Home and Office Fireproof Safes

What a Break in at My House Cost

2011-10-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

Right off, I want to let you know that I’m not talking about a burglar getting into and making off with my laptop, HDTV, and all sorts of other valuables. No, the break in that happened at my house was sneaky and I never noticed for several months. All the same it cost me much more that if I had taken some easy precautions.

I decided to take a look in the crawlspace below my house. When I opened the access and looked, I thought I was looking at a war zone. Insulation was hanging down all over the place. I put on a face mask, hooded coat, gloves, and old pants. After looking around, it was easy to see that rats had invaded and dragged down insulation to make nests as well as making nests between the floor and the insulation. It was really disgusting crawling on my hands and knees through dirt and droppings.

Somehow, my invaders had managed to either squeeze past vent mesh that wasn’t tight or they came in through the garage by crawling through the installation around the heater ducts that went into the crawls space. I had earlier found rat traces on a duct in the garage but thought it was a rat that had come in while the door was open and had left. He may have left by going into the crawlspace.

I got an estimate to see what it would cost to clean up and redo my insulation completely with high tech foam insulation. That estimate was about $6,000. My next thought was to get an estimate from a regular insulation company but decided to do it myself. I also decided that there was a drainage problem and installed some drain pipes but that wasn’t part of the damage by the rats.

The first thing I did was to use foam in a can to seal around the vents so that the rats couldn’t get back in. I also sealed around the heat ducts. I put soiled and ripped insulation in garbage bags. Then I needed to put in a new vapor barrier to cover the stuff I couldn’t clean up efficiently that the rats had dragged under the old vapor barrier. Finally, after I got the new vapor barrier in, I started replacing insulation.

The vapor barrier cost about $100. The foam cans are relatively cheap and was about $10. The insulation is about $50 per 58 square feet. That comes to about $200.00 to replace the worst. I got off lucky at around $300 but you may not be able to do the work yourself and could add up to thousands.

Take it from me and inspect your crawls space regularly and make sure that the vents are secure. The big surprise for me was to see that rats and mice could easily get into the crawlspace from the garage. If you leave your garage door open for any length of time, you are taking a risk of having a rat or other vermin invasion.

Fortunately, my attic has secure, modern coverings so that rats and birds can’t get in. If yours aren’t, you can end up with the same problem there. My neighbor has had the same kind of problems in his attic because of squirrels.

Small Fireproof Safe - Tips and 2 Reviews

2011-03-01T16:16:00.000-08:00

I came accorss this very interesting review that include a very popular home fireproof safe and thought it was worth sharing. I haven't checked out the facts of this review and the video in the link is no longer available. If anyone has reson to believe that the facts of this article are wrong, please contact me or post your comments.

Small Fireproof Safe - Tips and 2 Reviews by Devon Knight
in Home / Home Security (submitted 2010-10-30)

Small Fireproof Safe - Tips and 2 Reviews

When purchasing a small fireproof safe, it's always a good idea to come under budget, right? Well, sure, if your goal is primarily to save money. If you want to save your other assets, however, from fire and theft, then your best bet is to stick with companies with a proven track record. There are many vendors of safes for the home, competing for your business; here are 2 that you should be aware of:

Honeywell Fire Safe
Stack On Safes

We'll discuss what each has on offer by way of a small, personal safe. These general guidelines are taking into consideration those safes that are 10 cubic feet and under of interior space. They are approximately the size of a mini-refrigerator, or less.

First, here are a few tips on buying a small fireproof safe:

1) Price does matter, so does reputation. Take it from other consumers who have done their homework and given their reviews online for various manufacturers. All safes are not...all safe! To find a quality personal safe, expect to pay $200 at minimum.

2) Value is a relative term. Is the purpose of your safe to simply keep your goods out of the hands of children? If that is the case, most any safe will do. If your are planning on keeping your valuables safe from fire and professional, experienced thieves, then you will want to evaluate what that is worth to you.

