Laminate floors are designed to be durable. They can be made to look like any wood, stone, or printed design. The laminate boards often consist of multiple layers of a composite material with a thin printed sheet on top that's sealed with a protective coating of laminate. It’s possible to install a gun safe on top of a laminate floor. Here are common questions:
Can Laminate Floors Hold a Gun Safe?
When properly installed, laminate flooring can hold a gun safe. You need to know whether your subfloor is wood or concrete. If your home is on a slab, and you don’t have a basement or crawlspace, your sub-flooring is probably concrete.
If you plan to install your safe on the second floor of your home, you should consult with a contractor first. You need to determine if your floor can handle the weight of the gun safe.
Will a Safe Damage Your Laminate Floor?
Today’s laminate floorings are pretty resilient. But you should still be careful. If you need to slide your safe into place be cautious of scratching/scuffing the floor or shifting floating boards out of place. You also need to make sure that the gun safe is placed in a level area to prevent floorboards from buckling.
Will Laminate Floors Damage the Safe?
Laminate floors aren’t very forgiving when it comes to water. If flooding occurs, water can get trapped under your floor or could puddle under your safe. This could cause corrosion damage to the floor of your safe and damage to the safe’s anchors. If you choose not to follow the recommended anchoring, your safe could slide on a laminate floor. This instability may increase the risk of your gun safe tipping over.
How to Protect Your Floor
Even when installed correctly, there’s a chance your new gun safe might cause indentations on laminate flooring. You may want to consider placing a rubber mat under the safe before it is anchored. This minimizes scratches, scuff marks, or indentation marks.
Another option is to use a piece of felt under each corner of the safe. Many of our Liberty Safe dealers use dense, 1/4 inch thick, 4 inch x 6 inch felt pads. These pads have adhesive on one side and stick to the bottom corners of the safe. This helps protect your floors from scratching, and the pads are barely noticeable.
How to Protect Your Safe
When installing your gun safe on laminate flooring, you should follow the recommendations for anchoring. It is vital to use the correct anchors for the type of subfloor beneath the laminate boards. If you have a concrete subfloor, you’ll need anchors designed for concrete rather than wood subfloor anchors.
Liberty’s limited lifetime warranty may not cover damage due to improper installation. Our customer service experts are always ready to answer any questions you may have about properly installing your gun safe and can help you find an installation expert.
