A safe protects your money, jewelry, documents, and other valuable items and keeps them hidden from view. Apart from the obvious protection against burglars, a safe also helps you keep important things away from your young children and ensures these items aren’t just lying around for anyone to find.
Since a safe is such an important part of your home, it is vital that you find a good spot for it. This spot needs to be well-hidden, protected from possible water and fire damage, but still accessible enough so you can get to it whenever you need to.
If you want to install a safe but aren’t sure what the best place for it would be, read on. We will cover everything you need to think of in the sections that follow.
Reasons for Keeping a Safe
In life, certain items are too valuable to risk and lose. What’s more, they are difficult or even impossible to replace. Such items include birth certificates, jewelry, money, passports, certain bank documents, and so on.
Apart from keeping these items organized and in one place, a safe can protect them from different events. If your house is broken in and your safe is well-hidden and has a strong password, chances are that your things will remain untouched.
The same is true for fires or floods. If you get a safe that is waterproof and fire-resistant, you will ensure your valuables remain unharmed no matter what happens to the rest of your home and the things around the safe.
Of course, in order for your safe to be able to do all that, it needs to be high-quality. Moreover, the manufacturer needs to have rated it as being able to withstand extreme heat or water.
Types of Safes
Most modern safes come with either a keyed or a combination lock. As their names suggest, the keyed one requires a physical key to be opened, and the combination one a password.
Though it is fully up to you which option you will choose, people usually consider combination lock safes a better choice. It is not too hard to see why. The key to a safe can fall into the wrong hands rather easily. You can lose it, or someone can just find it lying around.
On the other hand, combination safes don’t come with that problem. As long as you don’t write the safe combinations anywhere and only trusted people know it, your items will remain protected.
Of course, it is best to be creative with the password and not put something people could easily guess. Though they might be harder to memorize, random safe combinations are usually the best way to go.
There is no perfect place for installing a safe. Every home is different, so distinct recommendations go for each one. However, there are some general instructions you can follow when it comes to finding that perfect spot in your own home. You can find them all in the sections that follow.
The Best Place to Put a Safe in the Case of a Burglary
Generally speaking, most people get a safe to protect their valuable items from burglars. In order for a safe to be able to protect your items in such circumstances, you need to hide it well.
Even if the thieves don’t have your physical key or password, they still may be able to break into the safe. These people are usually professionals, and they have the knowledge, experience, and equipment necessary to break into virtually any residential safe. So, you need to ensure they can’t get to the safe in the first place.
Most burglars believe that you will keep your valuables in either your bedroom or your living room. Such thinking makes sense. Those are the rooms you probably use the most, and you will want your safe to be as accessible and close to you as possible. Naturally, those are exactly the rooms you should avoid when it comes to installing your safe.
Where to Put the Safe
Avoiding your bedroom and living room leaves you with a few other options: hallways, bathrooms, and any offices. Though it might seem highly inconvenient to place a safe in any of these rooms, if you hide it well enough, it can work flawlessly.
You can build something around the safe, such as a compartment or a shelving unit, and hide it from view that way. Alternatively, you can build the safe into your wall if your walls allow it. That is actually the best way to hide it. If you also make sure the door to the safe is inconspicuous or hidden behind something, you’ll truly do a great job hiding everything
You can also put your safe inside your floor, similarly to the earlier idea about a wall hideout. Of course, not every home offers such possibilities, but if yours does, you should use them.
When it comes to putting your safe in the bathroom, things get a bit trickier. You will definitely need to construct cabinets or shelves that will match the rest of the room and hide your safe from view. You should only use this room if nothing else is available, as there is often a lack of space in it anyway. Adding in a safe on top of everything can only make things more crowded.
Finally, your office can also be a good hideout for a safe. Avoid putting it inside or near your desk. Instead, put the safe behind some bookshelves or in a corner and then build a small table-like unit around it. You can keep papers, books, drinks and glasses, or flowers on it, and it will look just like any other shelf in the room.
What If…
If the burglars end up finding your safe anyway, it is best to ensure that breaking into the safe is as hard as possible. To achieve that, you need to look for a high-quality safe that cannot be broken into that easily. The harder it is, the more time it will take, and thieves are usually short on time.
