Need advice on installing condo hidden safe

[nasanews]

I would like to install a small hidden safe to keep my valuable items in my condo but I need advice on where the safe should be installed and kept totally hidden.   I am looking for smart ideas that might include building it inside a wall or to be secretly installed any where in my condo including the bathroom or even as fake furniture.  Thanks ahead.

[metisdead]

Moving to the DIY forum. 

[tonboy]

Is there any room you keep closed while you are away ? Install a steel fireproof door with 3 locks and use the room for keeping your valuables. Any small safe will not be any problem for professionals.

[VocalNeal]

Lots of ideas on the interweb.

 

 

 

 

[jacko45k]

Is it a reasonably large condo or a studio which likely would give you little option?

 

What size do you need? There are options like a safe that looks like an electrical outlet, a wall clock or pieces of furniture. Mine is simply under the sink like most of them but very well fixed in... to the wall behind not the wood panel!

[steven100]

I had one installed under the floor boards, with a rug covering the area.

It's only small,  about 12'x12'  but it holds alot of cash and jewels.

It's concreted in so you would need a jackhammer to remove it.

[HerbalEd]

I've installed a hidden storage box in my house that works very well. Unfortunately I had to kill the guy who installed it. ;-)

[VocalNeal]

Where it goes depends on the construction of the condo and how thick the walls etc are. Not polite to drill a hole in the floor and install a floor safe . It might upset the neighbors below?  

I favour the building inspector approach. Give would be thieves/visitors something to find. So have a cheap safe somewhere not super obvious but... They will bust a gut tearing into that or stealing it only to be disappointed.  The real one can as has been said somewhere like under the sink or wherever it is suitable and they won't look because they are clever and have found what they believe they are looking for.

[dotpoom]

I had a builder ( his idea ) make an area for a " sunken safe in my house as he was renovating it. It was fantastic, you would never know it was there. He even hat the "cover"  tiled to match the rest of the floor. But......there was only one problem. When I attempted to lift off the cover I could hardly do it. I told " she who must be obeyed" to tell him that everytime I wanted to get something from the safe I would have to call about a dozen if my friends to help me with the lid.

  You see...the cover was solid mass concrete about 4" thick. I had to get him to chisel have of the underneath of it away (and even take more off myself later).

  Obviously not an idea for a condo. ....In my condo I had the safe fixed to the back wall inside the wardrobe.

[verticalift]

I had a medium sized safe installed in one of our lower kitchen cabinets where most people keep all their pots and pans. Not too many bad guys are going to think about cooking a meal while ransacking your place.....

 

[UnkleMoooose]

Give me your address and combination and I'll be right over to help.

[AlQaholic]

Remember, in a condo you are not allowed to make any alterations to the structural walls between condos, so the safe in the wall is out of the question unless you have concrete/brick walls inside the condo. just fix it above the ceiling would be my advice.

[Doctorbu]

3 hours ago, steven100 said:

I had one installed under the floor boards, with a rug covering the area.

It's only small,  about 12'x12'  but it holds alot of cash and jewels.

It's concreted in so you would need a jackhammer to remove it.

I've done similar in the past and it worked well....

[Mansell]

I think the best idea is an obvious safe they can steal with a couple of bricks in it to simulate gold bars etc. I have a clock which looks normal, and a large dictionary which looks normal, and even a multi outlet with a red light, and they all can hide money or jewels......funny thing is I never use them. But they can be bought online.

[metisdead]

Non helpful posts and replies have been removed.  If you nothing constructive to offer, please don't bother posting. 

[Crossy]

I'm with the "hide in plain sight" school. A nice, reasonably (not too) obvious, low-cost safe containing highly valuable bricks, put Wifey's ice in the freezer.

 

No, you won't find our valuables in the freezer (or the safe)

 

[regedit]

Use any socket/light switch boxes that you are not using (disconnect the supply) - or install some dummy ones with deep recesses. Not exactly a safe but no-one will think to look there (except geckos).

[rooinekrsa]

Remove kick plate on kitchen or bedroom cupboard and just stash your cash there. Then replace.

[hawker9000]

On ‎8‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 8:54 PM, AlQaholic said:

Remember, in a condo you are not allowed to make any alterations to the structural walls between condos, so the safe in the wall is out of the question unless you have concrete/brick walls inside the condo. just fix it above the ceiling would be my advice.

Doesn't the rule cover ceilings & floors as well?  (I really don't know; honest question.)  Not knowing, I'd think that ceilings (unless you live on the top floor) and floors (unless you live on the bottom floor) are "structural" and "between condos", too.   And if the ceiling is one with ductwork and plenum etc. above, a safe, assuming it doesn't interfere with some of that stuff to begin with, will be spotted the first time anybody goes up there for maintenance work (ok, ok, I know I know ,,,   "maintenance"??!!  WHAT maintenance??).

 

No matter where you hide a safe, a simple metal detector can find it, can't it?

 

 

 

[KittenKong]

On 29/08/2017 at 10:54 AM, AlQaholic said:

Remember, in a condo you are not allowed to make any alterations to the structural walls between condos, so the safe in the wall is out of the question unless you have concrete/brick walls inside the condo.

 

This is true.

 

Though I wonder why someone living in a condo would need a safe anyway. I dont have one and have never felt the need for one. Perhaps they have dodgy guests.

[CGW]

On 8/29/2017 at 0:20 PM, Mansell said:

I think the best idea is an obvious safe they can steal with a couple of bricks in it to simulate gold bars etc. I have a clock which looks normal, and a large dictionary which looks normal, and even a multi outlet with a red light, and they all can hide money or jewels......funny thing is I never use them. But they can be bought online.

