Anchored New Safe Down- What a PITA

[BuffCyclist]

Well, I bought a new (and my first) safe yesterday. And by safe I really mean RSC. Tractor Supply had a deal on the Winchester 24 gun safe, and it was good enough for what I needed it for and about as big as I could fit into the closet. After mentioning it to my Fiancee, she agreed and said it'd be a good thing to get now even though we weren't planning on getting one now (but definitely by the end of next year).

Got a friend to help out and use his pickup too. The guy at TS loaded it into the truck bed on its back, so we could slide it out of the bed easier when it got home. Once we got it home, it took all of 10min to get it out of the bed and into the hallway by the closet, which was about 75ft through the house passing over 1 threshold and using a dolly. I had to remove the safe door and then also cut into the door framing of the closet to clear the safe hinges, but it fit perfectly and won't be easy to pry open let alone have room to use any power tools to cut it open.

After sliding it into the closet, I got out the drill and started drilling the first hole into the concrete slab. Took a lot longer than I expected to drill just one hole, but I went to drop the concrete anchor (that came with the safe) into the hole only to find out it doesn't need a 1/2" hole drilled, it needs at least a 5/8" hole. And the holes in the floor of the safe were only 5/8", which means the concrete anchor wouldn't fit through the hole in the floor of the safe. The stupid anchors wouldn't even slide through the safe floor! Were they thinking we'd move the safe into place, mark the holes, move the safe out of the way, drill the holes, install the anchors then pickup the safe and set it down on the anchors? No, I think not!

Being eager to start filling it with guns, I decided to run to Lowe's to purchase some real concrete anchors. After talking with a guy about what I needed, he recommended some sleeve things that you drop into a hole and then thread a bolt into them, which forces a cone down and expands some petals into the concrete. Turns out that needs a TIGHT 1/2" hole, not a 1/2" hole drilled with a handheld drill. Whenever I tried to tighten down a bolt, it would thread into the anchor a little, then start picking the anchor up out of the hole. But it won't come all the way out, it stops about 1/2" from the top.

Getting tired but determined, I went BACK to Lowe's to get a new style of concrete and bought what I should have gotten originally (but the stupid salesman told me I didn't need), true concrete wedge anchors. After getting back home and drilling two more holes (diagonal corners of safe), I was able to anchor those 2 corners down. Then it was too late at night to drill the last hole, so I decided to leave it as is for now.

Now that I'm on a work shift though, I'm going to make myself a homemade pin puller. A little 3/8" threaded rod, some 1-2" aluminum rod and a couple of nuts. Hopefully when I get home I'll be able to use that to remove that stupid sleeve anchor, because if this doesn't work my only other option is to drill it out and frankly I doubt I'd be able to drill through something like that that rotates freely. Then my only other option would be to cut a new hole in the floor of the safe, and drill through the concrete and start again which as you can imagine, I sure as heck don't want to do!

I filled it up with guns and gear and love having everything all locked up and out of the way. I also bought a pack of dessicant, but I'll probably need to get a golden rod or something similar to put in there before the summer when I start up our evaporative cooler (which raises the humidity in the house quite a bit).

So, am I the only one that has had this much difficulty anchoring down a safe?

[Colorado_Outback]

Turns out that needs a TIGHT 1/2" hole, not a 1/2" hole drilled with a handheld drill.

Your drill is more than capable, the operator on the other hand...

Glad you got it in!

[Great-Kazoo]

So, am I the only one that has had this much difficulty anchoring down a safe?

Sounds like it.

[buffalobo]

Next time you need to anchor to concrete, look into Simpson Set XP(or similar product) and epoxy anchors into place. Much easier and much more forgiving on hole-to-anchor size. Have also used Ramset w/ appropriate washer configuration.

[BuffCyclist]

Your drill is more than capable, the operator on the other hand...

Glad you got it in!

Thats highly possible, I've never really drilled into concrete before. At least I bought a proper concrete drill bit...

So, am I the only one that has had this much difficulty anchoring down a safe?

Sounds like it.

Dang, and here I was hoping that I wasn't going to make myself look like a total fool by posting this up. Too late!

Next time you need to anchor to concrete, look into Simpson Set XP(or similar product) and epoxy anchors into place. Much easier and much more forgiving on hole-to-anchor size. Have also used Ramset w/ appropriate washer configuration.

I guess if my makeshift pin puller doesn't work, then I might have to try something like this to get that anchor fixed so maybe I can still use it.

[<MADDOG>]

Use a hammer drill for concrete, and you also need a set tool with drop in anchors.

Depending on your hole, you may be able to use Red-Heads.

http://www.itwredhead.com/product.ph...Wedge-Anchor-9

[BuffCyclist]

Use a hammer drill for concrete, and you also need a set tool with drop in anchors.

Depending on your hole, you may be able to use Red-Heads.

http://www.itwredhead.com/product.ph...Wedge-Anchor-9

That is exactly what I ended up with, and worked perfectly for the two corners that I got bolted down. I didn't have access to a hammer drill and didn't want to rent one so I was just using a plug-in electric drill, which I figured would work perfectly just wouldn't be as fast as a hammer drill.

I tried finding an example of what I used and got stuck, but I can't find anything similar to it online. It was a smooth cylinder, tapped on top about 1/4" down there was a plug. The bottom was cut into 4 "leafs" that would expand as the plug was pushed down into them.

[jerrymrc]

Were they thinking we'd move the safe into place, mark the holes, move the safe out of the way, drill the holes, install the anchors then pickup the safe and set it down on the anchors?

Yes. Or measure everything so that you already had the anchors in place when ya moved it into the closet. just saying.

[Whistler]

If it's a drop-in style anchor you might be able to drill out the plug then remove the sleeve. Sometimes tapping the top of the sleeve for a bolt after you drill the plug makes it easier to get the sleeve out. Be patient it's "fiddly" and you'll probably have to move the safe first. All that said if you set two Red Heads and it's in a tight surround, two is probably enough.

[Great-Kazoo]

Dang, and here I was hoping that I wasn't going to make myself look like a total fool by posting this up. Too late!

Not really. if you included your neighbor or family friend who is anti-gun helped than yes, you would. I had an issue with a safe, fortunately it is heavy enough, if they want to haul it out, GFL.