements are such that you have chosen a safe that will protrude through the back side of the wall, remember to choose a location say in a bed room, where the safe could protrude through into an adjoining closet wall (to allow concealment) of the protruding portion. Some choose a wall that might protrude over a utility room.
Next look up your homeowner’s weight specifications/building plans to figure out if the spot will bear the weight of the safe. Now that you know the specifications of your new safe and where you are going to position the safe, you can go on-line and find dozens of installation tutorials. Here is a really good on-line tutorial: http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/intro/0,,20177939,00.html If you have decided to purchase and install an in-floor safe your installation procedures and requirements are very different. An in-floor safe is typically mounted in existing concrete, wood floors, or new concrete floors.
For a wood floor installation you can cut a hole in the floor, add joist reinforcements as needed, and create a wood form to encase the new safe. Installation of an in-floor safe in existing concrete floors requires jackhammers to create the hole and then new concrete poured around the safe. I recommend that you come in to a local safe and security store and talk to an expert about your requirements.
An expert can also advise you on the best and most economical contractors in your area to help your with your installation.
