Recently we have been selling vault doors across the country, more than ever before. This is a reflection of increasing home construction, and also an increase in the number of homeowners who want the security of an in-house vault room.
If you dream of having your own vault room, be really careful of what door you buy! There are a number of companies producing low cost, poor quality products which might disappoint you. Ask lots of questions and get good, knowledgeable answers.
- How much steel are you really getting? (Not how thick the edge of the door is.)
- Is the inside emergency release easy to use? Would your children be able to work it?
- How many seals does the door have? (A single heat-expanding seal will allow lots of smoke to enter before the seal expands.)
- Does the door come with a commercial grade lock or a low-cost model? (Even well-known lock manufacturers make locks that we won’t use.)
- Can you lock yourself inside quickly if you need to?
- Does the door have an inside trim flange or will you need to cobble up some kind of trim when the door is installed?
I had a recent example where the homeowner bought a vault door specifically for emergency protection for his family, only to find later that you cannot lock yourself inside in an emergency. Was the seller ignorant of this fact or just dishonest? Some manufacturers (even well-known brands) are also making up numbers, claiming that their doors have 60- or 90-minute fire ratings, when they have never been tested. All of the vault doors we sell have fire linings to be “fire resistant”, but only one brand has actually been tested and certified.
The point of this post is that if you are going to buy a walk-in vault door, do your homework! Only buy from a reputable manufacturer and a dealer you trust.
We sell Fort Knox vault doors more than any other. We also sell American Security vault doors, Golden Spike and (when someone needs a certified fire tested door) Sentry/Schwab.
