Home Security Questions

[Bob Hubbard]

As a soon to be home owner I'm concerned with making sure my property is safe and secure.

What advice would you give to people on how to do this?

Right now I'm looking at ANSI 1 deadbolts, and reinforced strikers. What else is there?

Thanks

 

[Bob Hubbard]

I did find this which has been a help: http://www.wikihow.com/Burglarproof-Your-Doors

 

[Dirty Dog]

As a homeowner and not a LEO, I maintain that a large gun (a shotgun is the ideal home defense weapon) and a large dog (one of mine is a black lab/german shepard, the other is a german shepard/great dane) as well as exterior lighting and a liberal application of common sense are the best things you can do.

 

[KempoGuy06]

new windows with dual locks for when they are closed and the safety locks if you open them.

one piece of advice i learned first hand and then saw on the local new was to avoid deadbolts with thumb turns on the inside.

B

 

[Xue Sheng]

A bazooka and a trained attack Wolverine

 

[ballen0351]

When you place your door locks try to keep then as far apart as you can on the door to spread the force out over a wider area if someone kicks the door. I was a breacher on the swat team for a few years and the wider the locks the hard it is to get the doors open. Also try to reenforce the door frames as they give out way before the locks do. And make sure you use the dead bolts. I was able to breach alot of doors quitely and very quickly with the old credit card trick. I can open a door with a credit card faster then I can use a key.

As for alarm systems dont rely on them contacting the police as a deterent esp if using a national company it can take 20+ min for them to get the alarm signal, figure out where to call and then call. If you live in a town with a common name it can take longer. I worked for a small town called Cambridge when I first started police work. we would always get calls from like ADT for alarms in Cambridge Mass and we were in Maryland. So your best bet with alarms is get a LOUD system to make the criminals run away.

Motions lights are also good.

Dogs or at least beware of dog signs

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Looking into getting these. CR rates them well.
http://www.amazon.com/Engineering-747-B-Heavy-Security-Strike/dp/B000H5Y7NE

 

[seasoned]

If your not home, the biggest gun will do no good.

Leave lights on timers inside, and install motion lights outside. Outside alarm systems that make a lot of noise are a good idea, If you have big bushes anywhere near windows or doors, cut them back.

When returning home be very observant, and without being paranoid give everything a once over upon entering. Bad guys like to have an exit plan before hand, like an open window, revert back to "being very observant".

 

[Dirty Dog]

If your not home, the biggest gun will do no good.

Agreed. I'll amend my post, then, by saying that when the house is empty, it's just stuff, and I don't care about stuff. And when I come home, I'll have a reasonably big gun with me.

We're sort of rural, without any really close neighbors, so I don't personally think much of noisy alarms (other than the puppies), but for people in a more urban environment they're certainly a good idea.

 

[jks9199]

Lights. Criminals are generally like cockroaches, and hate the light. And lights are relatively inexpensive.

Good locks in good door frames. I get amazed at the guy who puts an expensive, very sturdy deadbolt/lock combination in a door with a standard window glass sidelight right next to the door.

Get to know the neighbors. And let them get to know you. You all are there 24/7. If you know each other, and give a damn about each other, you'll know when someone's around that doesn't belong, and you'll call the cops about it. If you're strangers to each other -- you won't do anything until it threatens you directly.

Pricker bushes. If you're going to have bushes near the house and windows, make 'em bushes nobody wants to be in or go through.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Pricker bushes. If you're going to have bushes near the house and windows, make 'em bushes nobody wants to be in or go through.

I like this. The part of Colorado we live in can only be called desert. I'm a big fan of xeroscaping, partly because it's environmentally friendly, but also because I loathe yard work. My rule is that I will dig a hole, plant it, and water it ONCE. After that, it's on its own. I think I'll be planting some of our local cactii in front of the windows.

 

[seasoned]

Agreed. I'll amend my post, then, by saying that when the house is empty, it's just stuff, and I don't care about stuff. And when I come home, I'll have a reasonably big gun with me.

We're sort of rural, without any really close neighbors, so I don't personally think much of noisy alarms (other than the puppies), but for people in a more urban environment they're certainly a good idea.

Agreed.

Also, leave with BIG gun, return with BIG gun, good Idea.............

 

[Dirty Dog]

Agreed.

Also, leave with BIG gun, return with BIG gun, good Idea.............

Well, I'm not walking around with a Desert Eagle .50 in my pocket...

My usual carry gun is a Ruger P94 (last of the double stacks...). It's been tweaked a bit by a gunsmith friend. At 50 feet, I get 4" groups open sight, 3" with the laser, rapid fire. With a handgun I don't see any reason to shoot farther than that.
It's loaded with MagSafe rounds, although I also have a mag filled with black talons.

I did shoot one of the DE .50s once. Guy had one at the range. Only weapon I ever saw that deserved to be called a crew served handgun...

 

[seasoned]

Well, I'm not walking around with a Desert Eagle .50 in my pocket...

