Mesa Safe Company Model MAWS2113E Electronic Wall Safe, Cream

First off this safe could easily be sold for $150-$175, so $99 is a bargin (S&H included)! I will start with the pros; very sturdy door, and believe it or not instruction manual was good, I think they must have rewritten it from some of the past reviews I've read. For a wall safe, it's fairly heavy. Now people might say well it's junk! I'm going to say its $99 and I disagree. I base items on how much I spend for them and how they function. ANY SAFE CAN BE BROKEN INTO! I bought this item and it functions perfectly for my needs. Now for the cons; REMOVE THE DOOR BEFORE INSTALLATION AND MAKE SURE THE DIGITAL LOCKING MECHANISM WORKS! The lock is that of a $99 safe, but again I knew that going in. If you're like me and a little paranoid, don't install in an area where people can see it, don't show it off to your buddy. A picture won't look right hanging over it because of the flange. I put mine in an area which is dry and located in concrete block. Yes it was a lot of work but it is going to be harder to knock block out and remove it as it is attached with ten 3 inch tapcon screws into the solid part of the blocks, as opposed to cutting 2x4's and running out with your safe. I think the reason why this safe is so cheap is because the adjustable depth is a freaking nightmare to set. The instructions are clear but it's a rough road to perfection and takes some time to get it right. If you can find a better safe for $99 then buy it, but you won't find it!

I would have given 5 stars on this item, but the few issues I encountered were totally unacceptable. From start to finish I spent about 6 hours behind this item. I had issues with the locking system opening intermittently. In other words, it worked in the beginning and then it just stopped working and I couldn't unlock/lock the safe. I spent the first two hours figuring-out why and how to fix the problem. To do that, I had to open the locking panel behind the safe door and see what was actually happening. It turned-out that the locking mechanism was interfering with the plunger. I had to loosen 4 screws holding the plunger and orient it away from the mechanism to make it open/close freely. Also, the override key wouldn't open/close the lock after few tries; so much for the override key. The cause of this was that the inside nut holding the lock was loose. Luckily, I was able to correct these two issues by opening the locking panel before I put it on the wall. Otherwise, I would have to cut the steel to open it. But these issues are unacceptable in a new factory product. Was someone sleeping on the job! The next two hours I spent figuring-out how the telescoping worked to give the adjustable inside depth. The directions were somewhat clear, but doing it practically was difficult in order to set it for my situation. Since I only needed a maximum of 4" depth, I combined all sections using one screw on each side and that held everything in place. Only the back section was adjustable and I didn't care about the middle section being adjustable as I only needed 4". The next two hours were sort of the easiest. It was simply measuring and cutting the sheet rock and then pre-drilling the holes on the two side studs. Then placing the safe in the wall and holding it with screws. Yes, I did remove the safe door so that I can work a little easier in the tight corners. Otherwise the door will get in the way, not to mention that it's a heavy door which can bring down the safe on your head or feet if you're not careful. So I think the first four hours were wasted, although I did learn how locking mechanisms work from this experience. I would recommend this product to whoever has good mechanical aptitude otherwise you'll end-up returning the product. It won't be cheap either with shipping weight of 45 pounds. Now that I installed it, I am certainly satisfied that it is strong and descent brand quality (not craftsmanship) to hold some valuables. As their slogan says "Better Mesa safe than sorry!" Why take a gamble on cheap products to protect your valuables? This one is a rugged and tough looking safe.