3) Be sure you buy safes that are tested from an independent lab. Reputable companies don't simply rely on consumer ignorance and good sales copy to win your business - they work to make and keep your business with ethical business practices. In the industry of personal safes, this means standards are measured by a third party - the independent laboratory. Depending on where your safe is manufactured, this could include the UL, EIS, JIS and a handful of others. It's also important to note that the typical house fire reaches about 1200 degrees F, some companies will try to impress with a statement to the effect, "Our safes are tested to withstand temperatures of 1000 degrees F!" That isn't good enough.

Independent testing is one of the only ways a consumer can be sure they're getting their money's worth. Sadly, not all safe manufacturers take this step, and produce safes which don't protect as they claim.

4) Be sure that your safe comes with a warranty that tells the story. A really reputable company will have a lifetime or limited lifetime warranty. Expect this to be the last time you buy a small fireproof safe. If you see anything less, such as "5 year" or "90 days," save your money - safes are built to last.

Honeywell Fire Safe

Honeywell is a company that is owned by Sisco, they manufacture out of China, and their safes are more designed with "budget" in mind. When you buy a safe, what are you trying to accomplish? Is it just to keep out the prying fingers of your children? Do you want to keep your valuables safe from fire and theft?

Cons: Honeywell, though producing independently-rated small fireproof safes to act as deterrents against children and those without any real ability or experience in lock-picking and burglarizing, does not produce a safe that is overly impressive when it comes to anti-theft measures. They offer some safes with a "digital lock," others with a key/dial lock combination, and others with biometrics. In all the reviews and descriptions, it was clear that the locks of the Honeywell fire safe in general are lacking genuine anti-theft classification from any reputable independent laboratory (digital locks should be rated as Class II or Class I by the UL or similar - as of the writing of this article, there don't appear to be any in the "personal safes" size from Honeywell).

It is misleading when a vendor suggests that "concealed hinges" and "steel bolts" are enough to provide "high security." Unless a safe has been tested by the UL or similar independent lab for tool attacks (a genuine thief armed with a crowbar, for instance), the descriptions are misleading. Do not be fooled into storing your valuables in one central location (even a small fireproof safe), and think that an untested lock will deter theft. You will be given a false sense of security, as a thief will conveniently know where the goods are stored.

Furthermore, research indicated that there is no Honeywell fire safe rated as a genuine "data safe." That is, a safe that has been rated - preferably from the Underwriter's Lab (UL) - to maintain an internal temperature of 150 degrees F at an external temperature of 1550 degrees to 2000 degrees F for storage of certain digital media, and for photograph film, video cassettes, CD's, and the like, the internal temperature cannot exceed 125 degrees F. That is to say: the small fireproof safe you buy from Honeywell is only rated for protecting paper or other goods from fire damage, if it is listed with the UL or other independent lab (such as JIS or ETL).

The following video and story is telling, found at this link:
http://tiny.cc/V93Oa

In the ABC News story at that link, one of Honeywell's personal safes (less than $100, with a reported UL fire rating to withstand a 1500 F fire for 30 min) was burned to a crisp, at temperatures approaching 1000 degrees. In other words, their fire rating claims are highly suspect, and this is not the only expose on the matter.

Other concerns include the fact that many descriptions in Honeywell's small fireproof safe department (from different vendors across the board) do not wince at suggesting these safes are OK to use for data protection. Know that the UL listing for data-protecting small fireproof safes should read "Class 125" or 150 for the fireproof rating. The UL is the strictest independent lab as of this date, with some of the strictest ratings around. Lastly, Honeywell gives their safes a 5-year warranty. Compare that with a lifetime warranty of their competition.

Pros: As mentioned earlier, these safes are good for those on a budget, without serious valuables to guard. The fact is that these safes should only be used for storing items out of the reach of children, or used in RV's and personal water craft, etc., when no other options are available. Tight on space and money? Get a Honeywell fire safe. Your paper documents and other more durable goods will be protected by most of their safe models, in the price range of $200-$1500 or so.

Overall: Without genuine security ratings from independent laboratories, and potentially spurious claims and evidence to de-bunk the reported UL fire rating, these safes may be used to keep semi-valuables out of the hands of children, but nothing more. Do not get these safes if you want a genuine valuables or gun safe (they aren't certified as CA DOJ approved), or if you are trying to guard against a real thief or fire. You may need to verify with your home insurance agent if these safes will indeed get you a discounted premium (as they do not meet any guidelines for theft-resistance).

