My family’s legal documents are being kept somewhere at home, and its kinda weird to think about, like zero security, I doubt its even fireproof, definitely not waterproof, some flood is gonna destroy it.
My family’s legal documents are being kept somewhere at home, and its kinda weird to think about, like zero security, I doubt its even fireproof, definitely not waterproof, some flood is gonna destroy it.
Keep in mind that many “fireproof” safes misrepresent their capabilities and the fireproofing itself can severely damage or destroy safe contents in a fire.
Tl;dr: the contents slow cook and soak in a mixture of water and whatever else was present for hours to days. Depending on the severity and duration of the fire, plastics will melt, metals will tarnish, and unprotected paper, wood, and similar contents will be destroyed.
Most more affordable safes are fireproofed via a layer of drywall material. Drywall is composed of gypsum, otherwise known as calcium sulfate dihydrate: CaSO4·2H2O .
The fireproofing doesn’t come from any direct insulating properties but the hydration of the gypsum. When exposed to enough heat, the water bound to calcium sulfate begins to unbind and boil out. The interior of the safe will remain at 100°C or less as the external heat energy from the fire is absorbed by this dehydration/phase change process, releasing water as steam.
This turns your safe into a big steamer/(low) pressure cooker. The safe boils during the fire, then sits and “cooks” for hours afterwards as the area cools down. The safe keypad will be inoperative, so you’ll be reliant on the backup key working. If that mechanism is damaged, the manufacturer or a locksmith will need to open it. No matter what, the contents will remain in a hot, damp environment for hours to days.
I put everything in our fire safe in silicone bags so I hope that does the trick.
That’s exactly what I’d recommend! The contents will crisp long before a quality silicone bag will.
Yeah, though our hard drive backup will fairly quickly become trash, I think.
What if you were to put a bunch of silica packets or beads in the safe? Or put an air tight container inside the safe
You’d need a ton of silica gel, pounds of it, to capture steam as fast as it is generated. Your best bet would be a water tight, temperature resistant container like silicone bags for documents. I’d recommend a properly fireproof safe (read: $$$) or planning for potential losses for anything larger.
Store your valuables in a waterproof bag hidden in your toilet tank. Can’t get destroyed to fire or flood.
Zip Lock bag + Silica Packets --> Inside a Fire-resistant document bag --> Inside a Fire-resistant safe?