If you are a gun owner who lives in a two-story house or high-rise apartment, you have probably asked this question at some point. A gun safe that is rather large can be difficult to get up the stairs. Not only is it difficult, but you may have wondered if it is too heavy to sit on what is essentially the roof of someone else’s living space.
Can a gun safe go upstairs? A gun safe can be kept upstairs as long as you consider how much it weighs, placement on the floor, and the least-potentially hazardous place in your house.
Gun safes have proven to be an essential item for any gun owner. The fact that they range in size, from really small to very large, gives them versatility. Depending on the size of your gun safe, it’s important to consider where the best place is in your house to keep it.
Gun safes can be very small, only holding one gun and ammo, and some can reach up to one ton in weight. Small gun safes can be kept anywhere in the house since it probably weighs 10-20 pounds. But if you have a large gun safe ranging anywhere from 100 to 1,000 pounds, you should think logistically about where to keep it.
Can a Gun Safe Go Upstairs?
Let’s say you’ve recently invested in a 900-pound gun safe. You have a hefty supply of firearms, all ranging in size, make, and model. Let’s also assume you live in a two-story house. There are many things to consider, but first, you wonder if a gun safe of that size should be upstairs in the first place.
Before you hire a professional safe-moving company to lift your 1-ton safe upstairs, you must first think about some possible circumstances. These are situations that could potentially arise in an emergency.
What to think about before you put your gun safe upstairs:
- Fires weaken the integrity of the floor
- Consider if you have super heavy furniture
Something not many people think about before they move their gun safes upstairs is what would happen in the case of an emergency. In this case, a fire.
If a fire broke out in the room under the gun safe, its heat will rise. If a 1-ton gun safe is sitting on that spot, it is inevitable that it will crash through the floor, causing more problems for you.
A good precaution against this situation is to consider which places in the house are more susceptible to a fire starting. A few places I can think of are the kitchen, a room with a lot of electronics in one place, and the laundry room.
In the kitchen, a gas fire can start from the stove or somebody could accidentally leave food in the oven for too long. If you have a room with an entertainment center, like a television, video games, and WIFI, exposed cables can easily ignite a fire. This would especially happen if someone were to spill water or overheat the system.
The most common place fires start is actually the laundry room, however. People tend to forget to clean out the lint in their dryer. The vent tubes build up heat when the dryer is in use and ignite the built-up lint, causing a fire.
Keep this in mind when you are deciding where to place your gun safe upstairs. If possible, avoid the spaces above the kitchen, tv room, and laundry room.
Can a House Floor Support a Gun Safe?
A gun safe can go upstairs after you consider a few important logistics. You must consider the weight of your gun safe, the square footage of the room you want to put it in, and where the strongest area of the upstairs floor is.
Why a house floor supports a gun safe:
- Upstairs rooms hold heavy furniture anyways
- Most houses are built to code when it comes to weight
- There are areas of the floor that have stronger points than others
When you’re looking around the room you’re planning on keeping your gun safe, consider how much furniture is in each room. On average, most rooms on the second story of a house have beds and dressers. The typical weight of generic furniture can accumulate to one ton.
Another specific and less common example is the water bed. A typical water bed in itself weighs about 700 pounds, including 90 gallons of water. House floors can hold a surprising amount of weight.
In that case, the house floor can definitely support one ton. The real question is whether or not it can support two. You might want to choose the room that has the least amount of furniture in it.
When houses are built, there are numerous codes or rules, they must stick to in order to pass inspection. One of these codes has to do with how much weight the second story can support.
The technical number for the weight code is 40 pounds per square foot. To avoid a boring math lesson, a 120 square-foot room can easily hold 4,800 pounds. Even though this means you probably don’t have to worry about keeping your gun safe upstairs, you still need to consider beams and weak points on the floor.
Most homes are either built with wood or concrete. Concrete is ideal for holding up a gun safe.
Wood is fine, you just have to know exactly where the support beams are so you can choose a strong spot.
Consider cross beams or the corners of rooms where there is much more support. You might not want to put the gun safe in the middle of the room, for example. There is still support, but it is designed for furniture pieces like beds, dressers, and bookcases.
Among the gun-owners’ community, it is recommended that if you decide to keep your gun safe upstairs, notify the fire department. That way, just in case there is a fire, they will already know that there is a one-ton gun safe in a certain area of the house.
Should You Put a Gun Safe in the Garage?
While storing your gun safe upstairs is a viable option, and is possible, it isn’t necessarily a requirement. If you would rather play it safe and keep it on the ground floor, you must still consider if you want it around certain rooms. Storing it away from main living areas and in a place like a garage is a possible solution.
With any decision, there are pros and cons. Keeping your gun safe in the garage might be the best choice for your situation, but there are still some things to keep in mind.
Why you should or shouldn’t put a gun safe in the garage:
- Less secure
- Still near possible fire hazards
- Stronger floor
First and foremost, the garage is probably the easiest place in the house to break into. Most garages have windows and a door with a lock that is easy to pick. Even worse, someone could have gotten a hold of the garage code. By keeping your gun safe in the garage, you risk these possibilities.
Additionally, the garage is the place where you keep your vehicles that run on gasoline. This is definitely a fire hazard. Also keep in mind lawn mowers, chainsaws, and electronic tools like drills and table saws. These gas and electric-powered tools are fire hazards. In the event of a garage fire, you would be barred from getting to your safe.
Although there are obvious risks when it comes to keeping the gun safe in the garage, there is one advantage. Most garages have concrete floors on the ground level of the house. You could keep the safe anywhere in the garage without fear of it crashing through the floor.
Essentially, weigh your options. Consider what you’re willing to risk; potential damage to the floor, fire hazards, and whether or not the gun safe would be easy to get to.
The Best Location For a Gun Safe
At the end of the day, there really isn’t one best place in the house for a gun safe. When it comes to whether or not to keep it on the top or bottom floor, it’s about an even split in the gun-owning community. What it all boils down to is a preference.
There are, however, some no-nonsense rules that apply to where you store a gun safe.
The best location(s) for a gun safe:
- On the strongest part of the second level of your home
- Above a room in the house that is not at risk for fires
- On the bottom floor, away from fire hazards and easy access for intruders
After you have considered weight, location, and possible hazards, there are some extra logistics to think about.
First of all, you may be wondering if you even need a one-ton safe. You might be just as happy with a small or medium-sized one. The purpose of having a large gun safe is so that thieves can’t just pick it up and run away with it. These one-ton safes are intimidating and require a professional team to move.
That’s another thing: make sure, if you invest in a large gun safe, that you also invest in a professional safe-moving team. They usually consist of about 5 men and women who have special tools to move your safe into your home.
Before you decide on a heavy and large gun safe, be sure you consider all the necessary factors. Bringing something like that into your home is a big investment, and you want to make sure you’ve hit all the bases before going through with it.
Consider if you want it on your top or bottom floor. Think about how much it weighs, the room’s square footage, and if there are strong and weak points. Be careful about which rooms will be directly underneath the gun safe. Think about rooms which easily spark fires and make your decision from there.
If you decide to keep it in the garage, be aware of all the risks that can come along with it like security and possible fire hazards.
Owning a gun safe is a great investment. Although there are many things to consider, it’s all worth it in the long run.