Thumbs down to Honeywell, for selling "fireproof" safes that incinerate under independent tests. The negative press online far outweighs the positive, and this reviewer joins that bandwagon. Save your money for a real safe.

Stack On Safes
Stack on is an industry leader in safe manufacturing, and has been in the business since 1972. Their line of safes include anti-theft, gun safes, the whole gamut - including the small fireproof safe. They make various lines of products, which range in their benefits and overall protection. It begins with an assessment of your needs: what are you protecting against? Is there a priority - fire vs. burglary, for instance?

Regarding their fire personal or small fireproof safes, they are overall a great product, but offer little protection against burglary as far as an independent lab's ratings go. They do offer a "Total Defense Select" line of safes - a new line of products, which aren't yet available for this review. Their other lines of safes do not include a relocker, nor a UL Group II digital lock for their digital models.

Cons: As to fire safety, the ETL rating on these safes are an indication their personal fire safe line of products will keep your documents and non-digital goods safe in the event of a house fire. They do not, at the time of this article, offer a data safe or media safe, which has much stricter testing requirement for keeping digital media safe from harm. Another issue is that Stack On Safes don't appear to offer a very heavy steel product for body armor on their safes. They largely employ gauges of steel, which is fine for every day use, but if you want a vault to protect major assets, there are other safe manufacturers such as Brown Safe Manufacturing that provides solid steel construction.

Since this article is mainly concerned with small fireproof safe products, the line from Stack On Safes is a reliable product. Like most manufacturers, they create a fireproof safe that will guard against the threat of fire...but in this size, they don't offer very impressive theft resistance (solid steel, relockers, independently tested locks).

Pros: Their line of personal safes are reliably secure in protecting against fire. They offer bolt-down hardware with their safes, which isn't always the case in some manufacturers, and they offer independently-tested claims. They are CA DOJ approved for keeping guns safe from kids' hands, as well as ETL and UL listings for their fireproof (fire-resistant) claims.

Thumbs up for Stack On Safes, as the positive reviews found online seemed to far outweigh the negative reviews. Job well done, Stack On!

About the Author

Devon Knight is the author of the http://www.bulletproofshield.com/safes
blog and provides in depth details on choosing the
best honeywell fire safe and small fireproof safe
check out the blog for reviews and money saving coupons

This article is taken from GoArticles and is provided for information purposes only. See http://goarticles.com/article/Small-Fireproof-Safe-Tips-and-2-Reviews/3562067/ for the original articleand copyright or redistribution permision. Home and Office Fireproof Safes does not accept any responsibility or liability for the use or misuse of this article content on this site or reliance by any person on the site's contents.

Why a Biometric or Fingerprint Safe

2010-08-02T15:45:00.000-07:00

Why would you want to have a safe that will open only to your fingerprints? Is it really any more secure than any other safe? Before I discuss that, I’ll briefly review what biometric means.

The word can be broken down into two root words that explain it all. Bio – meaning life or living and metrics – meaning measurements. Biometric then is the measurements of something that is living. In regards to security systems the target of the measurement is usually a person. Biometrics can be used uniquely indentify a person by recording certain attributes.

Fingerprints are probably the most common as they have been used for decades to indentify people. Fingerprints are most useful because they are unique and they are easily accessed. Other things such as retina scans and palm prints could also be used. Voice recognition is also a biometric but may not be as secure since high quality recorders can be used along with software programs to recreate a voice.

Low cost security can be achieved with fingerprint biometric technology. There are a number of safes that use this but it is interesting that you don’t find them on many higher end safes. In a discussion I had with a safe wholesaler, he said that they don’t carry them because they fail too often. It isn’t that they let in the wrong person, but that they fail to recognize an enrolled user. Smudges on the reader, lighting, and other things cause problems. Of course, you won’t hear this from the people who manufacture them. They will simply explain that you must keep the readers clean as well as record more than one of your digits in case you have a cut or bandage that prevents you from opening your safe.

