Understanding how a safe is constructed can help a home or business owner when deciding on whether to choose a floor safe or free standing safe to protect their cash, documents or valuables.
Floor safes are made specifically to be mounted in the concrete slab of the floor and one of the best -case scenarios is to have the safe “pre-built” during construction. Many new homes that are to be constructed now have floor safes included in the building plans. These make great safes for some home owners because they are both hidden and do not consume space. If the building or home is pre-existing, then proper installation of a floor safe can be both complicated and expensive. A hole must be cut into the floor and then dug out to make room for the safe and then concrete is poured around the safe, ensuring that it will be almost impossible to remove. The concrete is an essential step that should not be overlooked if the safe is to function properly in protecting against burglary.
Although floor safes can be excellent at deterring burglary, they are not usually rated for fire. Many people make the mistake of assuming that because the safe is sitting in concrete, it has some measure of fire protection. A ½ inch or 1inch floor safe door can “super heat” through convection and radiation, heating the interior of the safe to over 450 degrees. Paper will char at temperatures around 400 degrees. Therefore, a floor safe with no fire rating absolutely cannot be assumed to have fire protection.
If fire protection is a major factor for someone looking to purchase a safe, then a composite Burglar Fire Safe that has a good fire rating of one or two hours would be an excellent choice. These safes can be offered embodied with corundum aggregate and encased in a double layer of high tensile steel and encased in high density concrete. In addition, the lock has a magnesium anti-drilling and cutting plate for very high burglary rating. These safes are extremely heavy and they can be bolted to the floor as well. A Burglar Fire Safe can be a terrific solution for someone who is interested not only in excellent fire protection but burglary protection as well.
Another factor in deciding which safe is best for you is to consider the content value of the property to be stored in the safe. If the contents are valued at more than $10,000.00, then a safe with a B/C or C-rated burglar rating, should be strongly considered. Content values higher than $30,000.00 should look at an Underwriters Laboratory Rating of TL-15.
There are many considerations that should be made before making the decision of purchasing a safe. Expert advice can be found to help you with these decisions at: http//www.safeandvaultstore.com
They have safe experts at their toll-free number who have many years of experience and can help answer any questions you may have.