Wow, I almost didn't purchase this safe for all the problems reviewers identified. I see two minor issues; set screws painted over, and an opportunity to lose small possessions into the wall cavity. Assembly: I'm at a loss for how some people struggled to put together three telescoping rectangles with 12 nuts and bolts. Block the face up with four stacks of quarters and tighten the fasteners. Done. Estimated time to complete, including rounding up hand tools and putting them away is 30 - 45 minutes at a very leisurely pace. Installation: Pretty straight forward, find a location and cut a hole in the wall. The hole doesn't have to be pretty, just between two properly-spaced studs. The flange on the safe will cover a sloppy cut job. My desired location had a stud in the way, so I had to cut it out and frame the area. The end result just took a couple hours longer to reach. The safe is on the heavy side, so having a helper here wouldn't be a bad idea. My only complaint hanging the safe was Mesa powder coated right over the tiny set screws. I didn't remove the door for fear of stripping out the screws. I imagine removing the door would make the installation easier, but I can only guess. I estimate the installation with cutting the hole, installing the safe, securing with the four screws, and clean up would take less than 45 minutes without dealing with relocating a stud. I took several hours because of the additional work of moving a stud and trips to Lowe's. Quality: I'm afraid to write anything here for fear of jinxing myself. I've owned and been operating the safe daily for almost three months now and the safe has performed as advertised. It failed to open once. I replaced the batteries and it hasn't skipped a beat since. The concerns about the sheet metal sides are valid as far as the thickness of the metal goes. However, the safe is not intended to replace Fort Knox. The safe should keep children away from guns, and if concealed keep an inexperienced burglar out of your belongings. However, a person with a reciprocating saw could remove the safe in minutes, and easily gain entry at another location. I figure any experienced burglar will look behind pictures, but then I don't know any burglars to ask. Operation: The buttons on the safe are large enough to allow quick entry in a dark room. My wife and I were both able to open the safe quickly and easily on our first attempt with our eyes closed. The beeping is loud enough to hear in another room, and I don't consider that a bad thing. If kids are trying to open, I may hear them. If an intruder hears the beeps, and has a brain, the sound may produce the same concern as a pump shotgun racking a round. Storage space: The center shelf does lose some area to the locking mechanism. There are trade-offs with everything. This safe is flush, and has a fairly secure door. Those features come at a cost. An opening in a wall is only so deep, and the safe makes good use of it with a flush door. The top and bottom shelf have enough room for a couple compact handguns each. The middle shelf can hold credit cards, cash, etc. My installation allowed full extension, and I can store boxes of ammo and spare magazines on the center shelf. Issues: The door hinge set screws are going to present a pain in the neck if the safe fails and requires warranty service. I imagine Mesa will request I return the door for service. I'm sure I'll end up destroying the screws removing them, but they're only screws and Lowe's is right down the street. I'm also confident an Easy Out screw extractor would remove them without too much difficulty. The other issue is in the bottom of the expanded safe. There is an area that opens when the safe is expanded where one could lose small items out the bottom. Another reviewer pointed it out, and I was able to easily overcome. I may not have noticed otherwise. I sprayed some expanding insulation foam into the hole/area, and I also lined the inside with fabric. The fabric provides a quiet surface to set guns on, covers the internal screw ends/heads, and gives the safe a finished look. Overall: I'm happy with the safe, and it meets my needs. My wife is happy the grandchildren can't access our guns. The grandkids don't even know we have the safe, so locating it would be the first obstacle to overcome to play with a gun. Finally, I still have quick access to a loaded weapon in the event we have an intruder. Very pleased with my purchase!

Very disappointed with this product. Nice that the depth is adjustable, but the instructions are extremely poor. I never did figure out the "proper" way to set the depth. Several complications along the way (with the unit, not my walls), so it took about four hours to install. And because it is several separate pieces, once someone pries it out of you're wall, they're in - and your stuff is no longer "safe". Nice that nothing protrudes from the front, so it's relatively easy to conceal. Build quality is poor - my unit was more than 1/4" out of square when looking at how the unit was welded to the frame; meaning that either the shelves or the frame won't set level; or both. The shelves also have a lip, but it extends to the bottom front of the shelf, meaning that there is nothing to keep your stuff from sliding off. And there are not convenient points for attaching restraints to keep things in place. This unit may slow a thief down (by a few minutes), but if he's brought any tools, it sure won't stop him. Good for keeping kids' hands off of things you don't want them touching, but not much more than that.

