Strenghening the houses defense.

[Nimitz87]

hey all...started thinking about home defense and what i could do to the house itself to ward of BG's and prevent/deter a break-in...

have the house lighted up from the outside front in back, have 2 bolt locks...etc.

what else?

my main concern is the back of the house, it backs up to a lake but the easy target is the sliding glass doors for the patio...what if anything could i do for those?

i was thinking about getting one of these...

http://www.smarthome.com/5070.html for my mom..she works from home and i wouldnt want her answering the door alone...

what about windows? they have those window locks on them but there has to be something better.

also i was thinking of one of these...

http://www.smarthome.com/7317.html

what else should i do to beefen up my homes security?

we have an alarm thats hooked up to 911...also have a dog to alert me if somethings wrong...

could use some help....

Chad

[pamick]

Claymore mines?

[tINY]

Look into replacing the panes with laminated glass.



-tINY

[tlm225]

Two locks on the door is a good start, but how strong is the frame? Having kicked a few doors and having gone to a LOT of burglaries, the point that usually gives is the door frame. A deadbolt going into a 1X4 facing with only 1/2 inch inset gives way easily.

[k_dawg]

I agree, the door frame is more vulnerable than most deadbolts.

From what I have seen, most sliding glass patio doors are forced, not broken. The standard locks on those are ridicously easy to defeat. This is perhaps the easiest thing to prevent, a broom handle, such to a snug fit, laying in the tracks makes it almost impossible to "jimmy".

[Dwight55]

Nimitz, . . . years ago, the thinking was that if you light the area up, it will deter criminals as they can be seen.

New thinking has debunked some of that, as what it often does, is give the bg enough light to do his thing and if he acts like he belongs there, no one will usually give it a second thought.

On the other hand, no exterior lighting means the bg must bring his own light and will have to give away his location using it. It can also look very "suspicious" to be seen outside at night waving a flashlight around.

I am out in the boonies with lights available but not on. When I feel the need to "see" out there, I can flood the area with light, . . . observe from my protected location, . . . and act according to what is going on. Any bg at my place will have to have night vision devices, . . . or give away that he is there with his light.

Other things you can do: do you have a sign in the driveway "This house protected by XYZ total security"? It can be fake, or a bluff, . . . but the bg doesn't know for sure.

Twenty bucks in some of the catalogs that come to your house will buy a fake security camera for the front porch, . . . complete with flashing LED. Again, . . . it can bluff out the bg.

A cheap exterior lock on the storm door makes them have to break in twice before they gain access through the door.

Depending on the layout of the house, . . . rods can be placed in such a manner to block the opening of all the doors but one, . . . and only you know which one can be used.

The most important thing in home security is to remember you cannot stop all breakins. If the guy is absolutely determined, . . . and resourceful, . . . he will get in. Just do your best to make it difficult for him, . . . noisy for him, . . . or make him think that it just is not worthwhile.

My wife is the next thing to paranoid afraid of animals, . . . so my first choice of a German Shepherd is mostly out of the question (an inside dog), . . . but I will finish one of these days, . . . my fake dog, . . . that will bark incessantly when someone unauthorized opens the door. And it will sound like one of those "eat em up in one bite" dogs. May not help, . . . but cannot hurt.

May God bless,
Dwight

[Valkman]

I had the same problem - sliding glass doors in the master bedroom, double front doors and a completely undefendable rear door that's 75% glass.

First we put steel security doors on the front and rear doors - now there's no way anyone is kicking their way in or breaking the glass to get in. Then we got the same for the sliding glass doors, and they're expensive for the good ones but now I know no one is busting in on us while we're home.

[InToItTRX]

My German Shepherd which is a inside dog works fine. He will scare anyone away just by the sight of him, or hearing his bark. Some people are turned off on the fact that such a large dog won't do well in a small home. My Shepherd is well over 100 pounds and I live alone in a 1,300 SQFT house with a small back yard. I walk him once a day about 1.5 miles and he is happy.

Other then that, I have all the little locks on my windows, I have an alarm system, I also have two sliding glass doors in the rear of my home, I have those security bars installed on both of them. My front door just has one deadbolt, however I am thinking about putting in one of those metal gated doors, more so to let air in while I am home, and still be able to keep the door locked, but it would also be added security.

[IZinterrogator]

I was watching It Takes a Thief on TV a few weeks ago and the burglar smashed his way into the house through the sliding glass door. The homeowners had a rolling steel shutter installed over the door. The burglar was highly POed when he returned for the follow-up break-in and saw it.

You might want to watch an episode or two of that show. It mostly deals with preventing burglars from stealing your stuff, but a huge part of that is preventing them from getting in. It's on the Discovery Channel on Wednesday night.

[InToItTRX]

Thanks IZinterrogator, I know what I will be watching this Wednesday!

[perception]

Someone once said that thorny plants under the window is an excellent deterrent. I have to agree, wading through roses to get to a window is not going to be pleasant, nor will it be incredibly fast.

