Moving a gun safe is not an easy task because of its bulky size and weight. We really do recommend hiring a professional to move your safe. If you'd like to know our reasons, here's an article for you. But sometimes you want to do it yourself. These tips will show how to do it while reducing the risk of injury and damage to you, your home and your safe.
Tips For Moving a Safe On Your Own
Safety in Numbers
Moving a safe by yourself might seem easy, especially when the move is in the same room, from one wall to another. The danger is you might lose control of the bulk and the weight with little to no warning. It could tip over, the weight might dig into the carpet and get it stuck, or start bunching the carpet up. Whether you are moving it across the room or down the road, have others help you. It's a good idea to have at least three strong friends available who are physically up to this heavy-duty task.
After all, what are friends for?
Preparation Is Key
A big part of moving a safe is preparing it for the move and having the right equipment available. Regardless of how far its going, you need to have a plan in place.
• Pre-plan your route through the house so you know whether or not you can actually move the safe through any tight or narrow spaces.
• Ensure any staircases that might be used are sturdy enough to hold the weight of the safe.
• Empty out your safe to make it lighter to move and protect its valuable contents from being damaged when moved.
• Borrow or rent a heavy-duty appliance dolly, supporting straps or ropes, and thick moving blankets.
• When renting equipment from a moving company, you'll need to know the dimensions and weight of your safe.
• Wear comfortable shoes with good soles for better traction, to reduce the chance of you slipping while moving the safe.
• Protect your hands with high-quality work gloves that will give you a good grip on the safe and moving equipment.
• If you're moving the safe to another house or business, make sure the vehicle you use is large enough and capable of carrying the weight of your safe.
Ready to Go
Before you start moving your safe, we want to give you a word of advice that every professional safe mover takes to heart; If you ever lose control and the safe starts to tip or roll, get out of the way. No property is worth your health.
Once you are ready to move your safe:
• Make sure it's closed and locked.
• Wrapping it in moving blankets will help protect it from damage. Tape the blankets in place to prevent them from falling and causing tripping.
• With the help of your friends, slowly and CAREFULLY tilt your safe and slip the dolly underneath. This part has a lot of potential for tip overs, or for some dollies to shoot out from under the safe, so please be careful.
• We highly recommend securing the safe to the dolly with straps or ropes before moving it along your pre-planned path.
• If you're loading the safe onto the back of a moving truck, use a loading ramp to roll the dolly up. Make sure the ramp is wide enough for the dolly's wheels. This is another time when there's a lot of potential for the safe to get away from you.
• Once the safe is in the truck, position it against a side or the back and securely strap it so it doesn't move during the ride. The more securely it's strapped, the less chance it will bounce back and forth, damaging the wall or other furniture around it, or possibly popping the strap and getting loose. This is also another time when wrapping it with a moving blanket will protect it from both the wall and the strap.
• Whether your move is within your home or to another location, reverse your steps to safely unload your safe and move it into its new space. Keep in mind the weight and bulk when taking it back off of a truck with a ramp, and again don't try to stop it if it gets out of control.
Every safe move has its own details and set of problems to overcome, but hopefully this guide will help you with the basics. We want you to be safe and healthy, so please make sure you are in control every step of the way.