Works good fairly sturdy for a hidden wall safe. Expandable to 6” but I could only get 4” out of it due to wall depth. Could be a little better design or instructions on how to bolt it in with the expansion

Not the easiest to assemble the shelves which are expandable...perhaps having a set depth for these would be better? I don't think I gained a lot by having the ability to make the unit deeper or more shallow. Perhaps have 2 options, one for 2x4 studs and one for 2x6 stud depth. That would be best. The black part where the lock/key pad is does extend into the cabinet in that area, so you loose shelf depth there. No big deal, but you need to be aware if you plan to stuff this thing full, that area is not full-depth. Remember, this unit (and all of these in-wall units!) are only so deep so you can't store a box of bricks in here! Just a few select things...or buy a larger one or a floor unit :) I really like the ability to have both the keypad, and key option to open it. The key opens it with no jiggling of the handle, but it's a bit of work to remove the circular cover over the keyhole. You could leave that part off but it seems silly to show people there is a key for it. And, then you need to keep track of that key! So, the keypad is fast and no need for a key, but you have to jiggle the doorhandle just about every time to get it to open, or sometimes put the code in a second time. No big deal, but these 3 things are why I gave it 4 stars. 5 stars for value ! and for looks. I really like how sturdy it is, and how it looks in the room. Great value, so I would certainly buy again and I would recommend you buy this product if you can deal with a little hassle on install and jiggling a door handle to open it :)

Pros: 1) locking mechanism seems to work well and is easy to program 2) the extra depth is awesome to have Cons: 1) by making it adjustable, it’s not nearly as secure 2) by making is adjustable, there are holes everywhere for things to fall through 3) poor manufacturing made this WAY more difficult to install than it needed to be First off, the good. I LOVE having the extra depth. I bought this safe because I *thought* the wall I was installing it into was a 2x6 wall. It was, and those extra 2 inches are huge. Locking mechanism was easy to program and operate and (for now) works well. Now for the bad, which is why this safe is only getting 2 stars. Installation got off on a bad foot immediately because they powder coated after the set screws were installed on the door. It took me about an hour to break them loose of the powder coating and one was in so tight it took turning it with vice grips to get it out. After finally freeing the set screws and removing the door pins, I still couldn’t remove the door because the edge of the frame was ever so slightly smaller than the door with hinges. I don’t know if it was welded on like this or got bent after the fact (it didn’t look bent), but it prevented the door from being pulled out of the frame. I eventually had to bend it ever so slightly (repeated whacks with a hammer) before I could get the door off. Eventually I got it off with only minor damage to the paint that wasn’t visible from the outside. If these defects weren’t present I would’ve been done installing already! Since my wall was a 2x6 I proceeded to adjust the safe to max depth. This required 12 tiny screws and was annoying, but the extra depth is great. They provide shelf extensions which require a bunch more tiny screws/washers but are nice to have. The problem is that adjusting the depth out leaves gaps everywhere that a screw can slide/adjust. There’s also a big hole on the bottom of the frame where the expandable case would need to fit around the door hinge if it was fully collapsed. I could easy knock a ring or other small object into the hole and it would fall into the wall. Be prepared to line the cabinet with felt or something to cover the holes. The last issues is security. This will likely prevent crimes of convenience. It would be hard to open the front of the safe. But knowing it’s this model of safe a real criminal could probably break into the safe in under 5 minutes. All you’d need to do is cut the drywall from the other side and 6 screws later the back panel will pop off. So if you’re looking for better security this is not the safe for you. Overall, it’ll end of working just fine for my purposes but the easily avoidable workmanship issues that caused the installation problems initially made me want to throw it out the window.

If you are at all mechanically inclined this safe will be easy. Instructions were clear and concise and the safe seems sturdy, ridgid, and well designed however I did beef up a few features and added a few extra bolts. I also scored some serablanket insulation and used some FSK tape in order to fireproof it. I would guess I have 30 minutes fire security. The door lock mechanism does take up alot of space though. I would recommend putting the safe in a space closer to the 6 in depth rather than the 4 inch depth but then again who buys an adjustable safe to use it at the smallest setting? Not I but I know there must be people that do. Anyway, good safe especially for the price.