I am off the same mind, believe ours fits in nicely with the bamboo furniture & matches the carpet and curtains

 

 

[jeab1980]

Tip i picked up years ago of my old granny. Then she used plastic bags put valuables in and tied bags put those inside an old tea tin and put that in a bag as well then placed them as it was then outdoor loo header tank.

Now i use a completley waterproof diving bag and place it in systern added bonus nowadays of the blue flush hidding it more.

Another ive seen on the interweb is a metal kitchen bin with a fasle bottom. It had a combi safe added to false bottom.

Edited September 1, 2017 by jeab1980

[manarak]

okay, here are some ideas:

 

- if you live in a house or ground floor condo, you can put a safe into the floor. If it should be a secret safe that is not opened frequently, you could even regrout the cover and locate it in a special place, such as under the fridge, under the kitchen sink, etc.

- a decoy safe is a good idea, for example in a fake electrical panel

- good large safes are not that expensive. I got one installed, it weighs about 110 Kg and is bolted to the ground. It cost me all-in 12000 baht and is large enough for a 17 inch laptop and a bunch of other things. Thieves would need a lot of equipment to even just move it.

 

- the safe is not everything. I have also installed an alarm system that secures windows and doors with contact sensors and there are also motion detectors that cover all strategic points. I think an alarm system is essential to complement the safes.

 

[hawker9000]

4 hours ago, jeab1980 said:

Tip i picked up years ago of my old granny. Then she used plastic bags put valuables in and tied bags put those inside an old tea tin and put that in a bag as well then placed them as it was then outdoor loo header tank.

Now i use a completley waterproof diving bag and place it in systern added bonus nowadays of the blue flush hidding it more.

Another ive seen on the interweb is a metal kitchen bin with a fasle bottom. It had a combi safe added to false bottom.

I'm pretty sure the "bag in the toilet" thing is fairly well known and recommend something more inventive than that.   ('Might be a good place for a decoy though...)    Rather than "security through obscurity", you might go the "too big to steal" route and get a larger, fairly heavy (fireproof and almost impossible for one person to carry any distance) safe than can be securely bolted to the floor tucked squarely in the corner of a closet, making it necessary to practically demolish the adjacent walls to remove it unless you can get the door open to get to the bolts.  Try and carry out the installation yourself and as inconspicuously as possible.

 

 

[inThailand]

Isn't the best solution based on who is the threat to your valuables? Your gf, bg, maid, condo staff, pest control, contractors, neighbors or falangs.

 

Never heard of a random theft here, always an inside job.

Edited September 1, 2017 by inThailand
fat fingers

[hawker9000]

Just now, inThailand said:

Isn't the best solution based on who is the threat to your valuables? Your gf, bg, maid, condo staff, pest control, contractors, neighbors or falangs.

...or All the Above?

 

[jeab1980]

4 hours ago, hawker9000 said:

I'm pretty sure the "bag in the toilet" thing is fairly well known and recommend something more inventive than that.   ('Might be a good place for a decoy though...)    Rather than "security through obscurity", you might go the "too big to steal" route and get a larger, fairly heavy (fireproof and almost impossible for one person to carry any distance) safe than can be securely bolted to the floor tucked squarely in the corner of a closet, making it necessary to practically demolish the adjacent walls to remove it unless you can get the door open to get to the bolts.  Try and carry out the installation yourself and as inconspicuously as possible.

 

 

Could well be but have never been robbed yet.

[KittenKong]

2 hours ago, jeab1980 said:

Could well be but have never been robbed yet.

 

A very wise old man told me that the best anti-elephant protection was to put a large bale of straw coloured purple by the front door. Elephants hate purple straw and will never go near it.

 

I've done this for years in my condo and so far I have never had any elephant problems.

[KittenKong]

10 hours ago, manarak said:

if you live in a house or ground floor condo, you can put a safe into the floor.

 

In a condo the floor is normally structural and belongs to the building, even on the ground floor. So permission would be required to make holes in it.

 

 

On 31/08/2017 at 9:36 AM, hawker9000 said:

Doesn't the rule cover ceilings & floors as well?  (I really don't know; honest question.)  Not knowing, I'd think that ceilings (unless you live on the top floor) and floors (unless you live on the bottom floor) are "structural" and "between condos", too. 

 

Concrete ceilings are also structural, and the same rules apply, including for the top floor, but in most condo buildings a second false ceiling is used below the concrete one (to hide pipework, ductwork and lighting) and this can be modified without permission as it is decorative rather than structural.

[dinga]

10 hours ago, manarak said:

okay, here are some ideas:

 

- if you live in a house or ground floor condo, you can put a safe into the floor. If it should be a secret safe that is not opened frequently, you could even regrout the cover and locate it in a special place, such as under the fridge, under the kitchen sink, etc.

- a decoy safe is a good idea, for example in a fake electrical panel

- good large safes are not that expensive. I got one installed, it weighs about 110 Kg and is bolted to the ground. It cost me all-in 12000 baht and is large enough for a 17 inch laptop and a bunch of other things. Thieves would need a lot of equipment to even just move it.

 

- the safe is not everything. I have also installed an alarm system that secures windows and doors with contact sensors and there are also motion detectors that cover all strategic points. I think an alarm system is essential to complement the safes.

 

Good suggestions - but the 'good large safe' may only protect against a robbery when you're NOT home.  What if the 'good large safe' causes such high expectations of a significant haul that the robber/s target their visit for when you ARE AT HOME.  Don't like the potential threat of "open it now or else..."