Is a 215-lb. safe too heavy to wheel into an apartment building by myself?

[Chris Tsao]

Hi, I want to buy a safe with these specs I copied and pasted below. The company doesn't deliver inside houses--they only do curbside delivery. So I am hoping someone can tell me whether if I borrow a handtruck from one of the porters or the superintendent of the building I live in, if I will be able to wheel it into my building on a ramp or is 215 lbs. too heavy?

The ramp slopes down and it's pretty steep (it starts from the ground and goes into the basement). Would I need help?

Thanks again.

215 lbs.

Outside 21 1/2 H x 17 W x 18 D

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN]

I guess it depends on how stout you are. I believe I could get it in the house if I have some help getting it off the truck.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Go to a U-Haul place and see if rent dollies - very stout wooden platforms with wheels. Professional movers have them, as do piano movers. And, you'll need rope, as well as a helper.

[aemeijers]

Is it a real handtruck with blow-up tires, and not one of those fold-up pieces of junk? Are you in decent shape? I have a real handtruck, and am in okay but not great physical shape, and I wouldn't hesitate to do it. The wheels take the weight, all you do is steer. Downhill will be easy- gravity does the work. When you move out, it will be a little harder, but not too bad. A lot easier than a fridge. With actual rope or web tiedown with ratchet, not a bungee cord. A piece of clean cardboard will help keep from scuffing the shiny new paint with the cart.

If the delivery guy or someone around the building is big and husky, it may be worth waving a $20 bill under their nose. For someone used to these things, it will be five minutes work.

aem sends.....

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Which is concern weight or size? Think piano. Many apartment dwellers have piano in their place. I think two husky movers will handle it without big difficulty.

[Nancy Young]

"aemeijers" wrote

Should be interesting when word gets around the neighborhood that Chris has this big safe in his apartment.

nancy

[Stormin Mormon]

I can't comment on your atheltic abilities. We out here on the other side of the computer screen would have no way to know.

I'd suggest to get at least one or maybe two helpers.

I'd also suggest to get a piece of plywood maybe two feet square to spread the weight around. So the wheels don't punch holes in the floor.

[mm]

Doesn't it have its own wheels? I think they will work unless some surface is quite rough, plus you'll have to lift the leading two wheels over threshholds and gaps, and give it a little help getting esp the first two wheels into the elevator. A rope tied into a circle will enable you to lift without bending over and hurting your back.

Of course if you're like me, you may not want to scuff your brand new wheels, since you may not have to move it after this time for 10 or 20 years.

But I'd get a helper, one to hold it back from above, using a strong enough rope, attached well, and one underneath, so to speak. Unless you're paying someone, I guess you have to be the one underneath. I agreee with aem. A big strong guy can do this in 5 minutes.....dreams of what might have been. Where was I?

[Nancy Young]

"Nick Hull" wrote

(laugh!) Good answer.

nancy

[Nick Hull]

Put a cross & wreath on it with a "Rest in Peace" banner and tell everyone it's for your ex wife's ashes ;)

[Kuskokwim]

or is 215 lbs. too heavy?

You must be joking, it's not heavy at all.

I'm 67 years old and just retired from managing a busy hardware store in rural Alaska. I wheeled loads exceeding 215 lbs using a two wheeled dolly every day, sometimes up and down wheel chair ramps, sometimes across rough, unpaved ground, even through snow.

[HeyBub]

You're going DOWN a ramp, persumably into the basement where you have access to the elevator?

Should be pretty easy. Even if the safe gets away from you and tumbles down the ramp, don't worry. Safes are tested to fall a great distance (as in a collapsed floor in a burning building) and still function.

A stout rope and block-and-tackle are indicated.

[charlie]

tip: don't stand or put non-replacable body parts downhill from it

[Chris Tsao]

I want to thank everyone for your help. A rope makes everything more complicated and I see now from these replies that this is as physically hard as I suspected and the porters in my building aren't always around. I will continue browsing other dot.com businesses and stores' web sites in the hopes of finding another safe I like for the price I want to spend.

THe company that sells the safe I have my eye on charges $200 as a delivery fee. They should bring it into my house for charging that much! After all, lotsa furniture weighs more than that!

[Chris Tsao]

I left my keys in my door about a year and four months ago. So I told my super that I'm going to the locksmith to buy new locks and when I got back, I found out that he's friends with the locksmith, so if they were dishonest men, I would be screwed. Most people must leave the keys with him anyway because that's a rule that the co-op board made.

[Frank]

215 lb really is nothing. I have dolly, cost less than $50 from Home Depot, that could handle it. I'm the same age as the other old guy that gave same response ;) Frank

[Chris Tsao]

I have a handtruck. It's not a heavyduty one, but I think it's strong enough. I guess I could always call the super on my cellphone if it isn't strong enough. I could even leave the safe on the street while I go look for a porter.

[Rich256]

You can get a heavy duty dolly at Harbor Freight for $15 or $20. As others have said 215 isn't very heavy. Imagine wheeling someone down the ramp in a wheelchair.

[Chris Tsao]

Both weight and size. I foun d a handsome one that's only 115 lbs., which would be good enough, if it weren't for the fact that it doesn't come with pre-drilled holes so I can afix it onto the floor.

I like them for their looks too. (I think they're cool.) I won't buy one that's not to my taste (esthetically (sp.????)). A large fire- proof strongbox is all I really need for now, but a safe is fun. My aunt has valuables that she stores in her house due to the bank raising the rates on her safety deposit bank, so I figure that if I buy a heavy safe and one with holes on the bottom, I can store her bonds in my house. My stuff, nobody wants (it's just important to me).

[Eigenvector]

All by yourself - yes it is too heavy. I tried a lateral file - 150 lbs all by myself, I tore a muscle in my back and was out for a while. I'm also

6'2" 250 lbs. Get more than one helper and get a wheeled dolly - not a hand truck.