Back to my original question, why do you want to use a biometrics lock to secure your safe? First of all, the technology is cool! You have the money to spare since they cost more. Yes, they are secure. The likelihood of someone being able to fool the reader is very remote, regardless of the TV shows that show it happening. Probably the best reason is that you don’t have to memorize a code. Compared to a manual dial, they are so much faster that it almost pays for the time saved. However, compared to a digital electronic lock, they are sometimes even slower.

Finally, realize that a clever burglar isn’t going to fool around trying to defeat a biometric lock. He will use his other tools to saw your safe in two, demolish it with a crowbar and sledge hammer, or use some other violent but quick way to get in.

Burglary Safe Digital Lock Out Mode

2010-07-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

So you have just bought your brand new home or office fireproof safe. The first thing you want to do is open it and see what it looks like inside. You purchased a safe with a digital lock because you heard that they are harder to crack than a manual dial. When it arrived, you quickly unpacked it and glanced at the instructions that said you needed to insert four AA alkaline batteries. So under your breath you mumble that the least they could do is send batteries with the safe. After all, you paid out some big bucks for this safe.

Ok, the batteries are in and you start pushing buttons. You think you remember seeing 12345 somewhere so you enter that. Depending on the type of digital lock you have, it has either some LEDs or a LCD display. Suddenly the red LED lights up (or the LCD says Error.) Ok, try again. Same thing. Maybe it was 54321. No luck! After three or four tries, you notice that the red LED lights as soon as you touch any key.

If you bought a more expensive safe with the LCD display, a red light starts flashing and a very annoying beeping starts. In fact, it is so bad that you pop the batteries out to make it stop. You put the batteries back in and suddenly it starts beeping at you again. Surely something is very wrong.

Where are the instructions? Hopefully you haven’t shredded the packing slip already. Nothing – it just says to enter the supplied code.

You call the company where you bought your safe. They give you the code and send you an email with detailed instructions. This time you install the batteries and start again but the blasted digital lock on your burglary safe starts beeping again. Aaaugh! Pull the batteries and start over again.

The same thing happens. What is wrong with your safe’s digital lock. Your dealer says that they will send out a locksmith, but if they find nothing wrong, you will have to pay.

Before you do anything else, remember that you have already entered the wrong code more than three times. Your digital lock has gone into lock out mode. This means that any attempts to open it, even with the right code will fail. You will have to wait several minutes before you can retry the correct code. Removing the batteries doesn’t help. You will have to wait the full time with the batteries in. Of course, the instruction manual is inside the safe so you don’t know exactly how long to wait. You’ll just have to wait until it stops beeping.

If finally stops beeping. You enter the code provide and you open your safe. Whew! No extra charges for a locksmith.

Wall Safes – Do You Want or Need One?

2010-06-02T14:58:00.000-07:00

You’ve seen wall safes in the movies or on TV. The gangster moves a picture and reveals a small door with a combination dial safe. He spins the dials a few times and opens the door. Inside the wall safe is a pile of $100 bills or a gun.

The safe you are looking at is seldom what you will find for a home wall safe. The movie set doesn’t have to conform to most building rules so the safes are a lot deeper than what you find in a home. Most non-commercial wall safes are built to fit between the studs in a house. It you want to install the safe in an interior wall, you will not want to get a safe that has an exterior depth great then the width of a stud and the wallboard, which would be about 3.75 inches. Studs in most homes are on 16-inch centers so the exterior width of your safe should not be greater than 14.5 inches.

With that said, some wall safes advertize widths and depths greater than this. The reason is that the measurements are actually for the front plate which extends beyond the inner compartment. Some safes have a greater depth because they conceal the extra space with a picture frame. There isn’t any reason to panic as long as they say the safe is designed to fit between the studs.

The primary reason for getting a wall safe is to provide hidden security. If you can’t find it, you can’t steal anything from it. The secondary reason is convenience. They don’t take up space and most have quick access locking systems, especially the biometric wall safes or remote control wall safes.

A word of warning about home wall safes, if it fits in a wall as I’ve described above, it is not fireproof or fire-resistant. If you have a fire, there is little if any protection.

