Does anyone have a Safe behind a picture??
Discussion
Hi all. I have some documentation that I've been told has to be kept in a fireproof Safe. I've looked at a load of options now, and any Safe of the appropriate size would take up some a fair bit of floor space, and probably look unsightly!! So, I've decided to look into having a Safe installed in an old unused Chimney Breast in my Dining Room. Obviously with a nice Picture in front of it!! Lol. I'll also take the opportunity to keep any other important items in there, Car Keys, Passport, any cash or jewellery etc. I have to admit, I'm looking forward to this! Kinda James Bond!! Lol. Has anyone else done this??
If anybody broke in and was specifically looking for something like that then the picture frame will be the first thing they look at. Just put it in an envelope obscured in a filing cabinet full of other stuff, nobody thinks to look there.
I know someone who ran his own gardening business and usually got paid in cash and would keep his cash in a safe which was sat on the sideboard until friday, when he'd go and pay it into the bank. One day he left over £1000 in a bag on top of the safe, forgot to put it in. The following day he came home from work to find his back door had been forced and his safe had been stolen. But the bag of cash was still on the sideboard. The thieves never noticed it because it was staring them in the face.
Incidentally, the safe was empty at the time.
I know someone who ran his own gardening business and usually got paid in cash and would keep his cash in a safe which was sat on the sideboard until friday, when he'd go and pay it into the bank. One day he left over £1000 in a bag on top of the safe, forgot to put it in. The following day he came home from work to find his back door had been forced and his safe had been stolen. But the bag of cash was still on the sideboard. The thieves never noticed it because it was staring them in the face.
Incidentally, the safe was empty at the time.
C'mon! I'm looking forward to this novelty!! Lol. The thing is, I need a Safe for some documentation, and it has to be fireproof. I don't see the point in buying one of the small fireproof box type safes, as if someone does break in, they'll just take that with them!! Something more permanent has to be the way, and by building it into a wall will stop them carrying it away.
On a totally unreleated note, i was watching a show on discovery a few weeks back about IED's and booby traps.
During the war, when retreating, the Germans would sometimes rig explosives to a picture frame inside a house, then put the picture at an angle so it wasn't straight.
A british officer would come along, see the picture and be annoyed by it, so would straighten it, setting off the explosives. Sneaky stuff.
Come to think of it, maybe it's not unreleated at all, and maybe you can take something from this.
During the war, when retreating, the Germans would sometimes rig explosives to a picture frame inside a house, then put the picture at an angle so it wasn't straight.
A british officer would come along, see the picture and be annoyed by it, so would straighten it, setting off the explosives. Sneaky stuff.
Come to think of it, maybe it's not unreleated at all, and maybe you can take something from this.
parapaul said:
Pretty sure this shouldn't be in GG...
While I completely agree that sometimes, in plain sight is the best place to hide something, the OP says his documentation has to be kept in a fireproof safe. Presumably that's for insurance purposes to preserve it if the house burnt down?
Where should I have posted PP??While I completely agree that sometimes, in plain sight is the best place to hide something, the OP says his documentation has to be kept in a fireproof safe. Presumably that's for insurance purposes to preserve it if the house burnt down?
Yeah, fireproof for Insurance purposes. I agree with things being in obvious places, sometimes that last place someone looks! However as I need a Safe, making it a fixture rather than portable seems like the best option.
My Grandparents had a safe installed in their cloakroom, it is about 2ft x 2ft x 3ft high and covered by a tablecloth.
I only noticed it was a safe when I was about 14 years old, until then I just thought it was a table with a plant on top! I never thought anything of it! It is bolted into the floor and walls so I think it would be nigh on impossible to get into it or remove it completely!
You can imagine my excitement when I found it and asked my Grandfather about it, shortly followed by disappointment when he offered to show me what's inside only to find a load of paperwork and not the piles of gold bars that I expected!
I only noticed it was a safe when I was about 14 years old, until then I just thought it was a table with a plant on top! I never thought anything of it! It is bolted into the floor and walls so I think it would be nigh on impossible to get into it or remove it completely!
You can imagine my excitement when I found it and asked my Grandfather about it, shortly followed by disappointment when he offered to show me what's inside only to find a load of paperwork and not the piles of gold bars that I expected!
martin84 said:
I know someone who ran his own gardening business and usually got paid in cash and would keep his cash in a safe which was sat on the sideboard until friday, when he'd go and pay it into the bank. One day he left over £1000 in a bag on top of the safe, forgot to put it in. The following day he came home from work to find his back door had been forced and his safe had been stolen. But the bag of cash was still on the sideboard. The thieves never noticed it because it was staring them in the face.
Incidentally, the safe was empty at the time.
I have a £20 Argos safe with a brick in it that sits unsecured on a bookshelf for this very reason Incidentally, the safe was empty at the time.
How about modifying a Billy bookcase from Ikea, make it a secret sliding unit when you pull a certain book which opens to reveal your strong room in the chimney breast. You can probably get most of the bits from Screwfix and you'll need a sample of a low hum to play when the unit is moving - see any 70's-80's James Bond film for this.
I have a fireproof safe, it's of the type you find in hotels with numeric keypad - cost about £100. It's conveniently located inside our fitted wardrobes aganst an external wall. It's secured to the wall with heavy-duty 6" screws which were supplied with the safe. These were so big that one needed to use a socket fitted to a T-bar to screw them into the brick - I can assure you it's going nowhere! 
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