Fireproof document storage
 

At last we've finally paid off our mortgage and have been sent a huge
bundle of deeds and papers relating to the house.

My first thought was to get a fireproof document storage box to keep
them in, but some of the papers are too long ( 360mm ) to fit in any of
the boxes that I've seen and it isn't very practical to fold up the
bundles of paper to fit them in a smaller box.

The house is registered with the Land Registry, so it's not a
catastrophic loss if the papers do get burnt, but I'd rather keep them
as safe as is practicable.

The mortgage was with a bank and they don't offer a scheme to retain
the papers if a nominal outstanding balance is left unpaid. Instead
they want full commercial rates for document storage. They offer no
alternative.

So what clever ideas have any of you come up with to solve this problem
?

I can't find any small fire-proof boxes that are big enough to take the
deeds, but a safe that's big enough is absurdly huge.

I know where to get a metal deeds storage box of just the right size,
but it isn't fire proof. Is there any way of adapting one of those to
be a suitable solution ? It looks as though the fire-proofing is mostly
a concrete layer anyway. Perhaps somebody has done it themselves ?

Fireproof document storage
 

wrote in message
oups.com...
At last we've finally paid off our mortgage and have been sent a huge
bundle of deeds and papers relating to the house.

My first thought was to get a fireproof document storage box to keep
them in, but some of the papers are too long ( 360mm ) to fit in any of
the boxes that I've seen and it isn't very practical to fold up the
bundles of paper to fit them in a smaller box.

The house is registered with the Land Registry, so it's not a
catastrophic loss if the papers do get burnt, but I'd rather keep them
as safe as is practicable.

The mortgage was with a bank and they don't offer a scheme to retain
the papers if a nominal outstanding balance is left unpaid. Instead
they want full commercial rates for document storage. They offer no
alternative.

So what clever ideas have any of you come up with to solve this problem
?

I can't find any small fire-proof boxes that are big enough to take the
deeds, but a safe that's big enough is absurdly huge.

I know where to get a metal deeds storage box of just the right size,
but it isn't fire proof. Is there any way of adapting one of those to
be a suitable solution ? It looks as though the fire-proofing is mostly
a concrete layer anyway. Perhaps somebody has done it themselves ?

==============
You could ask the solicitor who's keeping your Will if he can store them.

Cic.

Fireproof document storage
 

"Cicero" wrote in message
k...

wrote in message
oups.com...
At last we've finally paid off our mortgage and have been sent a huge
bundle of deeds and papers relating to the house.

My first thought was to get a fireproof document storage box to keep
them in, but some of the papers are too long ( 360mm ) to fit in any of
the boxes that I've seen and it isn't very practical to fold up the
bundles of paper to fit them in a smaller box.

The house is registered with the Land Registry, so it's not a
catastrophic loss if the papers do get burnt, but I'd rather keep them
as safe as is practicable.

The mortgage was with a bank and they don't offer a scheme to retain
the papers if a nominal outstanding balance is left unpaid. Instead
they want full commercial rates for document storage. They offer no
alternative.

So what clever ideas have any of you come up with to solve this problem
?

I can't find any small fire-proof boxes that are big enough to take the
deeds, but a safe that's big enough is absurdly huge.

I know where to get a metal deeds storage box of just the right size,
but it isn't fire proof. Is there any way of adapting one of those to
be a suitable solution ? It looks as though the fire-proofing is mostly
a concrete layer anyway. Perhaps somebody has done it themselves ?

==============
You could ask the solicitor who's keeping your Will if he can store them.

Cic.



He will possibly store them in a bank vault !
Bit senseless really.
don't offer a scheme to retain
the papers if a nominal outstanding balance is left unpaid.

Did you not say that you had paid off your mortgage ?

Pete

Fireproof document storage
 

On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 20:30:17 +0100, "Peter Stockdale"
wrote:


"Cicero" wrote

You could ask the solicitor who's keeping your Will if he can store them.

He will possibly store them in a bank vault !

Someone around here I know rents many local authority garages (the
sort found in rows behind 1970's type developments) with up and over
doors. He uses them to store documents from solicitors (and yes -
they do know where the stuff is being stored) so "secure storage"
when applied to solicitors may need to be interpreted imaginatively.

--
Peter Parry.
http://www.wpp.ltd.uk/

Fireproof document storage
 

In message .com,
writes
At last we've finally paid off our mortgage and have been sent a huge
bundle of deeds and papers relating to the house.

My first thought was to get a fireproof document storage box to keep
them in, but some of the papers are too long ( 360mm ) to fit in any of
the boxes that I've seen and it isn't very practical to fold up the
bundles of paper to fit them in a smaller box.

Mine are in the filing cabinet along with all the other important
documents

What real importance are they ?

You could always scan the important parts (e.g. boundaries) and store
them on-line somewhere

--
geoff

Fireproof document storage
 

"raden" wrote in message
...
In message .com,
writes
At last we've finally paid off our mortgage and have been sent a huge
bundle of deeds and papers relating to the house.

My first thought was to get a fireproof document storage box to keep
them in, but some of the papers are too long ( 360mm ) to fit in any of
the boxes that I've seen and it isn't very practical to fold up the
bundles of paper to fit them in a smaller box.

Mine are in the filing cabinet along with all the other important
documents

What real importance are they ?