Which is better, A Firepoof Safe with Digital or Manual Dial Lock?

2010-05-19T20:19:00.000-07:00

Why would you want to have a fireproof safe with a dial combination lock? Are these manual locks more secure than the newer digital locks?

Quite frankly, the world is changing and digital is the way to go. They are much more secure than the manual dial combination locks. I recently sold a couple of safes to the army and they required digital locks. There are a lot of advantages to digital locks and there are a few drawbacks. There are few advantages to the mechanical locks.

While many safe companies sell their safes with standard dial locks and charge extra for the digital lock, the digital locks are actually less expensive than the manual locks.

Changing combinations is the biggest advantage to having a digital lock on your burglary safe. It is quick and easy to change the combination. You can also assign different codes for different people. In addition some locks will allow you to view a log that will display which codes were used to open the safe.

To change the combination on a manual dial will require a locksmith. I’ve also read that with proper care and service, a dial safe lock will last a long time. So who do you think will do this proper service? You guessed it. That will require a locksmith.

With a digital safe lock, all you need to do is change the batteries. Oh, yeah, you don’t want to get it wet.

The biggest advantage to the digital lock is quick access. I open my safe at least twice a day and sometimes more. If I had to go three turns to the right, one to the left… multiple times a day, I would go nuts. I have an old safe in the garage with a dial. For years, I left the dial next to the last number so all I had to do is move it slightly and open it. Not very secure.

What about fire? Won’t the digital lock be destroyed? Yes it will. It is also likely that the manual dial will also be inoperable. How do you get a safe open after a fire. You can either get a locksmith or you can watch a video on youtube to find out how to get it open. The better the safe, the harder it will be to open. Any safe that has been through a fire will need to be replaced, so don’t worry about breaking it to open it.

I would always recommend a digital lock. They are becoming the default for some safes with an extra charge for a manual dial.

How to Move a Heavy Office Safe

2010-05-17T09:03:00.000-07:00

I often get questions about how to move a large fireproof safe or burglary safe into a house or office. These safes vary in weight from 200 pounds to over 1,500 pounds. My official answer is to contact a moving company. Your dealer may also be able to arrange with the trucking company that delivers the safe or a third party to place you safe where you want it.

I will not advocate use of any of these methods to move a large office safe. I will only comment on the possibilities. It is totally your decision how to move your safe. I’ve been asked if a piano dolly would work. People have asked about tying ropes around the safe and hoisting it with a forklift. Some have tilted the safe, put shims under it, then rocked it back and forth adding shims until they could get a forklift underneath.

I looked up the weight of some Steinway Grand pianos. The ones I saw were between 560 pounds and 990. Upright pianos can weigh between 300 to 800 pounds. A good piano dolly should be able to support the lower range of most heavy safes. The tough part is getting the safe on the dolly and keeping it steady. If the safe is large it would make sense to move it on its side, but would that damage the safe? I would hope not if it is built well.

The biggest danger of doing it yourself is the possibility of dropping the safe or causing damage to yourself. Can you imagine what 500 pounds of steel on top of your toes or fingers would do? Drop it just a few inches and you would probably lose your digits.

This video is amazing. It shows what one person with the proper equipment can do moving a heavy safe. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaBHK5fOa_E&feature=related.

Safe Bouncing

2010-05-11T15:06:00.000-07:00

Here is another reason why you don’t want to get a cheap wall safe. You can view this youtube video and watch as the producer opens the wall safe and removes the inside cover from the door. This exposes a bunch of wires, circuit boards, and mechanical levers. Without a word, he shows how the solenoid that holds the locking bolts in place can be bounced up and down. With a hammer, beer can, or almost any object, you can tap on the top of the door to do it. By turning the handle at the same time the safe is easily opened.

It’s pretty obvious that the safe he used is a real cheapo. However, I wanted to see if my safe was as vulnerable. I have one of those inexpensive (not cheap) safes that can be sawed in two with a Skill saw. I have some history with this safe because I opened it one day and the bolts popped out and got stuck. I couldn’t turn the handle and retract the bolts to close the door. The inside door cover is plastic and I was able to cut the plastic away from the bolts to get the cover off and free the jam.

