RSC fire resistance vs custom?

[Grayrock]

I searched back over 3 years of threads. Starting a new one instead of resurrecting an old one.

Wife has scrapbooks she wants protected from fire. We do not need the security of an RSC or safe. But we want fire protection. So what is a good option? I thought about getting just a sheetmetal gunlocker and lining it myself with sheetrock. Found this post from about 3 years ago:

You could always build a box around the safe with double or triple drywall and an air space. Should cost wou about $50 if your handy. Will stand a full on structure fire better than the fire proof safe.

Is that an accurate statement? As usual, we don't want to spend a ton of money- but if it is necessary, we would. She is creating heirlooms and is paranoid about losing the memories.

 

[Grayrock]

Just thought of another concern relating to fire. If I were to get an RSC, my wife would most likely prefer the electronic lock. What happens to that in a fire? If the keypad is melted off can you plug in a new one and still open the door? Is a rotary combination lock less likely to fail or how about a simple keyed lock?

 

[a1abdj]

If she is wanting to protect paper items that are important to her, stay away from anything gun safe related, and look at something with a real UL fire rating. Fire rated file cabinets are a great option. They are very expensive new, but can be bought used very reasonably. They don't scream "valuables" when a bad guy sees one, and their drawers make organization easy.

As far as your other question, if a safe is in a fire hot enough to melt the dial/keypad, the odds are high that the safe will need to be drilled open.

 

[Outlaw Man]

To add to what a1 said, if you can get by with a smaller fire cabinet, the reduced volume will close a lot of that cost gap between it and a gun safe, sine they really don't sell small gun "safes." Unless your wife has a LOT of scrapbooks.

Since you don't really need any real security, a key lock, if you can find one on a cabinet with the fire protection you're looking for, will be less expensive and not necessarily any more susceptible to damage.

 

[Grayrock]

Most scrapbooks are about 14" X 14" square. Stacking them on top of each other at our current supply gives a column about 37" tall. So approximately 4.2 cubic feet of storage space is needed (for now- but they are multiplying faster than my gun population- have to do something about that!)

 

[rbernie]

My solution for fire resistant storage? A monitored storage unit with sprinkler system, alarms, and all that jazz. I pack the documents and such in water resistant coverings and put them on metal shelving grates to elevate them off the floor on case the sprinklers actually come on....