The majority of floors in modern structures, including raised floors, are more than adequate to support the load of a gun safe, even those weighing over 1,000 pounds.
A few definitions now and we can move on:
Safety factor is a measurement with which your floor was designed to support loads without collapsing. Most homes have a safety factor of 40 PSF (pounds per square foot).
Floors are usually designed for a nominal 30psf to 40 psf live load. Example: a 10x10′ room designed for 30 psf can handle 3,000 pounds of people, evenly distributed across it.
A good, heavy-duty gun safe can weigh more than 1,000 pounds. That's a lot of weight on your second-story floor. You don't want a safe falling through your ceiling. If you want your safe on the second floor, make sure to have the floor and ceiling below it evaluated for support strength.
High-quality vinyl or linoleum floors are very durable. However, lesser quality materials can rip or tear very easily or show indentations from heavy objects, like a gun safe. You may want to consider anchoring your safe on a base or a rubber mat to protect your flooring.
Most building codes are based on the International Residential Code (IRC). Following these specifications, all floors in those non-sleeping rooms have a minimal live floor load of 40 pounds per square foot. Any sleeping rooms must be able to support a live load of 30 pounds per square foot.
For example, a properly designed office floor can support 50 pounds per square foot. This may seem light, but this is 50 pounds over each and every square foot of floor space. It does not mean that a 300 lb. lineman standing on one leg will fall through the floor.
We are regularly asked if a safe should be bolted to the floor. The answer is easy – YES, it should be! Whether it's a home safe, gun safe, jewelry safe, or any other kind of safe, bolting it down gives you more security.
The short answer is yes. It's your choice where your safe is installed. Our delivery team can and has installed safes on the second story of homes and office buildings. Your safe could also be installed on the third story, fifth story or tenth story.
In Case of Burglary
It should be out of plain view and built into the structure of the house. We suggest putting it in a coat closet or guest bedroom closet. The safe should be located in the wall and covered with a door that blends in, or cabinetry can be constructed around it to match the closet.
Excessive Weight on a Floor
For example, a floor of an office building is generally designed to hold a lot more weight than a floor in a residential home. However, if load-bearing supports are not installed properly, this can cause a floor to collapse.
Construction Code specifies “Live Loads” 40 pounds per square foot. It also specifies a deflection of the floor joist. If your floor has a 16 foot span between load bearing walls, and the floor joists are spaced at 16 inches, and the joists are 2x12's you are allowed at that load to deflect 0.52 inches.
After some research, I discovered that an upstairs floor in a modern home (this may not apply to older homes) is rated to hold between 30 and 40 lbs. per square foot. Using some quick math and a good bit of Googling, I figured out that my little upstairs bedroom could safely hold quite a bit of weight.
Burglars or home invaders won't even bother tampering or trying to remove them. They also are not as common, so most won't even know where to begin looking for them. Each floor safe location is also entirely unique to the home depending on its foundation. This, again, deters theft.
Conclusion. Aquariums up to 55 gallons can be placed almost anywhere without much worry at all. Many tanks larger than 55 gallons and no more than 125 gallons will be okay, if they are placed in a good structural location and your floor framing is free from significant defects.
How well built is your floor? If you have a strong structural foundation and no defects in the framing, you can likely put up to a 125-gallon tank upstairs with no problems! Anything larger such as a 200- or 300-gallon tank should never be placed on an upper level without extra bracing or reinforcing the floor first.
And most of the time it shouldn't be a problem. It would help to know something about the dimensions of the safe (particularly the dimensions of the base), and the construction of the house. If your sub-floor is 3/4" plywood, and your floor joists are on 16" centers, you shouldn't have a problem.
Pros of living on the top floor
Top floors are also comparatively safer, as it is easier for unfriendly objectionable elements to break into the ground floors. However, it completely depends on the construction and the security measures taken by the management of the residential society.
For residential floors, the live load is usually considered to be 30 to 40 pounds per square foot (psf), although this varies depending on the location within the home. First-floor live loads have higher requirements than second-floor live loads (40 pounds per square foot vs. 30 psf).
Pros - Great for concealing your valuables and provides very good protection against both burglary attacks and fire. Cons - Installation is messy, and is time and labor intensive. Safe location within the house is often too inconvenient for regular use.
If the receptacle weighs less than 150 kilograms when it is empty, it must be bolted to the structure of the premises. When firearms are stored in the receptacle, it must be locked with a lock of sturdy construction.
You can use any heavy-duty cable or chain to secure your vault, especially if your safe has mounting holes that can accommodate one. This approach isn't as secure as bolting your safe to the floor, but it is better than leaving it free-standing.
Carbon fiber reinforcement
The carbon fiber cloth is evenly pasted on the bottom of the floor slab and bonded to the floor and the beam as a whole, and the weight on the floor is transferred to the beam through the stretching of the carbon fiber, so as to improve the load bearing of the floor.
One 2x12 can support about 180 lbs. per foot or about 2,100 lbs. total for a 12' span. However, the code allows increases for short duration loading, (i.e.: snow loading less than 7 days, etc.)
Traditionally bathroom floors are built to withstand the pressure of an average bathtub (full), but in some cases the floor can be weak, or if you are looking at getting a larger tub, you might need to look into reinforcing the flooring.