Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire New home construction ~ Built-in gun vault

"Green light from wife", what's that all about?

It is easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission

Lol! I like to at least try to keep the peace on the homestead ... makes for much more enjoyable life.

http://www.sportsmansteelsafes.com/safe-room.html

these people might give you some ideas

Uh-oh. Now they coming for your guns!!! That's just too many they say.


Awesome collection.

I put one in the custom home I just finished. I fully finished it out with stud walls, drywall, paint, trim, extensive lighting, electric heat, air exchanger, carpet, etc. This was a "vault room" not just a "gun vault. 285sf, 8" reinforced walls, and a 4" pandeck, rebar reinforced lid.

I used the door from these folks:

http://www.homelandsafes.com/vaultdoors.html

Vaults are pretty popular in this part of the world...

You can build a security room on any floor using lexan panels made specifically for that purpose (coreguard maybe?). Much lighter weight and can be put in any room you want to use. Security doors are easy enough to find as well.

I've worked in several pharmacies that shared walls with non secure areas. Lexan panels and ceilings made them almost impossible for the average thief to penetrate.

Yeah, I laughed a little when I read that. My wife would think it strange if we weren't building in a gun room.

Just noticed the comment about your using all poured concrete construction. Not knowing your method or materials for that, I would express one caution. We once incoprporated an extra underground room because it would be inexpensive/convenient/useful - with concrete floor and walls made using "build block" (constructed with insulating interlocking foam block into which the concrete is poured) - and the construction aspect worked like a dream. But, the concrete gave off moisture for months and eventually used a dryer to get the room settled at low hunidity - took a year of checking himidity before I felt it OK to use for dry storage.

I think having it outside the main footprint is an added safeguard against the most cunning threats to our guns.

I have a friend who is a Class III collector. When his home was built he also put an alcove into a basement wall that was outside of the footprint of the house. Then there is no space "missing" in the basement if someone is snooping around.

He built one of those Zanotti (?) modular safes into the alcove and the dimensions are such that the safe can not be moved unless it is opened, emptied and disassembled. The alcove is behind a bookcase, all nice and "James Bond-like".

Go over to NPHA and talk to Furhunter (Darby,,, you know him from PM).
He recently built one in his new house. There's even an old thread somewhere with pictures of the construction process.
He's also a contractor and knows his chit.

Almost forgot,,,, NPHA recently changed their forum around.
Here's a link to the new one.

http://www.nationalpredatorhunter.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm&c=16

Owner of the LGS told me a story about a winchester collector who had one in his basement and a water pipe in the ceiling broke when he was at his 2nd home in Florida for the winter. 1/2 million dollars of Winchester collectibles were damaged. The insurance company worked with him to attempt to bring them back.

I'm jealous.

I've done dirt work for 100's of houses and As has been mentioned here under the front porch is common here very little extra work and concrete involved and just get vault door that leaves a "fire proof" eith dehumidifier rods and proper sealing I've never heard of a problem sound here and this is a very humid area

I've done dirt work for 100's of houses and As has been mentioned here under the front porch is common here very little extra work and concrete involved and just get vault door that leaves a "fire proof" eith dehumidifier rods and proper sealing I've never heard of a problem sound here and this is a very humid area

I have a friend that put in a vault room when he built. Has had a humidity problem since day one. Uses a de-humidifier but didn't anticipate the the issue and has to empty the tray very often. Pain in the butt. If you do this put plenty of electricity and a drain where the water can be pumped out. Of course, you might not have as much humidity in your area as we do. His issue seems to be compounded because it's in the basement. Good idea...just plan well.

Radiant heat in the floor makes The basement VERY dry

I put one in my last house I built in Prescott. My exterior walls were ICF 13" thick and the interior walls were poured concrete with rebar 6" thick. I put a 7' vault door with biometric access. I had a separate electrical circuit to it with lighting and a fan driven duct to provide fresh air on demand drawn from about 12' outside the vault. I put a fairly large dehumidifier in it.

The vault door was off ebay from a company in California that did nothing else- about $1600. Weighed 700#. I had a whole bunch of friends help me set it up and I red-headed the frame into the floors and walls.

I had to drain the 4 gallon tank of the dehumidifier at least once a week. It was a nightmare. I wouldn't do it again unless I used rubber vapor barriers in the concrete before I poured. Dealing with water is a nightmare.

I decided I wouldn't do one in a basement again, period- too much risk of flood, moisture and access. Next one will be on ground level or upstairs. Only reason to do one in the ground is to hide it. Mine had a very attractive door on it and looked nice in the theatre room.

I've seen more water problems in basements due to drains backing up than with pipes breaking. So... Maybe a 6" or so threshold for the door, or maybe just raise the entire safe room 6" or so above the rest of the basement. Water is the enemy in basements.

If you are serious about it doubling as a storm shelter, you may want to specify a swing in door. This setup reduces the chance of entrapment due to something falling against the door on the outside and preventing it from swinging open.