You could always scan the important parts (e.g. boundaries) and store them
on-line somewhere

--
geoff



I would have thought the Land Registry already had them stored on his behalf
anyway.

Pete

Fireproof document storage
 

"raden" wrote in message
...
In message .com,
writes
At last we've finally paid off our mortgage and have been sent a huge
bundle of deeds and papers relating to the house.

My first thought was to get a fireproof document storage box to keep
them in, but some of the papers are too long ( 360mm ) to fit in any of
the boxes that I've seen and it isn't very practical to fold up the
bundles of paper to fit them in a smaller box.

Mine are in the filing cabinet along with all the other important
documents

Just an idea, but how about sealing them in a metal pipe
of some description, then placing them a metal box (steel )
which is stuffed full of mineral wool. Steel won't melt in a
house fire, and the mineral wool will insulate well.

Andy

Fireproof document storage
 

On 14 Oct 2005 09:10:11 -0700, wrote:

| At last we've finally paid off our mortgage and have been sent a huge
| bundle of deeds and papers relating to the house.

I am with the Halifax, and they *lend* me GBP 125, charging me no interest
for the privilege of keeping my deeds in their store. (A cunning plan to
ensure that I borrow money off them if I ever need any.) That is what I
call a deal.




--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
The London suicide bombers killed innocent commuters.
Animal rights terrorists and activists kill innocent patients.

Fireproof document storage
 

"Peter Parry" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 20:30:17 +0100, "Peter Stockdale"
wrote:


"Cicero" wrote

You could ask the solicitor who's keeping your Will if he can store
them.

He will possibly store them in a bank vault !


Someone around here I know rents many local authority garages (the
sort found in rows behind 1970's type developments) with up and over
doors. He uses them to store documents from solicitors (and yes -
they do know where the stuff is being stored) so "secure storage"
when applied to solicitors may need to be interpreted imaginatively.

--
Peter Parry.
http://www.wpp.ltd.uk/

==============
My solicitor makes no charge for storing my Will so I doubt if he would pay
a bank for storage without passing on the charge to me. But if he does store
them in a bank that's probably as secure as anywhere else so I'm quite happy
with the situation.

I wouldn't be very happy with the security of a LA garage but I guess that
the local solicitors use this facility for the less important stuff.

Cic.

Fireproof document storage
 

In article ,
Dave Fawthrop wrote:
On 14 Oct 2005 09:10:11 -0700, wrote:

| At last we've finally paid off our mortgage and have been sent a huge
| bundle of deeds and papers relating to the house.

I am with the Halifax, and they *lend* me GBP 125, charging me no interest
for the privilege of keeping my deeds in their store. (A cunning plan to
ensure that I borrow money off them if I ever need any.) That is what I
call a deal.

Same deal here - except that it took them so long to pay me the balance of
what they owed me that they easily made up the cost of their generosity in
interest + a massive extra profit.

--
John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

Fireproof document storage
 

Fireproof document storage
 

Fireproof document storage
 

"Ian Stirling" wrote in message
...
wrote:
wrote:
At last we've finally paid off our mortgage and have been sent a huge
bundle of deeds and papers relating to the house.

My first thought was to get a fireproof document storage box to keep
them in, but some of the papers are too long ( 360mm ) to fit in any of
the boxes that I've seen and it isn't very practical to fold up the
bundles of paper to fit them in a smaller box.


Fireproof document safes do not exist. Fire resistant ones do, but they
only resist for so long. Expect half an hour or an hour.

I'd go with a sealed container, down at the bottom of an ocean.
That's pretty fireproof.

=============
Unless it lands near a volcanic vent.

Cic.

Fireproof document storage
 

Cicero wrote:

"Ian Stirling" wrote in message
...
wrote:
wrote:
At last we've finally paid off our mortgage and have been sent a huge
bundle of deeds and papers relating to the house.

My first thought was to get a fireproof document storage box to keep
them in, but some of the papers are too long ( 360mm ) to fit in any of
the boxes that I've seen and it isn't very practical to fold up the
bundles of paper to fit them in a smaller box.


Fireproof document safes do not exist. Fire resistant ones do, but they
only resist for so long. Expect half an hour or an hour.

I'd go with a sealed container, down at the bottom of an ocean.
That's pretty fireproof.

Unless it lands near a volcanic vent.

Lava isn't fire.

Fireproof document storage
 

On 15 Oct 2005 07:57:44 -0700, wrote:

inner metal container
outer metal container
something insulating between the 2.

I've never seen a (modern) firesafe with a mere "insulator" between the
two layers. Instead they use a plaster mix which can actually absorb
heat (it goes to separate off the water from the previously hydrated
plaster). For typical fire exposure durations, this gives better
protection than a simple insulator. OTOH, the plaster also releases
generous quantities of steam, so the _inner_ box should be vapour
resistant too.

One of the simplest and cheapest fire safes around is simply to obtain a
large commercial safe (cheap S/H if you can move it), then to line the
inside with around four layers of plasterboard, with overlapping joints.
As four layer plasterboard is pretty strong, then you can make these
into removable inner drawers. Documents inside are stored in tinplate
biscuit tins.

--
"When men die, their Maker may reward them for their efforts by allowing
them to live again as male dogs. Thus freed from inhibition, they can spend
a cheerful existence doing all those things they really wanted to do when
they were men."

Paneb, Foreman mason in the Valley of the Kings, circa 1190BC