Making bolted down safe harder to steal?

[Worksalot]

An acquaintance had lots of goodies stored in his safe that was bolted down tight to the slab. He had it in a back room or closet. Somehow the thieves got word of where the safe was hidden and they waited until nobody was home. Think he said there were multiple people seen entering the house and later exiting with the safe. They were never caught and punished for the crime. He lost a great deal of money and valuables that day. It was such a painful loss that he no longer has that amount of goodies stored in his house. It’s sad that it’s this way. And, yes, there was a security system installed and working in his house that day.

I know if a thief wants something bad enough they’ll find a way regardless, but am wondering if there’s a method to bolting a safe down that’ll make it even harder to remove.

[35remington]

So many questions. Was it a real safe? What kind? Bolted to what? With what? How many?

[panhandlehunter]

If you dropped in 1/2" stainless wedge anchors, and mashed the threads with a hammer once set, it would be dang near impossible to get out.

[Worksalot]

So many questions. Was it a real safe? What kind? Bolted to what? With what? How many?

Yeah I’m not certain as to exact size, brand, design, or other details just yet. Wasn’t a gun safe. I forgot after posting that it was some sort of large, commercial type. He had a rather large collection of items and felt it was best to store them at home. This theft totally changed his thinking on that.

[Tony Pic]

Safes today are big metal boxes lined with gypsum(sheetrock). The door is the strongest area of the safe. You want to get into a safe today? Get a $10 four inch grinder from Harbor Freight with about 2 carbon wheels and you will be able to cut the safe open like a can opener, attacking its sides. The best way to protect valuables is a Vault. Not a safe. A Vault will be surrounded with concrete and the ONLY way in is, through the door or chopping the concrete. If the bad guys know they can't get into it. They wait for you to come home, put a gun to you or a loved one and make you open it. A safe keep amateurs and honest people out.

[-HIC-]

I agree with you on this. The problem I see with the story is that they left with the safe. We have a pharmacist friend that has had drugs stolen from an industrial style safe by the thiefs cutting the side open. Attempting to move it was not tried. They knew the weak point and exploited it. I have doubts that professional theifs would mess with a bolted down safe when there are easier ways to have the contents.

Sent from my SM-J727T using Tapatalk

[Cajun Blake]

An acquaintance had lots of goodies stored in his safe that was bolted down tight to the slab. He had it in a back room or closet. Somehow the thieves got word of where the safe was hidden and they waited until nobody was home. Think he said there were multiple people seen entering the house and later exiting with the safe. They were never caught and punished for the crime. He lost a great deal of money and valuables

I know if a thief wants something bad enough they’ll find a way regardless, but am wondering if there’s a method to bolting a safe down that’ll make it even harder to remove.

Sounds like an inside job done by somebody who knew the acquaintance and the safe contents.

[Pedernal]

Sounds like an inside job done by somebody who knew the acquaintance and the safe contents.

^^^This^^^

[Radar]

Must have been a small safe. I used to know a feller that had a huge coin collection and some fools broke in his house while he was gone and drilled the heck of of his safe door trying to open it. Then they beat the handles and lock off of it and flipped it over. Was a Browning safe and it was big, when they flipped it over it part of it busted through the floor as he had a pier and beam house.

[Worksalot]

Must have been a small safe. I used to know a feller that had a huge coin collection and some fools broke in his house while he was gone and drilled the heck of of his safe door trying to open it. Then they beat the handles and lock off of it and flipped it over. Was a Browning safe and it was big, when they flipped it over it part of it busted through the floor as he had a pier and beam house.

Maybe they used something to roll the safe on. He didn’t go into details on damage done to the house. I didn’t want to ask too many questions because he’s been hit twice. I agree with CB above that it does sound like an inside job. After he and the family moved to a different house much further away, he had a safe installed at that house also. This time the thieves tried to leave things appearing that there was never a break in. I can’t remember if they removed that safe entirely too or not.

[WTucker]

To go along with what Blake said, our house was broken into twice when I was in my early teens. They stole all our guns and my moms jewelry. The second time, dad had bought a safe and they got nothing. Both times, the deputy told us that is it is most likely somebody we know. Be careful who you tell about your stuff.

[xman59]

if the house is on slab, the best way to anchor is with "L" bolts like they use on steel girders at the slab,,, drill through the bottom of the safe and put the nuts on inside,,,, i am a big believer "in out of site out of mind" things that are valuable do not all go in the same location,,, even if that location is a safe

[Texas660]

Check out Liberty SafElert. It wont stop them from stealing it, but it will let you know something is going on. Hooks up to your wifi and sends text & email alerts when door opens, vibration, high/low temp all kinds of settings. I can bump mine and it lets me know.

[Ruark]

You might also be able to put the safe back in a little "nook" somewhere, where there's a wall on each side of it - say in a closet or something - and there's no room to access the sides. And probably a VERY good idea to not tell everybody and his dog about your safe and what's in it. If somebody does see it, like a repairman or something, just say, "you wanna buy it? We don't use it."

Another idea is to make up a fake security sticker and put it on the front, saying it's protected by some kind of satellite-powered alarm system that will send out alerts (or something) if it's tampered with.