Home security

[pennwalk]

After reading the post about strangers on the property and kids at home alone I was wondering if any of you good folks have thoughts/advice about home security. I'm wondering about hardened doors, locks, securing windows, alarm systems, surveilance systems, driveway sensors. Do you have your landscaping pruned back so the house is clearly visible? How do you keep from looking like a target? Also what do you tell your kids to do in the event of various threats?

Chris

 

[pennwalk]

I was also wondering what you guys think about safe rooms/bomb shelters?

Chris

 

[RedRocker]

I had this cat try to come in the window, I did manage to get the drop on him, then it got ugly. This pic tells the story.

 

[Highbeam]

I have often wondered if it is better to be visible from the street or hidden in the woods. A good fence and a remote controlled gate that opens like a garage door are both great starts. I think a good dog or three are then contained and could run loose. A good gate and then fencing along the driveway makes them know that there is one way in and one way out.

After reading the previous stranger posts I too like the idea of a safe room. I mean they can go ahead and steal my possesions but if I can hide out until they leave then I might save my life and avoid being forced to shoot them all with an ak47. I am not concerned about bombs but the construction is similar if that's what you mean.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I was also wondering what you guys think about safe rooms/bomb shelters?

Chris )</font>

I have a safe room. It has an extra thick solid core door, regular lock and deadbolt. The door frame is reinforced. The hinges are extra strength hinges. All the screws are extra length. It is isolated on one end of the house, the common walls have obstructions like plumbing lines and other things so that punching through the walls would be extremely difficult. It also has a 'shooting alley' in case someone is trying to break through the door and won't quit, there is an adjacent wall that can be shot through with high powered rounds that will knock the attacker down a flight of stairs.

I think it makes sense to have a well thought out plan of defense.

Sheriff response time where I live is over 30 minutes and I've waited 45 minutes. I don't blame the officers for the slow response time, I chose to live where I live, it is not their fault that it takes time to reach me. However I have to keep myself and my family alive while I wait for them. I'm not a big believer in confronting people I can avoid it, but I am a believer in defending myself if cornered.

 

[pennwalk]

<font color="blue"> I am not concerned about bombs </font>

I'm not sure the foreign folks seem to be stired up. I'm trying not to be paranoid but I'm not sure how secure we are as a nation. Looks like it is still pretty easy to get in.

Chris

 

[pennwalk]

Bob, do you have a phone in the safe room or a cell phone in the event the wires are down? Do yiu have some kind of air filtration or is it not that kind of safe room. Can you see what is outside the door? Would the wife and kids go to the safe room in the event of an intruder and call the police? Would there be some way to eacape the safe room?

Chris

 

[pennwalk]

RedRocker, I quess it may seem a little weird. After all this is America not some uncivalized outland but things do happen here. This is a new house to us and we have been making improvements so this might be the time for us to think about security a little. My Mom and Dad never had to lock their house till they got robbed a few years ago. Does it seem like times are changing?

Chris

 

[Bob_Skurka]

<font color="green"> Bob, do you have . . . </font>

YES to everything except air filtration, it is not needed. The room is one of our bedrooms, it has views outside, it has 'fire zones' that overlook much of the property including the driveway, it would be easy to escape the room but virtually impossible to access the room from outside.

The concept is to have a room where you can withstand a short duration attack and survive.

It must be escapable if the house is on fire, but while you need to be able to get out, it must be a difficult room to access from the outside. So a 2nd floor room is good, but only if you can't climb up onto a porch roof and walk in through a window! You need a chain fire escape ladder to get out or a real ladder to get in from outside.

Reinforced doors are a must, but the door frame is very important. A steel door set in a cheap door frame can be easily kicked open. A simple 'peephole' allows you to see the otherside of the door!

Having the room in a remote basement corner is a bad idea because unless you have lots of time while an intruder is beating down your front door then you and your family will have a hard time gettting to your safe room. A master bedroom is often in an ideal location in the house to become a safe room.

Phone & cellphone are a must.

A burglar alarm control panel inside the safe room is a must. It allows you to trigger the panic alarm, sirens, lights and auto dial for help. Lots of people put in alarms, they put in 1 or maybe 2 control panels. Most put them by their doors. That is fine, but if you are not by your door then you can't use your alarm. Have a panel in your safe room!

Plant beautiful thorn bushes under your windows. Barberry or rose bushes are great barrier plants. Very few people are stupid enough to crawl through a barberry bush to enter a window. If you have a tree that is close to the house then make it a Hawthrone tree, no human can climb one of those without ending up in the hospital and they have pretty spring blooms.

Like I said, it helps to think this stuff out.

Your house does not have to be a fortress, but you want the crooks to pass your house and go to the next one.

 

[gsganzer]

I don't want to go into a whole lot of detail, but I'm in the process of constructing more of a "retreat" room, rather than a safe room. The idea is that if myself or my wife feel threatened (such as a home invasion), we can "retreat" to an area that gives us a few seconds to get our bearings, devise a proper plan and arm ourselves if required. I added one of these to our "retreat" room. The room is also where we typically unload our pockets at the end of each day, so our cell phones are available to summon help.

Here's my line of thinking. Most people's natural reaction during the first few seconds of a surprising encounter is to flee. Why not follow your natural reaction and flee to an area where you can then take a few seconds to get control of the situation? Do you really want to grab a gun and jump up guns a' blazin' in the first few seconds after you were startled awake? What if it was your neighbor who came crashing into your bedroom at 3AM screaming, shouting and grabbing at you and in such a panic they're unable to clearly convey that your house is on fire and they're actually trying to get you out? I'd rather slug them in the jaw and scramble back a bit before I started weighing them down with lead. It sounds extreme, but you get the idea.

If I hear something going "bump" in the night and it requires investigating, I can get out of bed and go to the wall safe and select a pistol, rifle or shotgun.