[gordo b.]

Must have been me with the nasty plants! I planted the nastiest 2" thorned cactus and Spanish Bayonette Grass under all my plantable windows (and my daughters house I built too) , hold them about 18" back from the foundation , so you can paint and the BG will THINK he can slid behind!
I put those little pins in the off side of door , they replace the center hinge screw, but act as dead bolts. I have replace all entryway door with pre hung steel doors/frames. The front door has a double pane oval cut glass window in it, but it is too small to climb thru and door is double deadbolted (long throw key both sides.
Double paned windows with metal lattices are pretty hard to get thru, in hot climates you can have them heavy reflective filmed, with no see in feature . This combination is fairly nasty to get thru with out doing demolition.
Alarm system with monitored response and I have a 125 pound outside patrol dog- who bites , first gently unless you know his name. The inside Rat Terrier is just plain nasty- except to kids. The Chinnese geese are rather loud/nasty to any one who comes thru the crunchy gravel near the barn driveway, he brings the dog or me quickly.
Outside halogen sensor lights facing out ward preclude any sneeking up! Lights up the enemy, so to speak!
All the neighbors watch out for each other on the canyon road, they report weirdo's ect!
Have THICK safes inside, and solid core dead bolted bedroom doors!

[InToItTRX]

Sharp plants work well under the windows, one good reason to live here in AZ with all of our cactus.

[brickeyee]

For sliding doors, install some screws in the upper track. leave them sticking out far enough to prevent lifting the door but still allow sliding. Most of these doors can be forced by simply prying the sliding door upwards. Insert wonder bar, step on wonder bar.
The best lock attach to the bottom track with a couple screws, and then have a steel pin that goes into a matching hole drilled into the door frame. These are reasonbly effective against lifting, but the track is pretty thin metal adn the holes can be torn upwards.

[mikikanazawa]

I was a locksmith many moons ago, and had the chance to do a "forensic analysis" of many kicked-in doors, bypassed locks, etc.

For your door you should have a metal frame (at least the part where the latches are) and good locks. For residential use, Baldwin is the brand to go with. If you don't mind commercial locksets you can't go wrong with Medeco. Medeco makes a strong lock that is resistant to bypassing for all intents and purposes. Use a steel or brass insert that reinforces the knob and latch area of the door.

You can use any cheap, secure lock for windows. They get broken or lifted from the frames frequently. It is difficult to secure a window without obtrusive measures or an electronic deterrent. I should mention that boobytraps generally aren't legal in the U.S..

[BillCA]

For those of you out in the country with acreage from which people can approach your house, you might use a sign like the ones I've attached just to get their attention. Especially true if you back porch faces a lake or small valley.

For security purposes, I've replaced the screws in exterior door hinges with 3.5" to 4" wood screws so they have a long pull to get the hinges off. Likewise, use 3" or longer countersunk sheetrock screws to fasten your doorframe to the studs. 3" Screws to fasten the striker plates and if you have one of those chain-locks on your front door use 3.25" screws there too.

Adding a steel or brass plate that wraps around the doorknobs and locking bolt strengthens the door against cracking apart if kicked. For the best security, a 1/2" hole 3"-4" deep in the floor about 1" behind the door into which you drop a steel bolt above which is an "L" shaped steel flange to catch the door as it opens. (lined with a metal sleeve if it's a wood floor).

Pyricantha bushes, with their red berries in spring are pretty and thorny. These make good deterrent bushes around fence lines. Other thorn bearing bushes and plants underneath windows or as decorative hedges work well too.

First Alert makes battery powered window/door alarms with sticky tape on them and the old-fashioned magnetic reed switch to set 'em off. The trick is to mount the alarm unit in an unreachable spot; then instead of mounting the magnetic piece in one place, put a strip of velcro in place so you and move the magnet to accomodate the windows being open at various positions during different seasons.

A friend has a small pond on his property and a female goose decided it was just the place to raise her brood. "Mother Goose" now almost ignores him but will get into a honking tizzy if a stranger shows up anywhere near the back of the house.

[tINY]

You can use any cheap, secure lock for windows. They get broken or lifted from the frames frequently. It is difficult to secure a window without obtrusive measures or an electronic deterrent.

That's why I say to look into laminated glass. It is two panes of glass with a tough film in-between (like a windshield, except that the glass doesn't break into little squares). It takes repeated smashing with a bat and probably a knife to get through the stuff.



-tINY

[brickeyee]

"like a windshield, except that the glass doesn't break into little squares"

Windshields are laminated (safety glass), it does not break into small pieces. They use the lamination to hold plain glass together. To remove the glass in an emergency a hatchet with a notch to catch and cut the plastic layer is used. Safety glass was designed to prevent broken glass from flying into the interior of the car when it broke. It does result in scalping injuries when hit by the head in an accident. The glass shatters, the plastic stretches and hair gets between the pieces of glass. Sometimes the hair gives, sometimes the scalp gives.

