How to Get a Safe Into the House

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I think the from door and perhaps the shelves can be removed thus lightening the load bu 1/3.

That safe is like trying to move a car engine and transmission into your house. Easier if you do it in 2 or more steps.

You could hire a professional moving company.

Piano's used to weigh a lot and still do. How do movers get those up stairs?

You could lay 1 inch plywood on the steps and use an equipment dolly (not a regular dolly/handtruck) to roll it up on it's side.

You will need lots of people for safety reasons.

There are also what are called 'hump straps' where 2 strong guys can actually lift and carry heavy loads with reasonable ease.
 
Most appliance dollies will damage the stairs with that much weight. Remember you have to lift that weight up 8 1/2 inches to get to the next step times the number of steps. The lip that overhangs each step can break off easily.
 
On safes <500 lbs. Home Depot rents appliance dollies fairly cheap. Have @ least two large and serious buddies to get it up the steps to your house (and risk cracking slate porch/steps).

If the safe is >500 lbs find a bonded safe installer or professional mover to do the job. You've already spent $1,000 or more... what's wrong w/ paying 10% more to get it put in with minimal property damage? FWIW, I prefer having buddies do it, as I DON'T want strangers casing my home or knowing we have a safe at all. Keep that in mind. ;)
 
Removing the door on your externally hinged safe to make it easier to move is somewhat like removing the engine from your broken down car so it will be easier to push. It all goes well until you try to lift it back it.

Have you ever tried to manually align a precision hinge pin with the hole it goes in (in two separate planes, no less) attached to a multi-hundred pound object? I assure you it is much easier said than done.

My first safe was a small AmSec without fireproofing but with a very nice plate door. I took the door off once to make it easier to move. I will not do so ever again.
 
Heavy safe + appliance dolly = bad idea. Appliance dollies were never engineered to handle that kind of load. Neither were most residential staircases. I would place it on the first floor and bolt it down and in.
 
Again, better to be safe than sorry. HIRE A PROFESSIONAL! The only thing worse than a cheap-ass is a deeply regretful cheap-ass with personal injuries, a damaged home, injured friends, all three, or even worse. It could be the best money you ever spent, or the worst money you ever tried to save.
 
I had professionals set mine in place in the basement. No house floor would support it 4000 pounds empty.
 
Taking anything up stairs would make me look at the stair construction before having anyone do that job.

Up to about 7 or 800 lbs you should be Ok with most but anything over that, I would check it closely.

I took my ???? lb ( dont really remember) off it's skid pallet and into my basement. Like this.

I did it myself after the driver helped getting it into the garage

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Take a look at this article.

Regardless of how heavy your safe is, bolt it down. Buy it from a safe store or locksmith and have them install.
 
I purchased my safe from the local John Deere dealership and their guys set it up as part of the deal.
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This is something that most people don't think about, but they should. I'm assuming the John Deere dealership was in the business of dealing with farm equipment. I suspect that their employees range from office workers, to salespeople, to parts people, to mechanics.

Would you suspect their liability insurance would cover them moving safes into peoples homes. Would their worker's comp cover an injury?

Not only should people verify that whomever is in their home is properly licensed and insured, but they should verify that their insurance actually covers the task they are there to perform. All of the insurance in the world doesn't mean a thing when the activities they are engaged in are not covered.
 
From reading all this good advice and experience I think Jellyjar has it right -
Pour very thick concrete foundation. Bolt safe to foundation. Build house around safe.
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Put it in when you build the house.
 
I backed the trailer to the door, made a ramp to get it over the threshold, laid plywood on the floor, and rolled it in place with a pallet jack. No stairs though.
 
rondog said:
Again, better to be safe than sorry. HIRE A PROFESSIONAL! The only thing worse than a cheap-ass is a deeply regretful cheap-ass with personal injuries, a damaged home, injured friends, all three, or even worse. It could be the best money you ever spent, or the worst money you ever tried to save.
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DING, DING, DING! We have another winner.

I recently had to move a safe larger than any you're talking about. Sixty inches wide and in the 850 to 900 lb. range or maybe more.

I wanted the safe down wooden stairs into the basement. I made measurements and determined there was no way to turn the safe at the bottom of the stairs so made a wooden platform to make room to turn the safe. I then hired movers (what a unique idea). The three of them, with much grunting, straining and groaning, got the safe up steps, into the house, down the stairs and into the basement. I guarantee, that safe is never coming out of the basement in my watch.

I then got a hammer drill at Lowe's, a concrete bit and appropriate bolts and fastened the safe to the floor. No one is getting the safe out of the basement. Their only hope is to spend a lot of time in the basement with cutting tools and torches they'll have to bring in.
 
