Anchors set into a standard concrete slab. Not every floor gets these.Post-Tension Slabs, and the One Floor We Will Not Drill
Bolting a safe down is the single highest-leverage security decision you make after choosing the safe. There is one exception in Northern California. If you live in the Sacramento suburban ring, you want to know about it well before delivery day.
Two questions here. Most dealers will only answer one of them straight.
Yes, your safe should be bolted down. Sitting loose on the floor, it is a locked box with wheels. Two people with the right dolly and fifteen minutes of unobserved access can put a 500-pound safe in a vehicle and open it later, somewhere they have all the time they want. The bolts are what turn a locked box into a protection system.
No, we do not anchor to post-tension slabs. Sitting on post-tension concrete, your floor is one we will not drill. That is a firm limit on our end. It is not a scheduling problem and a deposit does not change it. The cables inside that slab hold enough stored tension to injure whoever is holding the drill and crack your foundation, and drilling carefully does not manage that.
Which kind of slab you have is yours to confirm. We need that answer before we bolt a safe to any garage floor, and you want it before you settle on where the safe is going.
Most safe owners picture a burglar trying to lift it. That is not what happens. A crew tips the safe instead, onto a furniture dolly, and a 400-pound problem becomes a 400-pound load on wheels. From there it goes in a vehicle, and the lock gets worked on somewhere with no neighbors and no clock.
Weight creates the illusion of security. Something that feels immovable standing flat becomes manageable the moment it tilts past its balance point. Bolts stop the base from lifting at all. No lift means no tip, and the approach fails before it starts. An unanchored safe, regardless of its rating, is a moving target.
In 2025, California law enforcement prosecuted an organized crew network documented carrying unanchored safes out of 200 residential locations. Sacramento County's property crime rate runs roughly 62 percent above the national average. This is not a theoretical concern in this market.
The base cannot lift, so the dolly attack has no starting point.
An anchored safe cannot be slid across the floor toward an exit.
It cannot be levered away from the wall or corner.
The only remaining approach is a direct assault on the safe body, which takes time and makes noise.
Weight buys you a few minutes. Bolts remove the method that works.
Post-tension concrete uses high-strength steel cables, called tendons, embedded in the slab and pulled tight after the concrete cures. The tension puts the slab under compression, which lets builders pour thinner over longer spans. Across the Sacramento suburban ring it became the standard method during the building boom of the 2000s.
Homes in Roseville, Rocklin, Folsom, El Dorado Hills, Lincoln, Elk Grove, and Rancho Cordova built between 2000 and 2010 are very likely sitting on one. From the surface these slabs look like any other concrete. Once the house is finished there is nothing to see.
Each tendon carries between 24,000 and 33,000 pounds of stored tensile energy. A drill bit that contacts a tensioned cable releases that energy suddenly and without warning. The cable can snap and project from the concrete with force sufficient to cause severe injury or death.
The structural consequence is separate and also serious. A severed tendon can no longer perform its compressive function, which affects the slab's load-carrying capacity and triggers repairs costing tens of thousands of dollars.
This hazard cannot be managed by drilling slowly or carefully. It is not a technique problem.
Look for round concrete patches or metal cap plates, 3 to 4 inches across, every 2 to 4 feet around the slab perimeter. Those are the tendon anchor points. The garage door threshold is the easiest place to spot them, or anywhere else the slab edge is exposed.
Many post-tension slabs carry a construction stamp reading "Post-Tension Slab, Do Not Cut or Core" or something close to it, usually near the garage door entry. Find that stamp and you have your answer.
For homes built after the mid-1990s, the original building permit, your inspection report, or the builder's documentation usually names the slab type outright. Lost the paperwork? Your county building department can pull the permit.
When the markers are inconclusive and the records are gone, a concrete scanning company can map what is inside the slab with ground-penetrating radar. You arrange that service and you pay for it. What it gives you is a report on your own foundation, not a green light for us to drill.
“We do not scan slabs and we cannot tell you what is under your concrete. Your foundation type is yours to determine, and we need that answer before we bolt a safe to any garage floor.”
Plenty of people will drill a post-tension slab for you. We are not one of them. Better you hear that here than from a crew standing in your garage.
