How To Move A Safe Into The Basement (Quickly & Easily!)
If you’ve recently purchased a safe to protect your family, valuables, or firearms, you’re likely wondering how to get it into your home. While small safes can weigh as little as six pounds, the more durable, flame-resistant variety starts at 90 pounds, and high-end gun safes can weigh over 1,000 pounds. Safes that weigh that much can be nearly impossible to move into your home yourself, let alone your basement.
Whether you’ve just purchased a new safe or you already own one and want it moved to your basement, we’re here to help. While you can move the safe yourself with the help of a dolly and a few extra sets of hands, the best to move a safe into the basement is to hire professional movers.
Continue reading for our essential guide on how to move a safe into the basement safely and efficiently.
Hiring a Professional Safe Mover
In most cases, a safe is a major investment and a one-time purchase. As a result, the average homeowner likely has no idea how to move or install a safe. A gun safe can easily weigh 500 pounds or more and due to its sheer bulk and size, it is not only difficult but also dangerous to move without the necessary experience.
With that said, hiring professional movers, that specialize in handling bulky heavy items like safes, is the safest and easiest option. By leaving the job to the experts, you eliminate the hassle of trying to find someone to assist you with moving your safe and gathering all the equipment you’ll need to get it done.
Most importantly, hiring a professional safe mover significantly reduces the risk of injuring yourself or damaging your safe or home. Like your safe, safe movers are a smart protection investment to make.
Benefits of Hiring Professional Movers
There are a number of reasons why you should strongly consider hiring a professional safe-moving team to move your safe to your basement. The following are some benefits you can expect when you decide to leave your safe relocation in the hands of experts:
- Professional movers always take the necessary precautions to avoid damage to your home, furnishings, property, and safe.
- They are experienced and highly-trained in the proper and safe way to move safes.
- Professional movers are insured in the unlikely event that either your property or your safe incur damage during the move.
- They will move your safe to your basement without injury to themselves, you, or your family members
- Will identify and provide solutions to navigate around potential obstacles such as narrow hallways, sharp doorways, tight turns, and stairs that may not be able to hold the weight of your safe.
- Professional movers have all the specialized equipment required to get the job done such as padded blankets, dollies, felt pads, etc.
How Much Does it Cost to Hire Professional Safe Movers?
The average price to move a large safe, such as a gun safe, ranges anywhere from $165 to $535. However, the actual rate varies depending on a number of factors:
- The safe’s dimensions
- Weight of the safe
- Distance of delivery (if the safe needs to be delivered to your home)
- Where the safe will be located in your home
- Standard rates for pickup and delivery
- The professional moving company you choose
If the safe is already in your home and you simply need it moved to your basement, you won’t have to worry about incurring any pickup or delivery fees. However, if you need the safe delivered, additional charges will typically be factored into the standard delivery and installation fee. Additional charges include removing doors, navigating tight turns, moving the safe over rocks or grass, etc.
Every professional moving company has different rates so the best way to know how much it’ll cost to hire safe movers is to get a free quote. You can typically get in touch with professional movers by calling them directly or reaching out online. Be sure to collect estimates from multiple moving companies to ensure that you’re getting the best deal for your safe relocation.
Should You Move a Safe Yourself?
If you don’t have experience with moving safes, as most of us don’t, it is highly advisable that you do not attempt to do it yourself. Even if the safe is already in your home, it can be dangerous to move on your own and you should strongly consider hiring professionals.
With that said, if you’re still deciding whether or not to move the safe to your basement yourself, consider the following potential dangers:
- Damage to your home or safe. Attempting to move your safe through your home, especially if stairs are involved, without the necessary equipment and experience can damage your property, safe, or your home.
- Damage to your vehicle. This fact only applies if you are planning on handling the pickup of your safe yourself. Most truck tailgates are not intended to support a lot of weight. Therefore, a safe can damage your tailgate, which will cost you must more money to fix than it would to just hire a professional mover.
- Risk of injuries that could be serious or even fatal. With most safes weighing over 500 pounds, you place yourself at risk of hurting yourself or experiencing crushing injuries that warrant medical treatment and time off from work.
How to Move a Safe on Your Own
If, at this point, you’d rather tackle moving the safe to your basement on your own, you want to be prepared with all the necessary equipment to ensure that the process goes smoothly. Preparation for moving the safe yourself involves:
- Obtaining moving equipment that can carry both the size and weight of the safe, including a loading ramp if necessary.
- Checking that the stairs to your basement can withstand the weight of the safe, equipment, and helpers.
- Collecting straps to secure the safe to the moving equipment and using padded blankets to protect the safe, your floors, and your walls.
- Planning out your route and doing a dry run to ensure that the safe will fit through the doors and hallways along the way.
- Gathering a team of strong, capable helpers.
On the day you intend to move the safe to your basement, make sure that you and your helps are all wearing comfortable shoes that will keep your feet protected. You should also have gloves to protect your hands. The best thing you could do for yourself is to make sure that the safe is as light as possible by removing anything inside. Then, close the safe up and lock it before you wrap and secure it tightly to the dolly.
It is absolutely crucial that you don’t rush. This will help you execute the move as safely as possible, especially since you will be guiding down stairs.
Step One: One Step at a Time
Once the safe is secured to the dolly and everyone is ready, allow for two people to guide the safe to the bottom of the dolly as you slowly move it down the stairs one step at a time. To prevent the dolly from slipping during the process, hold the handle firmly. After each step, carefully allow the dolly wheels to come down.
Step Two: Coordination
As you are guiding the safe down the steps into your basement, it’s important that you are coordinating and communicating well with your helpers the entire time. Move slowly and be on the lookout for any sudden movements of the safe.
To keep everyone safe, you must all be aware of when the safe starts to display an imbalance in weight. That way, you can make adjustments accordingly.
Step Three: The Last Step
When you reach the last step to the basement, be sure to practice extra care as the weight of the safe may shift your balance and drive you off of the step. Once on the ground, the safe can now be moved safely into your desired position. Only remove the strap and blanket once the safe is in the right place.
Then, tilt one side of the safe to allow you to slide the dolly out from underneath it.
Safe Moving Safety Precautions
While it is highly recommended to leave safe moving to the professionals, if you still want to do it yourself, there are several safety precautions you must take. First, never attempt to do it alone. There is safety in numbers and you should assemble a team of at least three strong individuals to assist you. You should also:
- Acquire a truck with a tailgate that can withstand the weight of your safe
- Obtain heavy-duty moving equipment, including straps and padded blankets.
- Make sure that the safe you purchase (or already have) will fit in your chosen location.
- Plan the easiest and safest path through your home and into the basement where the safe will be installed.
- Once in place, secure your safe by bolting it into the floor.
If you absolutely must move your safe on your own, be sure to exercise extreme caution while doing it to ensure the safety of yourself, your home, and your helpers.
Jessica considers herself a home improvement and design enthusiast. She grew up surrounded by constant home improvement projects and owes most of what she knows to helping her dad renovate her childhood home. Being a Los Angeles resident, Jessica spends a lot of her time looking for her next DIY project and sharing her love for home design.
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