Gun safe and contractors.... ?

[Rich M]

I've put refrigerator or chest cooler boxes over them and folks see a giant box. Moving blanket is another good one.

 

[woods89]

I'm a remodeling contractor with 15 years experience in the industry and 7 years self employed.

"The quote is too good to pass up" is a serious red flag to me, also. I work by myself right now as I am quite picky about the quality of people I bring into my customer's houses, and like another poster said I'm 6 months out and can't seem to shorten my backlog by raising my prices. This is the reality in my industry, at least in my area, and I too would say that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

A lot of construction crews are at least partially ex-cons. I would proceed very carefully.

 

[Mk44]

You're looking to hiring this contractor because he gave you a price on a job that you think "is too good to be true"? That could be a red flag.
From past experience I don't trust any of them (unless they are a friend of mine.)
-The contractor probably has workers that will be doing the work. (unless the contract is doing the work himself.)
- You have a 900 lb safe in the basement where they will be working. imo, whether you empty it or not. if they see the big safe, it tells them you own a lot of guns or expensive stuff. Who's to say the workers won't come back to rob you when you're not home.
- if you can't move the safe to another location, maybe try to disguise it... move it to one side of the basement where they will not be working and cover it with a large refrigerator box. or get a couple sheets of plywood and box it in, put a couple of furniture labels on the outside to pretend it's a piece of furniture.

Maybe you have nothing to worry about. But imo, a little bit of pre-caution is better than having to say I could have done this or that to prevent it.

Story... This woman hires a contractor (which was referred by a friend) to fix some sheet rock and paint her upstairs hallway. Contractor leaves his workers at the jobsite to do the repairs. The woman took the day off from work to be home while they worked. She stayed downstairs while they worked. At the end of the day, workers packed up their things and left. Later that evening, woman decides to check on her jewelery box and notice some of her jewelery is missing. She notices there is white powder (sheetrock dust) finger prints on the jewelery box. she contacts the contractor about the stolen jewelery. He questions his workers and had the worker return the jewelery to the woman.

Another story.. My sister lives in a nice suburban neighborhood. Her neighbor hired a contractor (roofer) to replace their roof. The contractor stops by with his workers and they started working. Contractor leaves to check on another job. The homeowner's husband goes to work. The wife steps out to play tennis and comes back. One of the workers knocks on her door asking for a glass of water. The husband comes home after work. The workers are gone, finished for the day. Husband goes in his bedroom and finds his wife dead & raped. LE did catch the guy, but the wife is dead.

(No one thinks it will/could happen to them, until it does.)

 

[Scrappy]

If I didn’t trust A contractor I wouldn’t want them in my house to begin with. Worst case I’d say leave it, bolt it down, and have them frame it in tight so only access is the door side. That side will be hardest to break in if it ever happens.

You mean you have met a contractor you trust???

 

[Sam Colt]

Cover it. Out of sight; out of mind.
You probably have nothing to worry about from the contractor and workers. What you have to worry about are the guys drinking with one of them when he mentions the big, fancy safe in the house he's working on. If it's covered up, that's less likely to happen.

 

[cuttiebrownbow]

To add to my original post. I put trail cams in my bedrooms that my stuff is stored in that I didn’t feel comfortable leaving unattended to prevent any immediate theft or at least have proof they were in an area they had no reason to be.

Peace of mind is nice. I also have a video security system on the outside of my house so if they do come back prowling i will k ow immediately.

I also don’t let my gf here by herself when the workers are here. She go over to her parents the few times she would be here by herself.

Edit: I remember reading that roofers in particular are more likely to be criminals and or addicted to hard drugs.

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[FLAK]

Your concern is justified. I once had cable TV run out to my man cave in the 3 car garage. The Tech made a few comments as to why I had 2 boats? One week later one of those boats was stolen from under our fully lit carport while we slept. Only the tech would have known we didnt have a little barking dog and he would need to bring a pair of bolt cutters to get the tongue lock off. Be careful who you let in your home these days.

 

[woods89]

You mean you have met a contractor you trust???

There are definitely trustworthy contractors out there.

The old adage applies. There's quick, good, and cheap. You get to pick two of those.

 

[007hunter]

Moving it out of the way and putting a refrigerator box over it is a good idea.

Sad we live in a world now where you can trust nobody.

 

[TruckMonkey]

Refrigerator box is a great idea. Thanks.

 

[Sell33]

You mean you have met a contractor you trust???

lol...Lucky for me I have a brother that does good work.

 

[Jakerex]

How about if those big blow up snow men or pumpkins. Put it around your safe and turn it on. Tell the contractors that your kids or grandkids like it.

