Water sensors in a storage room: where they actually need to sit

Had a job last year on Hodgson Street in Ocean Grove, a private collector’s converted garage storage room, timber crates stacked on pallet racking, humidity controller running, the lot. Client had two water sensors mounted on the wall at about knee height, batteries fresh, all lights green. Problem was the leak that got him three […]

Retrofitting a strongroom into an existing building

Had a call last year about a bluestone bank building on Sturt Street in Ballarat, built in the 1870s, owner wanted a proper strongroom for a private collection in what used to be the manager’s office. First question out of his mouth was “can the floor take it.” Fair question. It’s the right one, actually, […]

Why Australia has no independent safe-testing body

A bloke rang me last month wanting to know if the safe he’d bought off a pallet sale was “AS 3809 rated.” He had a sticker on the door that said so. No certificate, no test number, nothing. Just a sticker. That conversation happens more than you’d think, and it’s the reason I wanted to […]

What TL and cash ratings actually mean on a safe

Had a call last month from a collector out near Toorak Road who’d been quoted on three safes for a small painting collection and some jewellery. One dealer called it a TL-30. Another called the same box a “$50,000 cash rated safe.” He wanted to know which number mattered. Fair question. Twenty-two years doing this […]

Early-warning smoke detection vs a standard smoke alarm explained

Three weeks back I was in a private gallery off Chapel Street in Prahran, checking a client’s storage room before a revaluation. Standard smoke alarm on the ceiling, ten years old, battery half flat. The owner told me it was “basically the same thing” as the aspirating system I’d quoted for the vault next door. […]

How Big a Safe Do You Actually Need for Your Collection?

People ask me this more than anything else in the trade: how big a safe do i actually need. Usually they’ve already bought one before they ask, which is the wrong order to do things in, and usually it’s too small for what they’re putting in it. The Safe You Buy at a Hardware Store […]