You have bought a resale villa in Campoverde or a bungalow near the beach, and while unpacking you find a small safe bolted to the floor of a wardrobe. It is locked. The estate agent has no code, and the previous owners have moved back to another country.
Getting it open is rarely a big job.
First, look
- Is anything written down? Check the back of wardrobe doors, the paperwork the sellers left, and the inside of any manuals in kitchen drawers.
- Find the maker’s label. It is usually on the front, on the door edge or on the side. A photo of it says a lot about how the safe opens.
- Look for an override keyhole. Small electronic safes often hide one behind the maker’s badge or under a cover near the keypad.
- Check the batteries. If the keypad is dead, the batteries may simply be flat. Many safes have contacts outside for a fresh battery.
Have this ready
Before anyone opens a safe, they need to know it is yours to open. Have to hand:
- The deeds or the purchase contract for the property;
- Your ID;
- A photo of the front of the safe and its label, if you are sending details in advance.
From flat battery to fresh code
Power and override come first: a fresh battery through the outside contacts, the override key if it can be found, or the factory procedure for that model. If none of that works, many locks can be worked without opening up the safe. Only when nothing else will do is a single point drilled, with your agreement, and a new lock fitted so the safe can be used again.
Once it is open, you set your own code, and you write it down somewhere other than the house.
Then decide whether to keep it
A small safe that is not fixed down can be carried off under an arm. If yours is only resting in the wardrobe, have it bolted into the concrete floor or a solid wall. If the house has been broken into since you moved in, the paperwork your insurer will want. And while you are changing what the previous owners left behind, the front door lock may be as old as the house.