Relocating a Bolted Safe: Finding Professional Assistance

[xPAGANx]

I have a safe that is bolted to a floor in one of my companies buildings. I need to move the safe to a new location.

Does anyone know of any kind of company that does this sort of thing?

I appreciate any help.

 

[Danger]

Usually if a safe is bolted down, it's because it isn't heavy enough to be rated as a 'cash' unit. There should be concrete-anchored studs that come through the bottom from the floor and have nuts on the inside. Just undo the nuts and lift the thing straight up off of the studs. If they can't be undone, cut them or torch them off.

 

[hypatia]

http://www.gardall.com/michigandealers.html

If you have problems you can call one of these companies who deal in safes.

 

[Pengwuino]

Ahem, trying to "move" a safe eh? :P

 

[hypatia]

I was hopeing he needed help cracking a safe...I've always wanted to do that.

 

[Danger]

I was hopeing he needed help cracking a safe...I've always wanted to do that.

If it's cash rated, be prepared to need several thousand dollars worth of equipment and at least a full day to do it. The UL label will indicate how tough it is.

 

[matthyaouw]

Usually if a safe is bolted down, it's because it isn't heavy enough to be rated as a 'cash' unit. There should be concrete-anchored studs that come through the bottom from the floor and have nuts on the inside. Just undo the nuts and lift the thing straight up off of the studs. If they can't be undone, cut them or torch them off.

There is one of those safes where I work. The first one we had, the door fell off for no particular reason, and the second, they bolted quite firmly to...

wait for it...

A table. Not a big table, not a table that was attached to the ground, just a table weighing less than the safe itself. The only way that would have prevented a theft would be by making it harder to fit the thing through doors.

 

[wolram]

I was hopeing he needed help cracking a safe...I've always wanted to do that.

Hmmm, well, i know a little on the subject, anything over £50,000 will get my
interest.

 

[Pengwuino]

A table. Not a big table, not a table that was attached to the ground, just a table weighing less than the safe itself. The only way that would have prevented a theft would be by making it harder to fit the thing through doors.

And where do you work again?

 

[matthyaouw]

Psh, I'm not telling you that. I got a good thing going as security manager here.

 

[xPAGANx]

Thanks for the responses. It isn't a huge safe, but it is heavy. It certainly won't fit in my car lol. I would guess it is like a 2.5' x 2.5' x 2.5' cube. It might even be just a little bigger. I thought I might rent a Uhaul, but I'm not even sure how to get the bolts out. That is why I wanted someone to do it for me.

 

[Danger]

I got a good thing going as security manager here.

I certainly hope that you weren't in that position when the table thing was implemented.
Bloody hell, that was good for a belly laugh. It's like the people I met when I was locksmithing who thought that putting on a $10 deadbolt would make their home burglar-proof. I refused to sell anything less than a D4471 Weiser (about $50 at the time), so I lost a lot of potential income to the hardware store.
xPAGANx, if there are nuts on the inside, just try a good solid wrench first. Next would be a cold chisel. Heating them with a torch might make the nuts easier to turn. As a last resort, oxy/acetylene can be used with relative safety as long as you limit the exposure time (and ensure good ventilation). A cut-off wheel on a grinder can work too.

 

[matthyaouw]

I certainly hope that you weren't in that position when the table thing was implemented.

I'm not really. It was a sad attempt at a joke

 

[Mk]

Hmmm, well, i know a little on the subject, anything over £50,000 will get my
interest.

Seriously? What about illegal jobs?

 

[wolram]

Seriously? What about illegal jobs?

I would never ever no way do anything i thought was illegal.

 

[Moonbear]

It's like the people I met when I was locksmithing who thought that putting on a $10 deadbolt would make their home burglar-proof.

My dad used to tell me about the one time our house was robbed (I was small at the time, so only have vague memories of coming home from somewhere and having a lot of commotion...mostly of being told to stay outside until my dad checked that the house was really still empty). It was a holiday when a lot of people were away, so the burglars hit a whole string of houses through the neighborhood. This was back in the 70s, when nobody had home security systems. Anyway, the cops came by and lectured my dad about not having a deadbolt on the front door, telling him the house wouldn't have been broken into if he had a deadbolt. My dad told them that would only have meant the burglars would have broken out the whole doorframe instead of just breaking the lock, or would have just smashed in a window. They refused to believe him about the doorframe. Then came back a while later and apologized, because one of the houses down the street had a deadbolt and the burglars had taken out the doorframe with a saw (these were clearly more professional burglars than the usual kids doing a smash and grab job on just one house; they had spent time casing the neighborhood and came prepared). Of course this was back before people had steel doors and frames on their houses; most were just regular wooden frames. Really, a deadbolt would have been useless on our front door anyway...we had a glass sidelight next to the door that anyone could have broken and just reached in and unlocked the door. I don't believe in using those deadbolts that require a key on both sides; I think they're a fire hazard unless you leave the key in them, which defeats the purpose. I'd rather risk a burglary than being trapped in a fire.

 

[Mk]

I would never ever no way do anything i thought was illegal.

This would be a good place to put the rofl smilie:

 

[Danger]

I don't believe in using those deadbolts that require a key on both sides; I think they're a fire hazard unless you leave the key in them, which defeats the purpose. I'd rather risk a burglary than being trapped in a fire.

You can't keep someone out who really wants in. The point is to try and make it so that whatever is inside isn't worth the trouble it takes to get at it.
Those double-cylinder deadbolts are actually against the building code in Calgary for that very reason. A lot of people have been found cooked by the door with a broken key in their hand because they turned it the wrong way or before it was fully inserted. The Medeco company, who make excellent locks, have a compromise solution. It's a T-turn adapter that clamps onto the head of a regular key, which you then leave in the inner cylinder unless you're vacating the house. Then you pull it out and take it with you.

 

[JamesU]

I was hopeing he needed help cracking a safe...I've always wanted to do that.

• http://money.howstuffworks.com/safecracking.htm
• hoping has no 'e'
• xPAGANx should probably stop trying to steal that money

 

[Moonbear]

You can't keep someone out who really wants in. The point is to try and make it so that whatever is inside isn't worth the trouble it takes to get at it.

That would generally be the case for me. A burglar would be sorely disappointed if they broke into my place unless they wanted to lug out heavy furniture down two flights of stairs. Nothing else is worth much. I own very little jewelry, and when I travel, I just take it with me (even so, it has more sentimental than monetary value). The same for my computer, it's always where I am.

My grandparents used to have their house broken into every winter when they went to FL. We eventually found out it was because they'd notify the police that the house would be vacant, and then the police would post the address on a bulletin board of houses to watch...right out where all the criminals coming in could see it too.

My grandmother got so fed up one year that before leaving, she put notes in all the drawers saying things like, "the last burglars got everything," or, "sorry, there's nothing left." When my dad got the inevitable call that the house had been broken into again, he went into meet the cops and found one of them sitting on the end of the bed in front of the dresser just dying of laughter at the notes. It worked. The burglar had only opened the one dresser and left.

 

[Danger]

Sheer genius.

 

[Mk]

You can't keep someone out who really wants in. The point is to try and make it so that whatever is inside isn't worth the trouble it takes to get at it.

That's what I think. Anyone hell-bent on something, that will let themselves die or rot in prison for the rest of their lives can get anything they want. At least one thing, hopefully one.