Looking to anchor a safe on concrete, but think it would be best to leave an air gap to prevent corrosion and prevent trapped moisture.

I am thinking it would be best to place the save on hockey pucks, drilling a hole in the middle for anchors to pass through.

What is the difference in material between standard 3” dia. X 1” thick 6 oz. black hockey pucks and the orange training 3” x 1” thick 10 oz hockey pucks.

What is used to weight the training pucks?
Are they solid rubber?

I am thinking the 10 oz hockey puck would be better but am not certain.

What would you use between safe and concrete?

Hockey pucks will dry rot and crack. Use transformer pads instead.

https://www.amazon.com/Pack-An...VKFD9CHP3Q8AC3TC7SEW

I used a treated 4”x4” to lift mine

Stall mat is actually the better choice. You can use pucks, but you need four on the corners of the safe. If you insist on anchoring through a puck you'll need additional for those holes. You can bolt it without going through a puck making sure you don't overdo the anchors. Just snug them to metal and stop. Cranking them down further will distort the bottom of the safe which may cause operational issues (as will not having the safe properly supported up its walls).

What about horse stall mats? The recycled car tire type.

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I used a treated 4”x4” to lift mine

possibly bad choice, modern PT treatments eat steel, so unless you put some barrier trouble is coming. I just used steel plate. Stall mats work great as well, but unless you have horses its tough to get small pieces.

Anything between safe and floor, thicker than a sawzall blade, is asking for the bolts to get cut. Stall mat if anything because its dense and thinner, but I don't see the advantage.

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Originally posted by a1abdj:
Stall mat is actually the better choice.

I would like to use the best method, therefore I really value your guidance.

This will be a Liberty FatBoy Extreme in a garage.

Looks like most common thickness is 3/4? Is that the best thickness?
Mats seem to have a groove or texture on one surface.
Thinking grooves would be best, smooth surface on concrete and groove side against safe.
Cut to full dimension of safe, correct?

Or is it best just to put it on concrete as Zacsquatch, has just recommended?

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Me personally I would cut four pads for the corners. full size literally will mean no circulation which is one of your goals. It will have the advantage of reducing the leverage if one tries to pry the safe, but that's not been a big issue to me. Groves to the floor. I have horses and I have only seen it in 3/4" in my area.

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Anything between safe and floor, thicker than a sawzall blade, is asking for the bolts to get cut.

And if you put a steel safe on a concrete floor the issue will be moot as the steel (these are pretty thin to begin with) will be junk in short order in any humid climate. If you attach one of these safes with a RSC rating and have time and tools this issue will be a minor one.

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What would you use between safe and concrete?

12 years ago I had my professional safe distributor/installer mount Liberty on concrete floor in periodically wet~seeper conditions. Used 5 regular flat pumice 6x12" blocks, with a surplus asphalt shingle between safe bottom & top of block, to dissuade hydraulic issues.

Threaded concrete mounting studs still looked new on moving day. No safe-metal issues when moved recently.

If it is above grade concrete you could just anchor it directly. If on, or below grade, concrete do not set the safe directly on it, even separated by something like carpet. Moisture will contineously migrate up through the concrete and rust the bottom of the safe. Lay a moisture barrier such as a scrap of vinyl flooring on the concrete and set the safe on that.

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Originally posted by a1abdj:
Stall mat is actually the better choice. You can use pucks, but you need four on the corners of the safe. If you insist on anchoring through a puck you'll need additional for those holes. You can bolt it without going through a puck making sure you don't overdo the anchors. Just snug them to metal and stop. Cranking them down further will distort the bottom of the safe which may cause operational issues (as will not having the safe properly supported up its walls).

^^^^
I did a stall matt as A1abdj suggested in my garage. It's worked out very well.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
Stall mat is actually the better choice. You can use pucks, but you need four on the corners of the safe. If you insist on anchoring through a puck you'll need additional for those holes. You can bolt it without going through a puck making sure you don't overdo the anchors. Just snug them to metal and stop. Cranking them down further will distort the bottom of the safe which may cause operational issues (as will not having the safe properly supported up its walls).

^^^ This guy knows. ^^^

I anchored my safe in garage in last home... I used a heavy duty rubber matt...can get stall matt from Tractor Supply or a heavy duty matt from Home Depot or similar. Want it thick enough not to be easily torn or crushed from high density compound...all it is doing is keeping moisture from leaching up through floor to bottom of safe. Dont need air gap as long as the matt you choose blocks the moisture. If your garage or basement floods then I would build a platform out of treated lumber to raise it up a few inches. Those hockey pucks are going to eventually break down from the weight I would think. Then drill into floor through rubber matt...install your choise of anchor...tighten and forget about it. My biggest concern especially here in southeast along the coast was keeping moisture out of my safe...so had two 24 inch golden rods...kept the weapons nice and toasty with the heat they put off ....but dry. I also had a rechargeable moisture remover that I would put in hanging from shelf...when it turned pink or clear would recharge and then put it back in...kind of a back up.

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Originally posted by hrcjon:

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Anything between safe and floor, thicker than a sawzall blade, is asking for the bolts to get cut.

And if you put a steel safe on a concrete floor the issue will be moot as the steel (these are pretty thin to begin with) will be junk in short order in any humid climate. If you attach one of these safes with a RSC rating and have time and tools this issue will be a minor one.

Not to mention it depends on where the safe is installed. Mine is in the basement and I wanted it lifted off the floor a bit in case of a burst water pipe/water heater, etc. so that’s why I went with transformer pads. Personally, I’m not worried about someone cutting the anchors. Ymmv

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I just used steel plate.

We use steel in some applications, but steel against steel is slippery.

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Anything between safe and floor, thicker than a sawzall blade, is asking for the bolts to get cut.

This would generally only apply to lighter safes, but if the bad guy has a sawzall he could cut a hole through the safe faster than he could cut the bolts holding it down.

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Looks like most common thickness is 3/4? Is that the best thickness?
Mats seem to have a groove or texture on one surface.

Thinking grooves would be best, smooth surface on concrete and groove side against safe.
Cut to full dimension of safe, correct?

I don't think any of that matters much outside of a flooding event. Anything that insulates the steel from the concrete will work. Any thickness of stall mat is high enough to prevent anything that's dripping to find its way to the safe. Should you get any condensation on the safe itself running down the sides, the texture on the mat will help protect the safe from sitting in anything. How you cut the mat is preference, but I generally cut them 2" larger than the footprint so that I have a 1" reveal all the way around.

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Or is it best just to put it on concrete

Almost every safe I encounter that has been on concrete is rusty on the bottom. I have seen a few rust completely through, but more often that not it's merely surface rust.

On a commercial safe it's usually of no concern, but gun safes are often moved and relocated. Perhaps one day down the road you decide to move the safe onto carpet, and the rusty bottom will make a mess.

Not to mention that the bottom of a gun safe is generally around 1/8" thick. It wouldn't take much to have a fluid enter the safe through the bottom and begin to get soaked up by the gypsum board.