Can Your Mobile Home Floor Handle a Gun Safe? Know the Risks

As a gun enthusiast, it’s necessary to equip yourself with a gun safe in your house. But if you plan to settle or are living in a mobile home, it turns out to be a fundamental consideration. The reason is that construction professionals do not appreciate the solidity and safety of this type of housing compared to one-place permanent residences. Will a mobile home floor hold a gun safe? The following article will be helpful for your disturbing issue!

Will A Mobile Home Floor Hold A Gun Safe?

Mobile homes are designed to be lightweight and are constructed differently from traditional houses. When it comes to placing a gun safe in a mobile home, several factors need to be considered to ensure the safety of both the safe and the structure itself.

1. Weight Limit: Mobile home floors are typically not as sturdy as those in traditional houses. The ability of a mobile home floor to hold a gun safe largely depends on the weight-bearing capacity of the specific floor area where you intend to place the safe. Mobile home floors can generally support a load of at least 200 pounds per square foot¹. It’s essential to know the weight of your gun safe and distribute it evenly to prevent excessive stress on the floor.
2. Location: The placement of the gun safe matters. You should consult with a professional or the manufacturer of the mobile home to identify load-bearing areas in your specific structure. Placing the safe over support beams or near load-bearing walls can help distribute the weight more effectively.
3. Floor Reinforcement: In some cases, it might be necessary to reinforce the floor beneath the safe to ensure it can safely hold the weight. This can involve adding additional support beams or reinforcing the subfloor.
4. Consult a Professional: If you have concerns about the ability of your mobile home’s floor to support a gun safe, it’s advisable to consult with a structural engineer or contractor who has experience with mobile homes. They can assess your specific situation and recommend the necessary steps to ensure safe placement.
5. Choose a Smaller Safe: If you’re uncertain about your mobile home’s floor capacity, consider opting for a smaller, lighter gun safe. This reduces the risk of overloading the floor and provides added peace of mind.

The good news is mobile homes can contain gun safes at several levels. The majority of consumer-level gun safes measure the weight of 100 pounds per square foot, while floors of mobile homes can withstand loads of a minimum of 200 pounds per square foot. To increase safety, you can equip support to the mobile home floor.

Mobile homes often attract uninvited guests because they are considerably uncomplicated to break into due to their less sturdy flooring design than permanent houses. Fortunately, this is not a serious matter to mobile homes in most circumstances.

If you tend to live or are settling in a mobile home, feel free to have a gun safe in your house, especially when you have small children. Apart from its main function to store firearms, it is also beneficial for saving other valuables such as jewelry or cash from thieves.

A mobile home

What To Consider Before Storing A Gun Safe In A Mobile Home?

If you plan to put a gun safe in your mobile home, you should take these considerations into account.

Size And Weight

Gun safes are fixed objects in one place, which means you cannot move them from one location to another. Before you have every intention to buy a gun safe and put it in your mobile home, you have to assure that it will surely slip the entry. In particular, a desirable gun-safe load should be under 1000lbs.

This kind of house mostly possesses an impressive capacity to hold massive household objects. Their floor joists are 2×6 inches, and their floor deck is usually either 3/4 or 5/8 inches. They can handle loads of approximately 40 lbs per square foot area.

You can completely place a gun safe in the mobile home as long as you pay attention to the weight of the items you intend to put inside it.

Location

Determining the suitable location to put a gun safe is not as easy a task as you think. Dissimilar places in your mobile home offer different levels of protection. You also need to consider the pros and cons between access and convenience.

If the area you live in has frequent break-ins and thefts, you’ll need to prioritize your gun safe in an easily accessible location. In any circumstances where your home often experiences problems related to natural disasters, you should choose a place with high safe storage.

The mobile home floor can tolerate loads of the safe, but you had better settle it above the steel beam for the high safety ability.

Moving the gun safe is a challenging task due to its weight. You may need the help of concrete steps or metal steps to move the gun safe aside and immediately unload it from the truck across the entrance.

See: Is Moving a Gun Safe on Its Back Safe?

Flooring

Before purchasing a gun safe, you should be aware of the load that your mobile home floor can suffer. You can contact construction experts to measure or calculate it yourself. If you have carpeted floors, it’s better to replace them with hard platforms to keep a heavy gun safe.

Bolting Your Safe

It’s a great idea to bolt your gun safe as long as you choose the desired and proper location. This way may be helpful to protect the safe from knocking over when incidents occur in the area you are living in.

See: Does A Gun Safe Have To Be Bolted Down?