Tempered glass shatters into small pieces when broken. Once a crack penetrates the temper thickness in the glass, the entire sheet simply crumbles apart. A self striking center punch will typically cause enough damage to fail tempered glass. Bullet resistant glass uses additional layers of glass and plastic. Some gets many inches thick dependng on the level of protection desired. The glass used to make fiber optics is very pure and incredably strong also. One of the vendors used to display a piece of solid glass 3 inches thick that had stopped a rifle round after only about 1 inch of penetration. No laminate, just very pure glass.

[Nimitz87]

thanks for all the suggestions guys....

the glass doors do have the "broom stick" its actually woden boards.

uh the plant idea is really good.

about the lighting...would have never thought of that...definitly intersting.

what about motion lights? i dont have any visable viewpoint from my room (have storm shutters o nthe windows) which is another detterent.

tempered glass sounds intersting as well.

as does the security panels for the glass doors...

and yeah i have one of the signs outfront and back that say "protected by xxx" company

i'll check in on beefing up the door frame...how hard is this?

and what do you guys think about the intercom system?...

Thanks all

Chad

[InToItTRX]

I still think a dog is the best security, if you dont already have one.

[LAK]

Expensive overall, but I favor the hardening approach. But some of the simple tips like the broomhandle in the sliding track are very good too.

In addition to steel door frames, doors and windows; I like the old fashioned steel shutters. They can be faced with wood as to look nice of course.

[claude783]

OK, gentlemen, hate to tell you guys this, but with a cordless drill and 30 seconds of time I can be through your locks!

About the only hope you have is being aware that someone is "out" there moving around. This can mean motion sensors in the driveway (I use em', but damn the cats at 2 in the morning) combined with camera monitors...also in use!

I have a "steel" security door on both front and back doors, so there are 4 locks to drill through!

Also since the steel security doors open "outward" the doors have to either be pulled "off" or the locks compromised. Can't just walk up to em' and kick real hard...the inside doors can be kicked open and have "gremlins" on top of you before you could react!

The advantage of the motion detectors in combination with the cameras is that you can check the monitor and see "who/what" is moving about without exposing yourself to risk...you can get see in the dark cameras for $30.00 and wire them into a "cheap" (thrift store) T.V. Once the motion detector awakes you roll over, click on the t.v. and see what the F*** is going on!

A dog is an excellent alarm system...always praise the animal when it shows that "something" is outside. Never discourage this behavior!
A few years ago, hot weather, people were leaving their windows open, someone was coming into their houses and stealing purses/wallets. The dogs that the people had didn't let out a peep!

As for sliding glass doors, I would suggest that you get one of the "roll up" doos that can be installed inside. When you are gone, roll down the security door. This means that they have to "open/destroy" the glass sliding door, then worry about the security door. These are expensive, and they work like a roll up garage door!

Security should be layed, primeter, front doors/windows, and finally the shotgun to show them the error of their ways!

[LAK]

On a steel door locks can be protected with a welded steel plate box with the thickest plate on the outer face leaving just enough room to maneuver in the key to turn it.

That'll keep 'em busy for awhile.

[claude783]

Again, if you have to put a key into the lock, I can drill out the pins. At work we had some electrical (13,000 volts) being brought into the plant.

Someone on Saturday had taken the key home from the computer room. I didn't want to stay over (worked graveyard) and spend my morning "picking" the security lock (Schlege), so told them how to drill it. Took all of 2 minutes to get through a $180.00 lock!

To try and pick the damn thing would probably have taken me a couple of hours...6 pins, deep recessed...just use a 1/16 inch drill bit and then insert a screw driver and your in...So, sorry to tell you, but locks don't really mean much. They are only there to keep honest people honest!

Many years ago worked in power plants. Came into work one day and everybodys "knack" box had been broken into except mine. Thought for a couple of minutes they were gonna hang me. But, showed them that I was using an American barrel lock, were as they were using #5 master locks.

Someone had taken a drill and drilled their locks out, taking all of their expensive tools. Since mine had a center post (vending machine type lock) it couldn't be drilled. It wa only because the lock smith I went to didn't have any of the master locks that I purchased the $25 dollar locks instead of the $15 master...saved me $1,000 or so in tools!

I have a lot of "dead" time at work so took a locksmithing course a few years ago...have taken several correspondance courses throughout the years to make the time go a little faster in the boler room!

[PythonGuy]

Getting a dog or two and keeping a shotgun handy is one thing, placing landmine signs and the like is a bit, creepy. Living in NY as I do the images conjured up are a bit "unusual" so forgive my attitude, but it looks like you are living in Iraq, not California. Are we a wee bit paranoid here? I mean, live as you like of course, but I can't imagine living my life, or having my family live in that frame of mind. Its like 1970's Rhodesia for cripes sake.