I’ve thought the same. You could grab a couple sheets of drywall and some studs and build a quick wall around it. Tell them it’s none of their business when they ask.

I do see your point though.


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[Quin]

I had planned to do everything but drywall and carpet. It’s not that big of a basement so paying a few guys to come frame it on their days off was surprisingly more affordable than I thought.

You guys seem to have more faith in subcontractors not hiring ex convicts than I do

If its not that big, why don't you do it yourself? I also share your concerns and would do it myself if I couldn't get the safe fully hidden (tossing a blanket over it isn't hidden - too easy for curiosity to get the best of someone and sneak a peek).

I do have one question though, I assume someone already came out to the basement to measure for the bid? What did you do then?

 

[WV Mountaineer]

Don't have them do the work. If it bothers you that badly to have these thoughts eating at you.

Seriously, I do not now where you are but, if it is like here, there is more contracting/finishing work being priced right now then I have ever witnessed. So, if they are doing it cheap and its the same in your area, you might have plenty to worry about.

 

[WV Mountaineer]

The first red flag I see in your post is “the quote is too good to pass up.” Also if you get a strange feeling from the contractor, walk away. Always trust your gut. As a drywall contractor I’ll get homeowners or generals who will say they’ve got a quote cheaper from other contractors and ask if I can do it for their price and I’ll pass on the job. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve got a call back to come in and finish the job cause they under bid it and walked off or done a piss poor job and I’ll get asked to come back and clean up a crappy job. I’m not saying they will, but I’m wary of super cheap people leaving a customer high and dry. Good work ain’t cheap and cheap work ain’t good.

Bingo. I priced a metal roof back in April. The homeowner told me he was getting several estimates. He called a week or so later telling me he appreciated my bid but, he was going with someone else. This someone else didn't have a contractors license or insurance. Which is why I assumed he had beat me on the bid. As we talked, the homeowner told me the guy he chose asked for $2000 upfront to purchase materials. I cringed a bit because that wouldn't buy the materials by a long shot. I asked him why he gave it ti him knowing the materials were much more then that. He knew that because I told him the material costs in my proposal. He said the guy told him he'd cover half upfront and get the rest of material cost on final payout. I wished him luck on his choice and, told him to call me back if it fell through

Making a longer story shorter, I put that roof on three weeks ago. The guy took his money and never came back. So, beware with thing that sound to good to be true. No license and no insurance is a red flag. So, if the OP is using men without both, there is little recourse if things go wrong. And, I hope things go well for the OP. They likely will. but there are reasons a certified legit contractor never prices things to good to be true. Its a full time job to vet and drug test potential employees. Not ot mention the fees legitimate contractors must pay in comparison.

 

[Terrapin]

Leave the safe slightly ajar. Leave a rusty old marlin 22 with a missing magazine tube, and a beat up 870 with a cracked stock, four boxes of mismatched Walmart ammo and an old set of mis-collimated bushnell binoculars ... you can borrow mine if you need them.

They’ll peak in and be disgusted; then they’ll leave all your crap alone.


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[CJohnson]

I'm glad I'm not in residential construction. I hate when people go with the cheaper price without doing any kind of due diligence or scope of work development. Then when the contractor has an accident and messes something up, doesn't finish the job, doesn't answer the phone, runs away with their money, etc. they hop on social media with a big sob story about how all contractors are bad people and can't be trusted, yada, yada, yada. When in reality, they got exactly what they paid for.

 

[Frank Grimes]

I'm glad I'm not in residential construction. I hate when people go with the cheaper price without doing any kind of due diligence or scope of work development. Then when the contractor has an accident and messes something up, doesn't finish the job, doesn't answer the phone, runs away with their money, etc. they hop on social media with a big sob story about how all contractors are bad people and can't be trusted, yada, yada, yada. When in reality, they got exactly what they paid for.

I often hire contractors for jobs I don’t have the time to do, or skill. I always try to use a local reputable contractor. Usually not the cheapest, but they have insurance and they guys I use are always available after the job is done if I have a question or concern. The owner gave me his personal number. So not only does the job get done right, I help support local business. If you don’t support them, eventually they are not there.
If you don’t feel you can trust them, don’t use them.

 

[Dave0317]

I had a buddy that completed a project on a gun room/man cave type thing. His method for dealing with this was to tell the contractors up front that a condition of them working there is that you will need a name, phone number, and address for each employee that enters the house. If they get nervous about that, tell them to get lost. He keeps a list of every guest that sees the room too. Which he is pretty selective about. If you get burglarized, give the list to the police.

 

[GunsAreFun]

See if you can get a refrigerator box and put it around it. Or, I’d cover it with blankets and put a bunch of crap on and around it like totes and bookshelves so it just looks like storage.