I bought a Fortress safe from Tractor Supply around 2018. The safe sat in my house happily doing it's job until Hurricane Ida hit. I've never removed the shipping "feet" from it so it sat a few inches higher off the ground than it normally would, but I received about 8" of water in my house for the hurricane. Even elevated, my safe got some water inside it. The carpet lining at the bottom was wet and eventually there was mold growing around the bottom on the carpet. I cleaned and sprayed the crap out of it and the mold is gone. I even had Stanley Steamer clean it when they came to do the rest of my house. There is no mold left that I can see, BUT.... the inside of the safe just has a nasty sharp smell that I can't seem to get rid of.
I'm not sure what to do with it now. A few people told me to just rip out the carpet and MDF on the walls and clean it out but I'm not really sure how I'd go about replacing that. I hate to just throw it out because other than the smell, the safe seems to be perfectly fine structurally and functionally. I've also considered the possibility that the water has compromised the structure of the safe somehow in a way that I can't see. I just don't know what to do with it.
Does anyone have any advice? Or would anyone be interested in buying and fixing up this safe themselves? I think I paid about $400 for it originally but if someone would offer me $200 for it I'd take it. I can provide pictures if anyone is interested.
I'm not sure what to do with it now. A few people told me to just rip out the carpet and MDF on the walls and clean it out but I'm not really sure how I'd go about replacing that. I hate to just throw it out because other than the smell, the safe seems to be perfectly fine structurally and functionally. I've also considered the possibility that the water has compromised the structure of the safe somehow in a way that I can't see. I just don't know what to do with it.
Does anyone have any advice? Or would anyone be interested in buying and fixing up this safe themselves? I think I paid about $400 for it originally but if someone would offer me $200 for it I'd take it. I can provide pictures if anyone is interested.