The reasoning is short. Being wrong means a severed structural cable, a real chance of injuring whoever is holding the drill, and a foundation repair that costs more than the safe did. We are not willing to put someone's house on that bet. A careful hand does not change the odds.
So on a post-tension slab, we will not put a bit into the concrete. Everything else about your installation stays the same.
What happens instead. You still get the full delivery. We bring the safe in, work it through to the room you want, level it on shims, calibrate the lock, and put you through operating it before we leave. It just does not get bolted to the floor.
Bolting down is the strongest single move available. Rule it out and everything else has to carry more weight. Where the safe goes. What it weighs. What else is protecting that room. Those depend on your house, and they are worth a conversation rather than a checklist.
Call either showroom and we will work through it with you.
On a standard concrete slab this is straightforward. A hammer drill goes through the base holes the manufacturer already put in the safe, concrete wedge anchors set 2.5 to 3.5 inches into the slab, and each one gets torqued to specification. The wedge expands and grips the walls of the hole. Four points, one per corner.
Wood-framed floors change the method. Lag bolts have to reach the joists under the subfloor to hold anything at all. A bolt that stops in plywood decking is decoration, so we find the joists first and place the safe to suit them.
Standard concrete, wood frame, or post-tension. You confirm this before the delivery is scheduled, not on delivery day.
The safe goes to its final location and the base holes are checked against the placement before anything is drilled.
Bit diameter matches the anchor spec, typically 1/2 inch. Depth is 2.5 to 3.5 inches into concrete, or through the subfloor into the joist on wood framing.
Each anchor is tightened to the manufacturer specification and confirmed set.
Anchors checked, safe confirmed level, lock calibrated and tested with you present. The install is not complete until you have operated the lock yourself.
Post-tension is not the only reason a floor cannot be drilled. Leases routinely prohibit it. Some condo and HOA agreements restrict structural modification outright. Radiant heat lines running through concrete or under a floating floor can be wrecked by an anchor hole, and only the installer or the HVAC contractor can tell you where they run.
Raise any of these before your delivery is scheduled, not on the day. Call us with the situation and we will tell you what is possible at your address.
Yes. An unanchored safe can be tipped onto a furniture dolly and wheeled out by two people in under 20 minutes, whatever it weighs. Bolts hold the base down so the tip never starts. Without them, your safe protects against someone opening it in place, not against someone taking the whole thing.
We do not. Norcal will not drill into post-tension concrete under any circumstances. Each tendon in the slab carries 24,000 to 33,000 pounds of stored tension, and a drill bit that finds one can cause serious injury and structural damage costing tens of thousands of dollars. On a post-tension slab we still deliver your safe, place it, and set it up level. It just does not get bolted down.
The bit finds a tendon and releases 24,000 to 33,000 pounds of stored tension without warning. The cable can snap and fire out of the concrete at high velocity, which is how people get badly hurt doing this. The severed tendon also stops carrying its structural load, so the slab loses capacity and the repair becomes a foundation job.
Look for round concrete patches or metal cap plates every 2 to 4 feet around the slab perimeter, easiest to spot at the garage threshold. Many post-tension slabs also carry a stamped warning near the garage door reading "Post-Tension Slab, Do Not Cut or Core." Your building permit or inspection report usually states the slab type directly. Homes in Roseville, Rocklin, Folsom, El Dorado Hills, Lincoln, Elk Grove, and Rancho Cordova built between 2000 and 2010 are commonly post-tension construction.
No. We do not perform slab scanning and we do not arrange it. Your foundation type is yours to determine, and we need that answer before we bolt a safe to any garage floor. When markers and records come up short, a concrete scanning company can produce a report on your slab.
A hammer drill goes through the base holes the manufacturer already put in the safe. Concrete wedge anchors go in and get tightened, expanding inside the hole to grip the walls. Standard depth is 2.5 to 3.5 inches, four points, each torqued to specification. Wood-framed floors use lag bolts into the joists under the subfloor instead.
We anchor every safe we can, and we're upfront the one time we can't. Tell us your city and build year and we'll tell you exactly what your installation looks like.
This guide is part of the series: Safe Delivery & Installation
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