A gun safe

How Big a Safe Can a Mobile Home Floor Hold?

A mobile home can hold almost all consumer-level gun safes. For long-term purposes, it’s wiser to calculate the weight of your safe per square foot to ensure that it does not exceed the rated weight limit of the floor.

Safes and Guns Measuring Table

Below is the table that clarifies the measurements and dimensions of typical gun safes you can refer to. Assume your mobile home is new and its floor works in great condition.

Remarkably, a mobile home even can contain a bigger gun safe as the safes are normally wider, which means their weight is spread out floor areas. On the contrary, a tall gun safe will focus more force on the floor than a wide one.

Measure a gun safe

Safe Weight Concentration Calculation

If you need to dig into how to calculate the weight concentration of a gun safe, you can follow this method. When you know the weight and the size of the safe, use the formula below:

• For instance: (20 x 20) / 300 = 0.75

One square foot is worth 144 square inches. If a gun safe measures 0.75 pounds per square inch, this equates to 0.75 * 144 = 108 pounds per square foot.

If the weight of the safe is approximate to the floor weight limit, you should put it on a sturdy base to disperse the weight and reduce pounds per square foot.

A gun safe in the mobile home

What Are The Tips To Ensure Safety For Your Gun Safe In A Mobile Home?

Even though a mobile home can hold almost gun safe at most consumer levels, you better prepare some preventive plans because prevention is better than cure. Below is some beneficial advice to ensure safety for your safe.

• The temperature and humidity of the storage room should not be too high. The main component of the gun is metal, so too high humidity can cause your gun to rust and spoil.
• Only purchase certified gun safes that are fitted out with an alarm.
• It’s advisable to buy a biometric or electronic gun safe rather than a manual one because it’s easy to unlock. See: Guide To Buying A Biometric lock And Biometric Safe Devices!
• If you plan to own an electronic gun safe, remember to set a hard-to-guess password.
• Relevel your mobile home before moving into the gun safe.
• The floor of your mobile home must be solid and complete. If necessary, you may need the help of reinforcement to avoid damage.

Hard-to-guess passwords

FAQs about the weight capacity of floors for gun safes:

1. How much weight can a floor hold for a gun safe?

The weight capacity of a floor for a gun safe varies depending on the type of floor and its construction. In general, a typical residential floor can support a load of at least 200 pounds per square foot. However, it’s essential to consider the specific location and structure of your floor. Consult with a professional or structural engineer to determine the exact weight limit for your floor.

2. How much weight can a trailer floor hold for a gun safe?

The weight capacity of a trailer floor, such as one in a mobile home, depends on the trailer’s design and construction. Most mobile home floors can generally support loads of around 200 pounds per square foot. It’s crucial to distribute the weight of the gun safe evenly to avoid excessive stress on the floor. Consult with experts if you have concerns about your trailer’s floor capacity.

3. Can a house floor support a gun safe?

Yes, a house floor can support a gun safe, but the weight capacity varies depending on the specific floor structure. Most houses have floors that can hold a significant amount of weight, often exceeding the weight of a standard gun safe. However, the precise weight limit depends on factors like the floor’s construction and load-bearing capacity.

4. How do I know if my floor will support a gun safe?

To determine if your floor can support a gun safe, it’s advisable to consult with a structural engineer or a professional with experience in assessing floor weight limits. They can inspect your floor, consider its construction, and provide guidance on safe placement. Additionally, you can check your gun safe’s weight specifications and distribute the weight evenly.

5. Do gun safes bolt to the floor?

Many gun safes come with the option to bolt them to the floor. Bolting a gun safe enhances its security by preventing unauthorized movement or tipping. If you’re concerned about the weight of the safe, bolting it to the floor can also help distribute the load more evenly.

6. Is a gun safe too heavy for a second floor?

The suitability of placing a gun safe on a second floor depends on the floor’s load-bearing capacity and the total weight of the safe. While second floors in most homes can handle the weight of a gun safe, it’s crucial to consult with a structural engineer to assess the specific situation. Reinforcements may be necessary, such as adding support beams or distributing the weight strategically.

Always prioritize safety when placing a gun safe, and seek professional advice if you have concerns about your floor’s capacity to support the safe’s weight.

Final Thoughts 

This article eventually got to the bottom of your question: Will a mobile home floor hold a gun safe? In the end, this kind of house is free to contain almost consumer-level gun safes. However, you should consider some matters related to the gun safe and homes before putting it inside your room.

1. https://mnspect.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Manufactured-Mobile-Home.pdf ↩︎