The Best Place to Put a Safe in the Case of a Fire
After a burglary, fires are the second biggest threat to your home. Luckily, there are a few things you can do to ensure your safe remains protected if a fire does occur.
Firstly, you need to ensure your safe is fireproof. The manufacturer should guarantee you that when you buy it. It should also be stated in the instruction manual and model info you get with the safe.
Fireproof safes are made from materials that can withstand extremely hot temperatures. That way, the items in your safe can stay protected even if everything around the safe burns down.
Where to Put the Safe
If your safe is not fireproof and you want to do whatever you can to protect your items from a fire, there are still steps that you can take. Being meticulous about where you place your safe is one such thing.
Firstly, you should avoid putting your safe anywhere near your kitchen. Kitchens are the home of all your appliances and the place where you cook. In addition, they are also made from different types of wood and other easily flammable materials. If a fire breaks out, everything will collapse and burn down easily and quickly. In such circumstances, your safe will not stand a chance in there.
Likewise, you shouldn’t put your safe near a fireplace. The reason behind this is obvious. Indirect fire exposure can be harmful in the long run, and if the fireplace causes the fire, the safe will be the first to go.
The best way to protect your safe is to put it in a corner where two outer walls inside your home meet. Such a spot will provide the most protection and cover, especially for a heavy safe. Plus, it is as near to the outside as possible while still being inside your home.
If your home has multiple levels, it’s best to place your safe on the ground one if that’s possible. The ground floor is often the least damaged in fires, so that should provide enough cover for your valuables inside the safe.
Finally, it is always a smart idea to install your safe close to sprinklers if your home has any. That way, the area around the safe will be more protected, and there will be less chance for the safe to get damaged.
The Best Place to Put a Safe in the Case of a Flood
If your area is prone to floods, you will need to think about what you can do to protect your safe from moisture.
Similarly to the section about fires, it is best to ensure that your safe is waterproof. If you do so, your valuables will remain safe, no matter how much water enters your home and drenches everything else.
Of course, waterproof safes are usually a lot more expensive than regular ones. If that is a problem, there are still things you can do to protect a regular one from flooding.
Where to Put the Safe
In the section about fires, we told you to always have your safe on your ground floor as that is the safest place that the fire rarely reaches. However, it is the complete opposite when it comes to floods. Namely, the ground floor is the one that suffers the most, as water usually cannot reach higher levels.
So, if you live in a house with multiple levels and floods are your biggest concern, you should make sure the safe is on one of the floors above the ground level. To be extra safe, you can place it in the attic. The possibility of water reaching the safe in there is almost zero, as your whole home would have to be submerged for that to happen.
But what should you do if your home only has one level? Luckily, you can still keep your valuables safe. All you have to do is construct a concrete or steel base around your safe. It doesn’t have to be much bigger than the safe itself. You can also paint and decorate it, so it fits in with the rest of your home nicely.
This base will ensure the water cannot reach the safe at all. Steel and concrete are also sturdy materials, so no amount of water pressure will cause them to break and put your safe in danger. The base will also protect your safe from view, which is another benefit.
Another thing you can do is buy a small waterproof container and put documents and items that damage easily inside of it. Then, you can put the container in the safe and keep your valuables away from harm that way.
Where Not to Put Your Safe
As you have read in the sections above, there are a multitude of spots where you can place your safe. Which one you will choose depends on what you are protecting your items from. However, there is one place where you should never put a safe, no matter what, and that is your garage.
Your garage is usually the least secure area in your home when it comes to burglaries, floods, and fires. Garage doors are easy to break into, and they are even left open a lot. Hiding a safe in the garage is also hard, as there are usually no hidden spots you can use.
In addition, the garage often contains or is made of materials that are easily damaged in floods and fires. These materials can collapse quickly, meaning that your safe will not stand a chance in the case of a disaster. So, avoid your garage at all costs, and you should be safe.
To Conclude
Safes are an important part of most homes. They help keep your valuable items together and protected from burglars, fires, and floods. However, to ensure your safe is truly out of harm’s way, you need to think about where you will install it carefully.
Hopefully, this guide helps you figure out the best spot for your safe. Remember to also consult the people who will sell and install the safe for you. They often have a lot of experience and might be able to help. Good luck, and stay safe!
