How Do Hidden Underfloor Safes Work in Your home?

Without thinking, most people instinctively know that the safest way to store their most precious things, is to hide them somewhere ‘out of sight’.

Hamber Safes were developed with this natural human impulse in mind, and offer the security conscious customer with a fully-concealed alternative to a conspicuous, traditional floor-standing safe.

Rather than sitting above the floor in the corner of a room, catching the attention of anybody that might enter that room, a Hamber underfloor safe is designed to be fitted underneath the floor, encased in a block of solid, reinforced concrete.

When properly installed, a Hamber underfloor safe is therefore virtually invisible, with a discrete flush-with-the-floor dust cover the only evidence of installation (the dust cover is then simply concealed under a carpet, rug, tile or floorboards, or better still, the safe can be fitted in an out of sight location, such as inside a cupboard).

Installation is simple, and can be undertaken by a competent DIY enthusiast, handyman or builder, using the full installation instructions that are provided with every underfloor safe.

Each safe consists of 2 main components: a fully-removeable, highly-engineered ‘door’ and a robust ‘vault’ that is permanently fitted below the floor.

To use the safe, you simply unlock and fully remove the ‘door’, place your valuables inside the ‘vault’, drop the ‘door’ back in to the collar (in any direction) and then re-lock. For peace of mind, the key cannot be removed unless the safe is fully locked. This entire operation can all be done with one hand, thanks to our innovative and originally patented design.

Made and assembled in Essex, UK by hand, using the finest available materials, and fully supported by our experienced and helpful Essex-based team, a Hamber underfloor safe represents the ultimate in the concealed and secure storage of your valuables, for a fraction of the potential cost of a burglary.

Frequently Asked Questions

Please see below a selection of questions and answers that we are commonly asked by our customers.

Installation can be simply carried out by any competent DIY enthusiast, or alternatively by a handyman or general builder. Full installation instructions are provided with each safe.

A Hamber Safe can be installed by any competent DIY enthusiast, handyman or builder. We are however in the process of reintroducing our own installation service and anticipate that this will be available again in 2020.

A Hamber Safe can be fitted under any type of floor, whether constructed using timber joists with floorboards or more modern concrete slab, block and beam. The safe will be invisible above floor wherever it is fitted. For maximum security however, an installation location away from normal ‘foot fall’ is best, such as in the corner of a room, or the floor inside of a cupboard.

Yes. Although an underfloor location represents the most secure way of installation, a Hamber Safe can if necessary be fitted above the ground in a reinforced concrete cube. In the past our customers have fitted safes in various different above floor locations, with various ingenious methods of disguise (e.g. disguised as a window seat).

We offer several different ranges of underfloor safe, each of which is suited to the different needs of our customers. The ‘Minder’ is our all time best selling safe, the ‘Caretaker’ provides storage for larger items (including many laptop computers), and the ‘Dreadnought ABP’ is the ultimate in secure underfloor storage. Each range is available with various size ‘vaults’ and the removeable ‘doors’ can be supplied with traditional key locking or alternatively with mechanical or electronic combination locking.

Our underground safes are available to view, before purchasing, in a display at our Essex headquarters. Please contact us if this is of interest to make an appointment. A ‘reserve and collect service’ is also available for customers who would prefer to collect a safe in person, providing minimal personal details, and paying upon collection, by card or cash.

Although our underfloor safes are hand manufactured to the highest possible mechanical engineering standards, they are purposely electronically ‘low-tech’ and cannot in any way be connected to the internet or operated by an app (even safes that are fitted with electronic combination locking). We can therefore guarantee that our safes are not electronically locatable due to internet connectivity and that your usage of them is not monitored or tracked in any way by us, or any other third party.

Although a Hamber underfloor safe is designed to provide many years of trouble-free operation, it is a mechanical item of equipment and, as with all mechanical equipment, there are a few things that owners should keep in mind to ensure it’s continued reliability:

  • Always keep the flush, floor-level dust cover in place to prevent dust, detritus and particles from finding their way in to the connecting transitional neck section and falling on to the safe door.
  • On underfloor safes that are locked by a key, make sure that the ‘key escutcheon plate’ (the metal oval data plate that is fitted on a pivoted rivet over the keyhole), is located to cover the keyhole at all times. This will prevent dust and detritus from entering the safe mechanism.
  • If the safe is not in regular operation, try to open and close the safe (by completely removing and then refitting the door), every few months. This will ensure that the mechanism stays free running.
  • NEVER, ever, spray or squirt, liquid or aerosol lubricants of any kind (including ‘WD40’), into the safe door mechanism. The safe door is precision made to operate with minimal lubrication and is factory pre-lubricated with a long-lasting and approved lubricant grease. The introduction of additional, non-approved lubricants can cause this grease to be dissolved. Likewise, additional liquid or aerosol lubricants can also cause dust and detritus to accumulate within the safe and this can eventually lead to the mechanism binding-up and seizing.
  • In the event that problems are experienced with the locking and unlocking of your safe, place the open end of a vacuum cleaner hose over the key hole for a few minutes. This may remove any dust or detritus that has found its way into the safe door and, in many cases, will solve any operation problems. If this measure does not rectify the problem, please call our team on 01621 862517. Note: Compressed air is available in small spray cans and can also be used for this purpose.
  • Once your new safe is 5 years old, consider having the door regularly serviced by us at our Essex based factory and service centre. This will ensure that it is always in optimum operational condition.

Your investment in a Hamber underfloor safe is not lost if you decide to move home at a future time, as you can remove your safe door when you move out, and take it with you (leaving the original vault behind, still concreted into the floor). Then, contact our team, purchase a new vault, install this in your new home, and simply slip the original door into the new vault.

If you contact us once you’ve exchanged contracts (and not yet moved), we’ll send you a card to place in the old vault, to let the new owner know what the vault is, and advising them that they can quickly use it as a safe by buying a door from us. If they take us up on this, we’ll even give you both a discount of 10% against your purchases.

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