Got a hernia

When I bought my Browning 20 yrs ago I tried moving it with an appliance dolly. I had to go up 3 stairs outside the house and 5 stairs inside. I couldn't get up the outside stairs even with my sons helping, all over 6' and 200 lbs. I ended up taking the door off and moving that way. The secret with the door is once it's off lock the safe so the locking bolts are protruding out of the door. You can then slip iron pipe over the locking bolts and 2 people can easily carry the door. I helps to have a third person to help steady the door so it doesn't spin on the pipe. This really lowers the weight and helps in moving the safe body. I've moved my safe 3 time using this method. I ended up with a hernia from the first attempt without removing the door.:evil:
 
How I got my 800lb Liberty into the basement via Storm Cellar.

Get it to the storm cellar. Turn the cellar steps into a slide with 3/4 plywood.
Attach a engine chain lift to something heavier and the other end.
Let the safe (still strapped to the appliance dolly) slide down the ramp into the basement using the lift. You can go at your pace, your not underneath it and the ramp distributes the weight across all the treads.
 
I am solidly in the camp of hiring a pro, and I do most of these things myself.

I was in this position two months ago. My new "box" is heavy, 1500#, give or take. While shopping I spent a lot of time looking at construction as many do, and wanted quality there, but additionally I was concerned about getting it in the house. Not just how but who? I'm out in the boonies, hours away from large cities and towns. Several safes with good reputations had no dealer network within a reasonable distance. One told me he would just hire a local mover to do the work and he mentioned one that he had used in my area before. When he told me the name I declined and he lost the sale because I knew many of the employees that worked for that mover were "regulars" at our local county jail. The last thing that I needed or wanted were a bunch of ner do wells with a working knowledge of my firearms and home layout.

Find a Pro. Make sure that he is not only knowlegable, but bonded as well. To do otherwise just adds more risk. Minimizing risk is the reason I wanted a safe in the first place.

pake
 
a1abdj said:
This is something that most people don't think about, but they should. I'm assuming the John Deere dealership was in the business of dealing with farm equipment. I suspect that their employees range from office workers, to salespeople, to parts people, to mechanics.

Would you suspect their liability insurance would cover them moving safes into peoples homes. Would their worker's comp cover an injury?

Not only should people verify that whomever is in their home is properly licensed and insured, but they should verify that their insurance actually covers the task they are there to perform. All of the insurance in the world doesn't mean a thing when the activities they are engaged in are not covered.
Click to expand...
The John Deere dealership is indeed in the business of selling farm equipment as their main focus and just like when I buy a piece of equipment and have it delivered, I'm pretty sure that the dealership and their employees are properly insured and would cover any incident that might occur.

The John Deere dealer that I purchased my safe from has a large inventory of John Deere (Liberty) safes on the showroom floor. The sales person that I dealt with has been doing it for years and really knows his business. He was the one who delivered the safe and was in charge of setting it up. He brought along a couple of helpers from the dealership to assist. In fact, in my experience with this John Deere dealership, it is always the salesperson that delivers the purchased item, whether it's a tractor , farm equipment or something else. These guys took their time, were very careful and made sure that everything was exactly the way I wanted it. Should there be problems, I know that I can call them and someone will help. Just another reason why I'm a John Deere person.
 
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Level surfaces, pvc pipe or wooden dowels make great rollers. For stairs, get a few strong folks and some heavy duty rope or straps. Have your human mule team pulling from uphill AND pushing from below. My 600 pounder was no problem for 4 of us to move, just keep in mind that you need to be prepared to chock it and let everybody rest mid-lift.
 
When I bought my actual safe, all 1,500 pounds empty of safe, I gave the Cleveland Safe Company a few hundred bucks to deliver and install. I removed an outside door frame. They showed up with all the right tools and equipment including a bunch of sections of steel pipe. They planted the sucker right where I wanted it. Personally I didn't want to screw with moving the thing. :)

Ron
 
243winxb said:
Guy put safe in den, it ended up in the basement. Make sure the floor will support it. Professional movers, better their back then yours.
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that is what I fear--even with storing ammo in the house. I spread it around and am sur e it is close to the supporting structures.

we have to us e light weight safes in the house-- they are behind a locked closet door. we live in a flood zone .anything in the garage would be underwater if a hurricane hits again
 
I'm pretty sure that the dealership and their employees are properly insured and would cover any incident that might occur.
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It's weird how that works.

If I loaded a piece of farm equipment on my company truck, or had one of my employees injured doing so, I would not be insured even though I have several million dollars worth of insurance.

I'm insured as a safe and vault company, not a farm implement dealership. I'd ask for a copy of their workman's comp policy, and have them highlight the listed occupation that covers the safe deliveries. I suspect it doesn't exist. I do business with dedicated safe retailers who aren't even properly insured.
 
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