Vault Door Recommendations

[McCree]

We're in the beginning stages of a home project, poured the basement today, and I need some recommendations for a good vault/safe room door. Anyone with experience have any recommendations? Thanks,

 

[Theringworm]

All depends on how much you want to spend. IMO, Brown Safe is top tier followed by Graffunder. These two are way ahead of the rest of the pack. Next I would look at Liberty, Fort Knox & American Security.

 

[Dukhtr3]

I don't have any input on a door but I pour residential concrete for a living. I strongly recommend putting a floor drain in the vault room or a drain pipe so you can install a dehumidifier in it if necessary.

Sent from my Pixel 10 Pro XL using Tapatalk

 

[repins05]

Agree that at the top Brown and Graffunder. I have installed several Graffunders.

I wouldn't get stuck on a "name brand" if you are focused on security. Look at the construction of the door and in particular the gauge of plate steel being used.

If the door is primarily to protect from fire then quite a few of the vault doors on the market will probably fit your needs.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Graffunder

 

[Chris in TN]

The sky is the limit on what you can spend here.

We went with a Sturdy Safe vault door. I'd do it again. It's more utilitarian in finish but I like it overall.
I will say this - when you build your vault, be absolutely certain that your concrete crew knows what they are doing. We poured with the door 'in place', built into the concrete forms before the pour and there was no room for error. I, and my builder spent a whole lot of hours getting the door and doorframe 'right' before the day of the pour. Not close, but 'right'. I basically held my breath for the entire pour and many hours afterwards - really, until the day came that I could pull the buck off the door and see if it opened. It did. It's perfect. But that didn't happen on accident.

 

[Geewhiz]

Out of curiosity will this vault have a concrete ceiling as well as walls and floor? I have seen many "vaults" with big heavy doors and concrete walls only to have a typically framed wood floor/ceiling above it. Makes me laugh.

 

[huntsman22]

find an old turn-of-the-century San Francisco bank vault door that survived the devastating earthquake and fire.....

 

[turbobrick]

I can get you a price on an AMSEC with minimal markup if you're interested. They just changed to a new style of door, its supposed to be even easier to install than the previous generation.

 

[displacedtexan]

The sky is the limit on what you can spend here.

We went with a Sturdy Safe vault door. I'd do it again. It's more utilitarian in finish but I like it overall.
I will say this - when you build your vault, be absolutely certain that your concrete crew knows what they are doing. We poured with the door 'in place', built into the concrete forms before the pour and there was no room for error. I, and my builder spent a whole lot of hours getting the door and doorframe 'right' before the day of the pour. Not close, but 'right'. I basically held my breath for the entire pour and many hours afterwards - really, until the day came that I could pull the buck off the door and see if it opened. It did. It's perfect. But that didn't happen on accident.

Poured in place doors aren't uncommon, or hard...

If they know what they're doing, they won't bat an eye.

 

[chaser_2332]

I just installed an inswing homeland, it seems to fit needs well

 

[jtg88]

I had a custom vault door built by Sturdy Safe. It's a no-frills type door but it does the job and no one is getting through it without a torch or some serious safe cracking abilities.

 

[Chris in TN]

Poured in place doors aren't uncommon, or hard...

If they know what they're doing, they won't bat an eye.

I agree that it’s no big deal for an experienced crew. My fear is that if someone hires an inexperienced crew that needs the money, they might not bat an eye either, even though maybe they should.

I had to make someone tear out about 10 yards of concrete one time due to what I would call a rookie mistake. They owned up to it and handled the entire thing well. But that’s easy when it’s a flat parking pad. Much less easy when it’s in your house.

 

[Wheels]

May want to think about an in swinging door if it’s your safe room. Building collapse and you’re in the safe room, you can get out if the door opens in.

 

[Theringworm]

May want to think about an in swinging door if it’s your safe room. Building collapse and you’re in the safe room, you can get out if the door opens in.

100% correct. Swing-in door is the answer here.

 

[Beendare]

I'm curious, what is the range of cost/ prices for these Vault doors?

 

[Theringworm]

$3k would be very low end, not offering a lot as far as protection or fire rating. The top tier upper end can go as high as $25-30k or even higher based on security features, thickness fire ratings etc.

 

[displacedtexan]

I agree that it’s no big deal for an experienced crew. My fear is that if someone hires an inexperienced crew that needs the money, they might not bat an eye either, even though maybe they should.

I had to make someone tear out about 10 yards of concrete one time due to what I would call a rookie mistake. They owned up to it and handled the entire thing well. But that’s easy when it’s a flat parking pad. Much less easy when it’s in your house.

Fair enough.

I just didn't want to scare people away from a very strong way of putting a door in, because it seems to carry a lot of difficulty.

I've seen people pour steel in so the door can be welded in... A lot of additional time and money for something that's no stronger, and not guaranteed to be problem free.

 

[Chris in TN]

Fair enough.

I just didn't want to scare people away from a very strong way of putting a door in, because it seems to carry a lot of difficulty.

I hadn't considered that angle at all and I think it's good that you mentioned it. Excellent point - pouring with the door in place locks the door into the vault body in a way that's hard (nigh impossible) to do afterwards. That's why mine was done that way, I'd wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone else, and I'd do it all over again - and if I can do it so can the average guy, if he'll take his time and think it through. I wasn't posting to scare anyone away from pouring in place - by all means, do it that way.

Also, FWIW, when I asked the nice lady at Sturdy Safe for pointers on how to best approach pouring it in place, she said 'we don't recommend it'. I told her we were doing it that way anyway. A minute later I have the owner of the company on the phone and he laid it out in a way an idiot could understand.

 

[displacedtexan]

I hadn't considered that angle at all and I think it's good that you mentioned it. Excellent point - pouring with the door in place locks the door into the vault body in a way that's hard (nigh impossible) to do afterwards. That's why mine was done that way, I'd wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone else, and I'd do it all over again - and if I can do it so can the average guy, if he'll take his time and think it through. I wasn't posting to scare anyone away from pouring in place - by all means, do it that way.

Also, FWIW, when I asked the nice lady at Sturdy Safe for pointers on how to best approach pouring it in place, she said 'we don't recommend it'. I told her we were doing it that way anyway. A minute later I have the owner of the company on the phone and he laid it out in a way an idiot could understand.

Doors are really just some simple geometry.

If you're willing to think about them.

And apparently lots of people aren't.