My usual carry gun is a Ruger P94 (last of the double stacks...). It's been tweaked a bit by a gunsmith friend. At 50 feet, I get 4" groups open sight, 3" with the laser, rapid fire. With a handgun I don't see any reason to shoot farther than that.
It's loaded with MagSafe rounds, although I also have a mag filled with black talons.


I did shoot one of the DE .50s once. Guy had one at the range. Only weapon I ever saw that deserved to be called a crew served handgun...

9 is good, most times I'll have a Glock 40. Holster holds the secret for ease of carry. DE, I never shot one.

 

[jks9199]

I like this. The part of Colorado we live in can only be called desert. I'm a big fan of xeroscaping, partly because it's environmentally friendly, but also because I loathe yard work. My rule is that I will dig a hole, plant it, and water it ONCE. After that, it's on its own. I think I'll be planting some of our local cactii in front of the windows.

Plants are simple. They're relatively inexpensive. They don't eat much. They don't sleep. You can't make friends with a pricker bush, or distract it. Lots to be said for plants in a security plan...

 

[Bob Hubbard]

This sound good?
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-to-reinforce-a-door-for-security

 

[MA-Caver]

Looking into getting these. CR rates them well.
http://www.amazon.com/Engineering-747-B-Heavy-Security-Strike/dp/B000H5Y7NE

That is a good one... and reinforce the screws with a bonding agent like epoxy or equivalent squirted inside the screwholes (i.e. take the time to screw them in then unscrew them and put the epoxy inside then rescrew them) so that the metal will bond to the wood. Same with the ones in the door itself. But yeah, test the door with short piece of 2X4 and a heavy hammer, striking where the dead-bolt is... if it holds good enough then at least you don't worry about someone kicking in the door or busting it with a hammer once or twice.

Lights. Criminals are generally like cockroaches, and hate the light. And lights are relatively inexpensive.

Good locks in good door frames. I get amazed at the guy who puts an expensive, very sturdy deadbolt/lock combination in a door with a standard window glass sidelight right next to the door.

Get to know the neighbors. And let them get to know you. You all are there 24/7. If you know each other, and give a damn about each other, you'll know when someone's around that doesn't belong, and you'll call the cops about it. If you're strangers to each other -- you won't do anything until it threatens you directly.

Pricker bushes. If you're going to have bushes near the house and windows, make 'em bushes nobody wants to be in or go through.

Good tips one and all... definitely get to know the neighbors... have a house-warming and be casual about letting them know you have a good security system to it... you don't know if the neighbors aren't harboring thieves themselves and knowing you got an ambiguous security will help put second thoughts. Feel them out of course... if they're just as concerned about break-ins then at least you know who is reliable and who isn't.

Yeah, definitely shrubs... prickly mean *** shrubs...http://voices.yahoo.com/security-gardening-deter-burglars-thorny-landscape-407548.html keep 'em cut short and low to prevent anyone hiding behind them to bust a window. And as mentioned, lights... unfortunately the motion types, go off if the neighborhood cats roam about... you could try to find ways to keep the cats away... http://www.cat-lovers-only.com/natural-cat-repellent.html

or for giggles... [yt]2WWKpr6fU2w[/yt]
and variations there of.

but considering most burglaries occur during the daytime (statistically) ... lights are kinda redundant, but still a good security measure.

Think like a burglar and walk around your house and try to find alternate ways in, (also helpful if you have a brain-fart and locked yourself out).
Go to the police station and set up an appointment with someone to talk about the neighborhood you're in... I think you can ask for public records of the history of the neighborhood. Sometimes neighbors are embarrassed by past events and won't tell everything that you should know.

Find discreet times to move in the valuables and if possible back the truck up to the garage making it harder to see just what you're unloading. Invite cops over for a bbq, let folks know you're friendly with them. Word gets around. Psychological warfare if you will.

 

[frank raud]

new windows with dual locks for when they are closed and the safety locks if you open them.

one piece of advice i learned first hand and then saw on the local new was to avoid deadbolts with thumb turns on the inside.

B

Check with your insurance coverage before you install deadbolts without thumb turns. Being trapped inside a burning building because the deadbolts were on and you cant open them in a hurry would be a terrible thing.

 

[ballen0351]

There has ever only been 1 door I could not get open. Ive used rams on metal doors with metal frames and got them open in less then 5 hits. The one time I needed to pass the ram after 15+ hits was a regular steel door you get at home depot and a regular door frame. The guy screwed a 2x4 strip on the inside of the door jam where your molding would be there was well over 50 screws holding it on. We neevr got the door open we ended up using an alternative breach point thru a window. It didnt look pretty but if you hada little carpentry skills you could prob. make it look ok and nobodys kicking that door in not even the police. Since then we now carry breaching rounds Id like to have another crack at that door with the breching round but im not on the team anymore.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Pricker bushes. If you're going to have bushes near the house and windows, make 'em bushes nobody wants to be in or go through.

Remember that you also might have to go through them the other way if you need to escape the building for any reason (fire, etc).