The Ultimate Guide to Basement Gun Rooms - Essentials and Ideas

If you’ve thought about small gun room ideas for your home, you’ve probably realized that there are many options. From doors to walls to how you will display your collection, you might be overwhelmed by the choices. The good news is we’ve broken it down for you. Keep reading to learn how to build and equip a DIY gun room.

How to Build a Secure Gun Room - Basement or Otherwise

Below, we will walk through the basic steps to building a secure gun room. Make sure you keep your gun vault room ideas in mind and incorporate them into your planning.

1. Identify the Location To Build Your Custom Gun Room

The first step is to choose a location for your gun room, whether it’s in your basement or elsewhere in your home. The basement tends to be a good location because it often contains some little-used space, it’s a place where burglars are not going to look right away, and it’s easy for people to assume that it’s just another mechanical room behind that door.

2. Select Gun Room Vault Door

The second step is choosing the door for your gun room. A vault door is a secure option to keep prying eyes out of your firearm collection. The main thing here is security, whether your door has a biometric lock, passcode, or tried and true key lock.

3. Plan Window and Wall Armoring

Reinforcing the windows and walls in your basement gun room adds an extra layer of security. It prevents thieves from discovering the location of your gun room and simply breaking through a wall or window to bypass your vault door.

Whether you use steel, concrete, or sheetrock for the walls, try to think of ways thieves would break in and plan accordingly.

4. Fireproofing

Now that you’ve got security taken care of, think about other threats to your firearms, such as fire. Incorporate fireproof or fire-resistant materials into building your basement gun room. Limit furnishing in the room that can burn, and consider a fireproof safe within the room to store high-value, antique, or highly sentimental guns.

5. Display Your Weapons

Let’s get to it. The real reason for this room is to display your guns. Assess your collection and decide which guns you want on display. Choose appropriate mounts or other display methods for each one.

Spartan Blog: Storing Guns - Everything You Need to Know

The Ten Essentials of a Basement Gun Room

Once you have the room built, it’s time to fill it with all the essentials to keep it secure and enjoy it to the utmost.

Below, we listed some essentials to consider for your gun room.

1. Design and Building

The overall design of your gun vault is important. You need to consider where it will be placed in your home for both access and security while ensuring that it can even be built properly in that location without damaging your home or hurting the overall design of the gun room. 

2. Hidden Door

Even though your gun room has a vault door, it’s not immune from attack. The best form of security for your gun room is invisibility. If people think the door is leading into a mechanical or laundry room, or if the door isn’t readily visible, they won’t know there’s something valuable there to try to get into.  The customer above chose to hide his valuables inside a Pepsi vending machine!

3. Vault Door

The vault door is your main defense against anyone trying to access your firearm collection. You want a vault door that is both secure and will offer you space to move guns in and out without trouble. Also, consider how the door will swing open: will there be room for it to open without hitting a concrete wall, countertop, or support beam?

4. Standalone Gun Safe

If your collection is extensive, you may not be able to have every piece on display. You may also have firearms that are irreplaceable, whether due to monetary or sentimental value. A fireproof gun safe within your room gives you a place to store extra or high-value weapons to give them added protection against both fire and theft.

5. Gun Racks and Mounts

A lot of the fun of having a gun vault is the ability to have your firearm collection on display rather than locked away in a gun safe. Look into gun mounts so that you can have your favorite guns displayed on the wall for your enjoyment.

6. Gun Cabinet

A gun cabinet is a stand-alone unit like a gun safe, but it’s generally made of steel mesh panels that you can padlock. These can add an additional level of security within your gun room.

7. Dehumidifier

Moisture is always a consideration for gun storage, especially in your basement gun room, where there tends to be more humidity. A small dehumidifier can maintain an ideal environment for your guns and ammo.

8. Cleaning Station

Keeping your guns in good condition involves cleaning them. Even stored guns need cleaning every six months. A dedicated gun-cleaning station inside your gun room can make this task quicker and simpler.

9. Gun Vise

A gun vise in your workstation holds your guns steady, allowing you to work on or clean them easily. Make sure you choose a model that will fit your variety of guns and won’t mar their finish.

10. Lighting

You’ll want to have some different kinds of lighting in your gun room. From accent lighting to highlight some of the special pieces in your collection to task lighting at your workstation to make cleaning your guns easier, there are options for every need. Don’t forget about safe lights, which allow you to see everything in your gun safes more easily.

Equip Your Basement Gun Room With High-Quality Mounts

After security, the main reason you want a gun room is likely so you can enjoy having your collection on display rather than locked away out of sight.

Make sure you display each piece of your collection to its fullest advantage by purchasing high-quality gun mounts.

Imagine the satisfaction of having your rifles mounted on one wall, your handguns mounted on another, and maybe some antique, rare, or sentimental pieces front and center. It’s starting to come together in your mind’s eye, isn’t it? Now, take that vision and make it real.

Spartan Blog: Gun Display Ideas

FAQs About Building Basement Gun Rooms

When considering DIY gun room ideas, it’s vital to consider any questions that might arise. Below are some answers to questions you might have.

How do you build a safe room wall?

The ideal with a safe room wall is to make it as impenetrable as possible. Steel is probably the strongest option. Concrete walls are a great option as well and fairly easy to install. You can also use sheetrock to provide some fire resistance.

 A gun vault in the basement can have an advantage here. If you choose a corner of a traditional basement, two walls are already surrounded by earth and not vulnerable, leaving only the other two walls to reinforce.

Can you put a gun safe on an exterior wall?

Yes, an exterior wall is an ideal location for a basement gun safe room due to the security offered by being underground. For upper floors, make sure to fortify the outer walls against break-ins.

If you have a damp basement, the walls will tend to hold moisture, so make sure to install extra precautions against corrosion

Is it important to build a gun safe room?

Yes, if you have an extensive collection of firearms or wish to display them. Safety is the primary concern, especially if children live in your home, and a gun safe room keeps weapons out of their grasp while keeping them organized and useful.

Is gun safe ok in the basement?

Yes, you can have a gun safe in your basement. However, you will want to consider moisture. Many traditional basements are prone to flooding or high humidity, both of which can pose a threat to your guns and ammunition.

If you have a finished basement, you don’t need to worry so much about moisture, but if your basement has concrete walls and floors, think about methods of keeping it dry. A dehumidifier can help, and you may also want to elevate the safe off the floor in case of flooding.

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