Part 1.

Lately the topic of home security has been weighing heavily on my mind. Here's the story: About a month ago a coworker of mine was the victim of a home invasion. He was awakened around 3 or 4 a.m. to a commotion in the living room. Initially he thought it was his roommate coming in, but when he went to check up on him he was attacked by five guys. They've kicked in his door and were ransacking his apartment. He ended up getting beat up pretty good, but very fortunately he wasn't seriously injured.

Now, he's a younger kid that runs with a shady crowd, but it really got me thinking. To many people I talk to home security is a gun. While I'm into firearms I think that's a misplaced priority. How many people have a $1,000 gun tricked out with lights and lasers yet stick with a $20 Kwik-Set lock? I keep a gun near my bed, but I want the situation to ended with the bad guy outside my front door, not dead on the floor of my bedroom!

I realized that my knowledge of security was pretty basic; have a deadbolt, don't have your name on your mailbox, etc. So I decided to do a bit of reading, then conduct a survey of my house. What I found frankly shocked me. Basically I live in a tent! That is to say, it would be just as easy to keep someone out of my tent as my house.

First off, my front door has glass sidelights- not ideal. But as I looked at them with an eye towards covering them on the inside with plexiglass I noticed that the wall they screw into is very flimsy. Worse yet my front door is an interior door (!), secured to a single 2 x 4 frame (!!)! Absolutely mind boggling.

I wish that was the worst of it. The front entry used to be porch but apparently was walled in...or I should say "windowed in". The whole thing is windows. What used to be the front door is also an interior door! And to the left of it are three single paned windows large enough to easily step through.

Going around to the side door in the alley didn't make me feel any better. There's a single dead bolt on another interior door being used as an exterior door (!), and like the front door that deadbolt is a single cylinder 3" from a window! What were they smoking when they built the place? And what was I smoking when I moved in?

I got another shock when I peeled the trim off the inside of the door frame to plan how to reinforce it. It's difficult to describe what I laughingly call the "King stud"/door junction- the door jamb is a one-by mounted to plaster! Yes, PLASTER!

Needless to say, but this point I needed a drink! The further I look the scarier my house is. But at least now I know, and knowing will help me fix it. My mom & brother are both former professional carpenters (and I'm pretty handy having worked with them PT as a kid). I'm formulating a plan to get this house up to 21st Century standards.

It seems previously my security plan was "be extremely lucky." While that's worked up until now it's time to get better.