Hope to begin construction of a vault soon. It is to be of concrete block construction with cells reinforced with steel and poured solid. It will be on a slab with a poured ceiling. The exterior dimensions will be 9feet by 10 feet and the door will be a Browning vault door. I have been advised I need to have some type of ventilation and some kind of dehumidification. I live in Georgia so we often have high humidity. I realize this is a relatively small space but all I have experience with is small gunsafes where I use a heated rod in one and chemical desiccant packs in the other. If anyone has experience with a similar structure I would appreciate any suggestion as to what has worked for them. Thanks.

Look at the larger goldenrod specs for cubic feet space they will work in.

Make sure and run suppy and return ducts from your central air system to maintain humidity control and if you don't paint the interior with some sort of vapor barrier or let it cure for several months before you keep guns in it.


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Originally posted by JTEX:
Make sure and run suppy and return ducts from your central air system to maintain humidity control and if you don't paint the interior with some sort of vapor barrier or let it cure for several months before you keep guns in it.
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When we lived in Connecticut I ran a dehumidifier full-time in the basement, with a floor drain. The drain had a sump pump to outside but it was rarely needed.

You guys are making me nervous. I have a safe in my garage. About the only thing I keep in it is a revolver with a great deal of sentimental value. I get the feeling that is not what you would recommend.

Connecticut?!?! TomP, I knew there was something not quite right about you. And your solution was to move to California!?!? No, no, no, no, no! Go halfway back to where you came from and STOP!. That is where you want to live....or just change your "Location Identifier" to Texas or Oklahoma, and we'll pretend you're not lying to us.

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You guys are making me nervous. I have a safe in my garage. About the only thing I keep in it is a revolver with a great deal of sentimental value. I get the feeling that is not what you would recommend.

I know people that do the same thing ( even here on the gulf coast 0 and have no problems.....

But concrete and mortar hold a lot of water and it takes quite a while to evaporate. When I built my vault it took 6 months with a/c and return vents to get the humidity to an acceptable level. I still watch carefully after 2 years.

If I had it to do over I would have painted the cinder block and concrete inside the vaults with a water barrier.

I did do the supply and return air to the central A/C system and I think the air movement helped dry it out faster than it would have without the air movement A/C does a pretty good job of de-humidification.


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Sounds like you have the Cadillac of vaults. Unless you don't like Cadillacs, and then it's more like a BMW or Lexus, or somethin' else that costs a lot of money.

Nah, it's just a reg'lar vault. But thanks.

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