Back to my story, I took the cover off again and examined the solenoid that keeps the locking mechanism from opening. Unlike the cheap safe, this one is mounted horizontal and perpendicular to the door. In addition to this, there is a nylon clip that fits into the locking mechanism that keeps the solenoid from bouncing. The only bad part of this safe is that the clip is what caused the bolts to get stuck in the first place. I’ve learned not to force the handle closed or push on the handle before I hear the solenoid click open out of fear that the safe will get stuck again.

The moral of the story is that you get what you pay for. Get a cheap safe and it can be cracked in a few seconds. Get a better safe and it can get stuck closed. Get a tamper resistant rated safe and you buy much more time before a burglar can open your safe.

Crack a Safe with Water and Explosives

2010-05-06T11:20:00.000-07:00

I watched another video on youtube about cracking safes. This one was pretty good as it was done by Mythbusters. The myth they wanted to bust was related to a movie recreation of what was supposed to be a real burglary done in the 50s. In the movie, a hole was cut in the top and the safe was filled with water. An explosive charge was then put inside the safe through the hole. The movie showed a very cleanly blown door and the burglars then scooped up the prize jewelry.

So Mythbusters wanted to see if they could do the same thing. They got a large safe, one larger than the Hollon FB-1505E Fire and Burglar Safe. They ran into and interesting problem. The safe leaked and wouldn’t hold water so they had to seal it from the inside. It makes me wonder just how good of a safe they bought. Anyway, they finally get the safe loaded with water, put the explosive charge in the safe and blew it. The door landed thirty feet away and the safe body must have moved at least ten feet.

The sample booty that they put in was in pretty bad shape. Paper currency (fake, I’m sure) was shredded and a jeweled scepter was broken. This was not a very efficient or quick way to crack a safe.

Moral of the story? A burglar would not take the time and trouble to fill a safe with water. They want to get in and get out quickly. Buying a good quality burglary safe and bolting it down is your best bet. Adding an alarm system would be a big deterrent as they wouldn’t have the time to break into a good safe.

Can You Saw Your Safe in Two?

2010-05-04T15:33:00.000-07:00

I just finished watching a video on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRTnJVwYkJs&feature=related. It is a video to demonstrate how easily it is to break into a cheap, but popular, fireproof safe. The safe is made of a thin gage steel exterior, filled with what appears to be a lightweight fireproof material and a plastic interior.

The guy gets out his Skill saw (correction, at the end of the video he shows that it is a Black and Decker with a plain old wood blade) and proceeds to saw right through the top of the safe. Dust from the fireproofing flies but the saw easily cuts through the exterior of the safe. All he has to do is rotate the safe and cut the sides and bottom.

A few whacks with a four by four and some tugging reveals the inner plastic lining. The blade didn’t cut quite deep enough to completely slice the plastic lining so he has to cut some more. In approximately three minutes the fireproof safe is completely open.

Moral of the story? If you want to protect your stuff from a burglar, don’t depend on a lightweight safe that you can easily pickup. Get something like a Hollon HS-370E safe that you can first of bolt to the floor so that the burglar can’t carry it away. The Hollon Safe also is has steel both on the inside and outside with a concrete type of fireproofing. I doubt a Skill (or Black and Decker) saw will do much damage to it.

Bolt Down Your Safe

2010-05-04T15:02:00.001-07:00

My friend told me a story about the first fireproof home safe he bought. This was several years ago and when even the lower priced safes were very heavy. Since it was heavy and he didn’t want to go through the trouble of bolting it to the floor, he just put it in his closet where it wouldn’t be seen very easily. One night he came home to find that his house had been burglarized. After checking carefully, the only thing missing was his home fireproof safe. He later found the safe in the woods behind his house. Whoever took it used a maul to break through and knock off the back of the safe. Everything that he had put in the safe was gone.

The moral of the story is simple. If you have a home or office fireproof safe that can be bolted down. Do it. If your home or office safe can’t be secured, then you are probably better off posting the combination on the door so that you don’t lose your safe along with everything in it.