Safe repair is never cheap. Depending on the type of safe, and the issues you have, it can take two or three men just to work on the safe repair. Worst case, you could have to drill the safe open and replace it altogether.

So how can you keep your safe in tip-top shape? Our resident safe technician Ian Greene has six things you should do to keep your safe repair bill to a minimum.

Six Ways to Avoid Safe Repair Issues

1. Do Not Leave the Door Open

If you held a bag of potting soil with your arms straight out, your arms would get tired after a short period of time. You would involuntarily lower your arms and lose your grip.

The same holds true for safe doors. They are heavy, especially high-security and fire-resistant safes. They are made of steel and often have a thick protective layer made of various materials ranging from concrete, to ball bearings, to glass. The door also houses all of the bolt work.

If you leave the door open, you will put an enormous amount of stress on the hinges, which eventually causes alignment issues. Safe repair that deals with alignment is typically very expensive because the door has to be removed from the hinges to repair the issue.

2. Don’t Close the Door with Bolt Work Extended

This is definitely something I have done with my home safe on accident. It’s easy to release the bolt work, forget, and try to close the door. However, when the bolt work slams against the safe, you will regret it. You can almost hear the inner bolt work going out of alignment.

3. Ensure that the Closing Path is Clear

Have you ever put a towel rack over the top of a door and tried to close the door? It usually gets stuck, doesn’t it?

This is also the case with safe doors, but with a much more frustrating outcome. Safe doors have such a small space tolerance, they can easily jam on items left in their way.

4. If You Have an Electronic Keypad, Don’t Set Liquids on the Safe

Yes, this is obvious, but unfortunately it happens often enough that this has earned a spot on our list.

Electronic keypads are just like any other electronic device; if they get wet, they will malfunction. If you set liquids on top of the safe, you are just asking for trouble.

5. Get your Safe Serviced Annually

This may seem like a tiny and annoying thing on your checklist, but it’s actually pretty important. A safe technician should annually inspect your safe to keep you from spending lots of money down the road on safe repair bills.

Safe technicians will clean and lubricate the lock, inspect alignment, ensure the inner workings of the safe are in proper operation, and check for any corrosion that naturally occurs in fireproof safes.

6. Replace Batteries with High Quality Batteries

One of the most common safe repair issues we see has to do with batteries. Batteries die and people cannot gain entry into the safe.

Be sure you change your batteries at least once a year and use brand name batteries. Generic batteries will drain much faster than brand names such as Energizer and Duracell.

Do you have regular safe repair issues? If not, what things do you do to prevent them? Let us know in the comments!