Introduction: Your Own Secret Hidden Safe! for Under $2
With over 6 million break-ins across the nation a year, Here's a cheap quick and easy way to hide your smaller more valuable goodies!
*DISCLAIMER* This method is just a type of security through obscurity, If found there is NOTHING preventing access. Remember people can't steal what they can't find, something like this would best be suited behind a dresser or other furniture.
Below you will find a list of tools and supplies that you will need to do this.
1 - Single Gang Duplex Wall Plate - $0.18
1 - 15 Amp, 120 Volt Residential Grade Duplex Receptacle - $0.37
1 - Single Gang Cut-in box - $1.19
Roofing Nails/ Washers (if you don't have them already they will only be a few pennies)
These can all be purchased at your local hardware store (Home Depot, Lowes, Ace Hardware, Valu)
Recommended Tools:
1.) Pliers
2.) Screwdriver
3.) Pencil
4.) Drywall Saw
5.) Small screwdriver (optional)
Step 1: Widen the Hole
First you are going to take the cut-in box and widen the holes where the screws are supposed to go into, use the little screwdriver or a roofing nail to do this, (there is a little metal tab inside that hole which needs to be bent out of the way so the roofing nails can slide in and out eaisly.
Step 2: Assemble the Cover
Now you are going to take the box lay it flat on the table, place the electrical outlet so the holes line up with those of the box, take the roofing nails and slide them through the washers and through the outlet holes and into the box. Next screw down the faceplate.
Step 3: Trace, Cut & Install
Now your going to take the box, place it openside against the wall, trace it out, and then use the drywall saw to cut it out. Place the box in the hole and tighten down the screws.
Step 4: Done!
You're all done! The faceplate assemble should now slide in and out of the box you installed in the wall, leaving a little room for some smaller valuable items! Enjoy!
84 Comments
10 years ago on Introduction
I really want to see one with a working wireless switch.
11 years ago on Introduction
sorry lost text meant that you plug in to it and it still works as a plug but inside there is a secret
11 years ago on Introduction
is there a way to take to and make this work
12 years ago on Introduction
they make flat plates too. you could use one of those
12 years ago on Introduction
Well I love the idea perfect to hide the nice jewelery, thnks (:
16 years ago on Introduction
i bet you could remove the recepticle faces from the actual recepticle and maybe glue them into the face plate...or maybe put a small piece of cardboard or something behind them...that would give you more storage space
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
Yup, I've done that before; Paint the cardboard flat black so that the slots in the outlet face look more real. You can also make it wider by using a box that holds two or three outlets.
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
It just occurred to me that you could probably use a cable plug plate instead of an outlet, which would also give you more room
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
Like a phone jack.
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
I did something similar to this when I needed a concealed place to mount a camera to watch my vending machine. I had to use what was in the room to avoid tipping the perp off. So I took the lightswitch out and wirenutted the lights on. I then took the switch apart and took the handle part of the switch and the mount bracket (attached them with a peice of wire) so the switch could move up and down. I used the faceplate screw hole as the lens hole. Works pretty good -- its been there for 5 years and no one has discovered it. I've caught 6 people vandalizing and 3 people stealing.
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
cool i might have to try that cuz ive had ppl rocking my machines....i had one of those anti-tip/ rocking brackets but who ever it was managed to cut it usin a cut off wheel or something. i thought about moving it 2 a different location or put a expanded metal cage around it only leavin the selection buttions an product door open
13 years ago on Introduction
Thanks to everybody for proving my own beliefs to be true...as follows...
All countries are awesome if they provide and take care of their own. Everyone should worry more about the people around you and your fellow countrymen(neihbors far and wide). The strength of a country is shown by the strength of its people and how they stick together, never by the strength of it's military.
Peace
14 years ago on Step 4
Hey a good place to hide me stash...i err mean valueables from the man!!
Reply 14 years ago on Step 4
you can tape, glue, staple (with weather stripping) with clear plastic over it for a water tight fit!! the plastic needs to be clear to be inconspicuous. :)
14 years ago on Step 4
If you're ever in a hotel and you have a friend kick a hole in the wall....some epoxy and a outlet or phone jack for the wall will cover it nicely, too. Don't ask me how I know...
14 years ago on Introduction
God damn morons.. I was going to scrapbook this article with the relevant comments, but my merge feature doesn't handle the comment structures on this site for some reason. So I either have to have two scraps for this article I will probably never use but still think is very cool, or I will just have to nuke all the polemic bullshit, to which I can't stop so I will say. If America wasn't taking up the majority of media the rest of the world exposes themselves to (a large portion of the internet, Hollywood, and a nice chunk of the music world) you wouldn't have these preconceptions. I understand this, I do. I live here and sometimes I expect it if I have been internet dwelling for too long, then I walk out of the door and get reacquainted with reality. If I was first coming here I'd expect walking down the street or into a store to be filled with all the arrogant blather youtube trolls dish out like confetti...but in reality, this crude garbage which dominates and flourishes in areas like a comment thread wilts like a paper bag in a fine mist if it tries going out and down the street in it's natural form, so they keep to their dwellings nicely. Break-in statistics? You've got to be out of your bloody skull, or don't know what per-capita + media coverage has to do with it. I live in a town that includes every traffic stop or officer helping someone locked of their car in the police blotter, along with the real garbage. There are plenty of places in the world (and in America) where even the "real garbage" goes unreported.
14 years ago on Introduction
nice..., i could use one of these...
14 years ago on Introduction
Btw, it says the video has been removed from metacafe
14 years ago on Introduction
"With over 6 million break-ins across the nation a year" dont say that. we dont all live in USA, and usa isnt the whole world. im asuming your talking about usa because thats what people from usa do. kinda self-centered, realy...
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
It's not self-centered at all, this site is based in the United States, and it's predominantly made up of U.S. citizens, making it a true statement for the majority. If everyone wanted the number of home invasions in their respective countries, said list would be 190-something countries long. I can smell that air of superiority from across the pond, my friend. Don't be a hypocrite.