The Process of Reconditioning Safes

The restoration of used furniture is common practice, but did you know that the same can be done for second hand safes? One of our specialisms at NLS Security is the reconditioning of used safes - a practice very few people know much about, and yet one that can prove extremely useful in many respects. Our team have lengthy experience in working with safes both old and new.

Here’s how we bring a used safe up to the highest current standards:

The Process

1. A safe may look fine at first glance, but there’s no way of telling what faults lie underneath the surface. Our first step when reconditioning a safe is to sand back any coating and other surface-level protection to expose problem areas or damage.
   
   
2. Next, we remove the door and strip that back too. We separate the handle, locking mechanisms, hinges and all other security devices and test them individually.
   
   
3. We carefully repair both the main body of the safe and the door, ensuring it’s as good as new. We then repaint them.
   
   
4. The next step is to check that the door hangs correctly, and that none of its hinges need to be replaced. If they do, we make sure we provide new ones that are equally good or better.
   
   
5. We check all bolts, relocking systems and all other elements work correctly, and make sure that they are clean and properly lubricated. If there’s a problem, we’ll install high quality replacements.
   
   
6. Next, we maintain and repair or replace all manual locks, check the functionality of combination locks and digital locks and change their codes for optimal security.
   
   
7. Any fixing points are checked and repaired.
   
   
8. At this point, the safe should be perfectly restored. We then check all documentation, including the original manufacturer’s information, serial numbers and certificates. We’ll also provide a certificate with our company’s information on, details of the safe’s make and model and the years in which the safe was made and the restoration was undertaken, for our customers’ records. We’ll also detail all work that was completed during reconditioning and certify that it has been properly tested.

Why Recondition a Safe?

Reconditioned safes are very different from second hand safes in that the company that has restored it will have taken great care to ensure that it is tested to the British Standard and meet the criteria laid out by the Association of British Insurers, the Association of Burglary Insurance Surveyors, the Association of Security Consultants, the British Bankers Association, the British Security Industry Association, the Building Research Establishment, the Building Societies Association, the Master Locksmith Association, the Post Office and occasionally others.

A properly reconditioned safe should be of a quality whereby it can be approved by the Association of Insurance Surveyors and given a cash rating - that is the amount at which its contents may be insured. Non-reconditioned second hand safes will not have received the above official approvals, nor will they have been properly tested, and this is very likely to negatively affect your insurance.

Not only can a well reconditioned safe help you to maintain good insurance premiums, it can also ensure that the product performs as well as it did when it was new. Locks, hinges, reinforcing materials, fireproofing and other elements will all be tested and perfected, so that your valuables, sensitive documents and cash remain as well protected as possible.

Of course, another important thing to note is the environmental impact of disposing of old safes. Simply sending one to landfill can add to pollution and cause significant damage. Ensuring that they are recycled can be a huge benefit.

Finally, used safes - even ones that have been carefully reconditioned - are more affordable than their brand new counterparts. Safe restoration allows people with smaller budgets to benefit from the security of high-quality security boxes that otherwise would not have been accessible to them, and still offer the same level of protection.

Contact Us About Safe Restoration

If you want to learn more about the safe restoration options we offer, contact NLS Security today on 0191 238 6000. We’re open 24 hours a day to assist with any security issues you may have. If you’re interested in any of our restored second hand safes, you can find further details here .

You can also visit our showroom in person at Fort House, 173 West Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE15 6PQ.