PSA I almost ruined my safe, don't let this happen to you.

[10-Ring]

The safe in question is a Canon, not sure if all safes area manufactured this way but if you have a Canon you may want to check up on this.  I had the safe mounted in a bedroom on a wood floor with a basement underneath.  It was like this for about a year with no problems.  I had to move temporarily, when I got to the new place the safe resided on a linoleum floor over a slab foundation.  Fortunately I only lived there for about 4 months, otherwise my safe would have been destroyed over time.  When I got ready to move the safe there was a large puddle of a dark nasty substance under it, upon closer inspection I found that it was rust, lots of rust.  Once I got the safe to the new house I took a wire brush to it and got all of the rust off, I then hit it with a good shot of automotive primer.  I will be putting a moisture barrier under it and a piece of plywood as well, I want to take these precautions because it is going onto a slab foundation again.  For some unknown reason the bottom of the safe is bare metal, no idea why they did not put paint on it.

[Randall53]

Auto primer won't stop rust....you need to use paint on top of it. I learned the hard way on a truck I used to own.

[RED333]

Concrete holds water for a VERY long time, condensate will get ya a well.

[MarkInNashville]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Lumber_Jack]

Setting it on spacers to allow air flow under will help as well. My father put his on 3x3 posts before bolting to the floor in the basement. It doesn't look pretty but prevents condensation as well accidental floods from water heater or similar.

[tartanphantom]

You can also hit the bottom of it with a quality silicone spray sealant, or even a few coats of clear enamel spray. This will help retard any rusting.

[xRUSTYx]

10-Ring

 

Primer won't really help.  You need a rust inhibitor/paint that stops rust in its tracks & seals it.

 

por15.com -- This is what they use in the automotive world and should work quite well :)

[I_Like_Pie]

You could probably build a safe with hardened POR15....unbelievable stuff!!!

[Dolomite_supafly]

Something else that causes a lot of problems and is common is using bleach to clean concrete. The concrete slowly releases the bleach which is an oxidizer which will rust and corrode most items exposed to it.

[Randall53]

What about paint on bed liner? 

[East_TN_Patriot]

Setting it on spacers to allow air flow under will help as well. My father put his on 3x3 posts before bolting to the floor in the basement. It doesn't look pretty but prevents condensation as well accidental floods from water heater or similar.

As others have stated, a concrete slab will allow any moisture in the ground to penetrate (think about any damp and musty basement you've been in).  When I bought my safe, it was delivered with wood skids attached to the bottom to make it easier for a pallet jack to get under it.  I had them leave it on since it was stored in the garage.  When I moved to my new home, it now resides in my office on a carpeted floor.  

[10-Ring]

Thanks for the advice everyone.  I'll put some paint over the primer before I get it anchored.

[av88tor]

After reading through all of these post I would concur with most of what was said about protecting your safe from rusting when you place it flat on a floor.  We recommend to all of our customers that they place a piece of plywood under their safe if they are taking it off the pallet.  This will help keep the moisture from staying under the safe, in my 20 years of experience I have seen the exact problem mentioned when a safe is not placed on a moisture barrier.  Even on a carpeted floor you still need to do the same thing because the carpet will hold moisture and when you move the safe you have a rust spot on the carpet.  As for leaving a safe on a pallet or 4 x 4's and then bolting it down , this is a good way to avoid water getting in your safe during a small flood but it doesn't provide much protection against prying because you can get a prybar under the safe and just pull the bolts out very easily.   If you do that screw in a piece of material on the front of the base to keep someone from get a bar under the safe. 

 

As for most safes having paint on the bottom of the safe.  Most of your better quality safes will have paint on the bottom to control rust but your cheaper priced safes do not.

 

MB

The Safe House

[Mister L]

Thanks for the heads up, I have a Canon safe and just bolted it down to a slab floor in the basement. I will now pull it out and prep the bottom.

[mike243]

a good coat of epoxy paint will stop any rust from forming as long as its not put over rust,brush on is better for a thicker coat,also works great on ac floor vents ect

[221 Fireball]

I moved my 8-year-old safe recently from one concrete floor to another. Yes there was surface rust on the bottom ... but do you guys realize how long it would take for 3/8" thick steel to rust through? More years than you'll be around on the planet is my guess. To me, its a cosmetic thing, and one you can't see in the first place! I'm not going to worry about it. It's solid and as mentioned above, adding wood to the equation could jeopardize the security of it.   :2cents:  :pleased: