HOME SECURITY

My family and I are just about to close on our first home. It is a double wide on almost 3 rural acres with no neighbors for about an 1/8 mile. I would like everyone's opinions on how to make my home more secure to theft. I am planning on putting thorny shrubs below the windows and changing dead bolts out to new ones. I read about putting longer screws in the doorframe. I will be looking at putting in motion lights.

I will also be building a gun range in my back yard so the sound of gunfire may deter thieves.

A couple dogs might help, if you know what you are doing.

You can escalate security measures right up to fort knox level. Ultimately, it is going to depend on what resources (money) you have to work with. There's tons of information on the web. If you have the money, you can even hire a consultant.

I would fence! the expense here is the "T" posts. Using Field fencing is the cheapest way to go. A 330' roll will vary in price but runs from $78.00 - $150.00. Some tractor supplies carry it, fencing companies carry it, and from time to time you can find a hardware store with it.

I prefer to purchase the 48" high (the highest it comes in) and use 8" "T" posts.

I place fencing right on the ground. It will stay there! later I will come back with a shovel and dig out a shovelfull of dirt from under the edge on both sides and then throw it right on top so the edge gets burried. WHY? because no dog, coyote or wolf can dig in! and my dogs can't dig out!

I place the "T" posts in the ground right in the middle of the fencing laying on the ground so there is 2 feet on either side.

I am ready to put up the fence. make sure you have the "T" posts in the right way so you can come back and put up a hot wire... later.

At this point you have a couple of choices. Your fence is only 4 feet tall. You can run 3 strands of hot wire on top and one at the bottom, one in the middle if you want too (but use the 6 inch extensions to keep the livestock and dogs off the fence) or 3 strands of barbed wire and hot wire later.

I personally come back with another row of field fencing and over lay it 2 feet so I end up with a 6 foot fence and a 3 rows of hot wire.. top.middle.bottom with the 6 inch extensions to keep the dogs off.

Dogs, Coyotes, Wolves won't come over a 6 foot fence.
They can clear a 4 foot fence grab a small goat, chicken, dog, cat, baby and jump back over.
They can clear a 5 foot fence but can't get back over with something in their mouths.
They won't even attempt a 6 foot fence.

Digging at the bottom of a fence to get under. It has been my experience that dogs, coyotes and wolves go right to the fence and start to dig. If there is fencing down, they give up, if they see the edge.. they will start to dig at the edge.

I have also found that they 'usually' dig down about 18 inches and give up but have had some do down 24". this is why laying down fence on the ground works so well. I would love it if my fencing on the ground was wider but too had to fence mountains and valleys and keep the edge burried.

Those solar lights with a motion detector works great stationed in several locations along the fence line..hopefully you live where there is some sun each day and not all dark and dreary!

If you have dogs, they will go to the location of the attempted breach and depending on where you have your motion detector, the dogs can have it set off or you can have the predator set it off. this will depend on the terrain and plants. I have lots of sage brush, elderberry trees, pines, and etc.. the predator stays in the brush and I never see them, though the dogs do. I have my lights set to go off with my dogs but angles the light into the brush.

My dogs will take on anything.. and my fencing will stop most predators.. but bears go through the fence.. over actually as does the mountain lions, raccoons and small varmints. The light on and dogs barking and usually that is enough to cause the predators to mosey down the road.

I do have wireless cameras. I went with the X10.com system. Motion detector causes the videos to record. Having dogs... not needed <evil grin>

The fencing is my first line of defense, my dogs are my second line of defense... I am the last line! when the dogs bark, I am up and ready to investigate. Of course I have learned to read my dogs bark.

Is my plan perfect? no, but so far it has worked for us. I am protecting my livestock as I back up to 1000's of acres of National Forest as well as my home.

Saucy Rose

Dogs and coyotes WILL go over an unelectrified 6-ft fence, I've seen them do it.

If you get dogs, keep them where the valuables are. This is obvious to me, but not to many others. They refuse to fence even a portion of the property near the house, and tie the dogs out on a chain. So they bark if someone comes near, big deal. I can walk right past them and get into your house, the dogs are no threat. Dogs loose in a fenced yard are a problem to an intruder; not an insurmountable problem, but might make the difference to a casual intruder.

And don't bother with those underground fences. If your dogs are good enough to be watchdogs, their prey drive will be high enough that they WILL eventually blow right past it and get out of the yard, esp if chasing something, like an intruder. Then the collar won't let him back in the yard, once the excitement of the chase is past. Once they know they can blow through it, it's useless.

Consider an inner fence and a perimeter fence. I've found mine very useful. My home fencing surrounds my house, where I usually keep my dogs, esp when I'm not home. This helps to eliminate poison tossed over the back fence (at one point, my immediate neighborhood had at least six drug houses in it). I can confine the dogs to the immediate back yard, the front yard, or let them run in both. When they're loose, NO ONE comes past the front gate unless the dogs know them. They're not mean, but they put on a good act. I've never been burgled here, even with a meth lab next door, and nearly all the neighbors have had burglaries or stuff stolen from their garages or yards.

Sue

I would offer one suggestion from a cop's perspective. Be careful how you aim the lights. When I patrolled on the midnight shift, many homes had flood lights mounted above the overhead garage door and aimed down the driveway, toward the road. Every time a vehicle approached, the light popped on. Now, this isn't bad if you plan to sit up all night and look out your windows but if you expect help from the cops, it puts them at a severe disadvantage. First, someone could be standing near the activated light and go undetected because the cop has been temporarily blinded. Second, if the cops were called to investigate a prowler, they would instantly be lit up on their arrival. It isn't a good feeling.



It might also tempt them to come and steal your guns when they don't hear gunfire. A heavy gun safe would be a good idea even if you don't build the range.

Let me offer a second, slightly opposite view. Make sure any security lights aim away from the house. This allows you, while inside the house, to see your property. Many folks use lights to highlight their house - "Gee, look how pretty our house is!" This just puts the lights into your eyes, allowing others to look into your house, while you're blinded to what's outside the window.

Perhaps aiming lights "down" instead of "out" might be a good compromise?

Motion lights around the building(s), and I'll add this to the aiming discussion - light up the foundation of your house so you, or the cops, can see if someone is lurking underneath your windows. Illuminate an area around your house. Don't bother illuminating the street like so many people do.

The idea of putting fencing on the ground to discourage digging is tried and true, but don't think you need to get the same expensive fencing that you used to go around your house - a decent grade chicken wire works just fine. See if you can bury it an inch or two so the animals won't see the edge and realize it stops.

Ground hogs won't fall for it though.

I think up or down would be much better than straight into the eyes of someone who is watching/guarding your place while you sleep. Parallel to the exterior walls might also be a viable option. I just want people to think about it a bit and consider more than just one view.

A good security plan is in layers, like we dress for the cold. No single layer will, for sure, stop a determined intruder. What you want is to keep presenting them with a new layer to slow them down and decide its too much trouble/risk.

Most home robbers are not doing much more than looking for something quick and easy to grab to sell for drugs thing like DVD's/players/TV's/computers and, the mother load, guns. To them, time and being noticed is the enemy.

So, the above comments are all good advice. You may also want to consider:

-Making sure the windows are as secure as you are making the door.
-Inside the house motion sensors tied to a very very loud alarm either inside or outside the house.
-A "panic button" for the alarm.
-secure storage for your weapons. Don't rely on "hiding places"--the bad guys have seen them all.

As Benjammin said, the sky's the limit on what you can do, but you can do a lot by yourself a little at a time; Radio Shack used to carry a good line of home security products, although I haven't checked them since we did our house several years ago. There also are some good on-line vendors of home security products.

I don't have any experience with the various services that will install and monitor a system for you for a "low monthly fee." We can't afford all the "low" monthly fees.

Congrats on the new home!

I'll second the lights and angle thing, but my experince is a little different.

I'm just glad my folks use sliding doors made out of planks on the garage, rather than some fancy roll up thing. At least I could fix that...

Maybe leave some targets with several holes near the bullseye on a bench near the front door...

Sue

Kinda like when you have a baby, you crawl around on the floor to see what hazards you can see from the baby's point of view.

Pretend you're trying to break in.

How would you get in? When is going to best time to do it and not be caught?

Pretend you want to get a hold of one of the family members to do harm.

How would you get to them? Where would you wait for an ambush? When would you attack?

I found the exercise scary as hell but I became aware of some weak spots in our defenses that I hadn't thought of.

The hardest is deciding which breach is most likely and focusing on that, and not turning the home into a prison.

1. Gate the entrance.
1a. Fence property if accessible by vehicle any other way, or block other entrances with other gates or road blocks.

2. Dogs scare off wanna-be crooks not real ones who do the damage, dogs are a good method to alert you that someone is coming or at / around your house... use the dog for nothing more than alert.

3. Home security system... to your cell #: http://www.alarmsystemstore.com/GE-Simon-XT-Wireless-Sensors-and-Remotes-s/67.htm is a good system, you get page you call authorities. You can also tie it into a monitoring service if you want too.... door, window, motion, glass, etc sensors, great stuff. Loud alarm too is good.

4. Video cameras. Good to check if you heard a sound and want to see if anyone is snooping around near your house, unless you have BIG $ not good for around property. Good if you have broadband and want to check-up from internet too while you are away. Also nice to have hooked up to a computer w/wireless router so you can connect to your *SECURE* network via your laptop and view cameras from anywhere in the house. (You hide, check cameras find out where the threat is coming from).

5. Flood lights around house that you can turn on when you are home and think you are threatened.. blinding light facing outward, and you can see most threads coming then.

6. Know your weak spots and make sure you can monitor them good.
6a. Know your strengths and an area you can `run to` and defend better than your other areas.

7. Learn your new area, the sounds, the vehicles, etc. don't be surprised by things that are common / repeated for that area.

8. Make sure you and the wife know how to use a fire arm.

9. Walkie-Talkies when you go out on the property to the wife back home... gotta stay in touch.


As I think of more I`ll let you know.

One of the better recommendations that I've heard over the years (and one that seems to make sense in my albeit limtied experience) is that it pays to put the most emphasis on "passive" protection - doors, windows, fences etc., basically everything that creates a physical barrier.

Alarms and detection systems have their place but they are not necessarily an effective deterrent. Also, they can be bypassed in many ways. But a thick solid wall is a real obstacle. A heavy door with a good lock can't be breached so easily. Windows may be especially vulnerable (should have some reliable means of keeping them closed, a lock if possible). Investing in solid shutters might not be a bad idea either.

Living in the age of plaster walls and cheapo construction methods has certain drawbacks. If you look at some of the older farmhouses they were a lot better - thick brick walls, heavy doors, relatively small windows with iron bars etc.

Modern apartments are especially vulnerable. Just the other day I helped a friend of mine install a new "burglar proof" door. We removed the old door complete with the frame in a matter of minutes with some power tools - the wall was so soft I think it could even be done with a big screwdriver if you had enough time.

This. A bunch of noisy, easily startled farm birds would help as well, in more ways than one.



You do realize sign fraud puts countless lives and properties around the world at risk, don't you? Just checking.

At least in a rural area your risk is lower, my parents still leave their doors unlocked.

Poeple go for the ourbuildings first, detached garages, sheds, etc where they can break into without being heard or seen and steal tools to pawn. Then it will be a back door or window away from roads where someone coming by could see them.

After our shed was broken into and I fixed the damage there I looked at the old wooden door on the back of our garage and went and bought a new door. i actually bought a new front door for the house and swapped them, putting the brand new door on the house and the existing door on the garage, both were steel doors.
I had to widen the opening to make the entry door fit the garage so while I had the wall open I made sure to put double 2x4's on each side of the door frame with 3.5" constuction screws hlding everything in place, then marked the spot for the deadbolt and drlled out a hole there and drove a piece of pipe theough so the deadbolt went into the pipe rather than just that thin metal plate that screws to the frame. Someone will break their leg on that door if they try to kick it open.
Next is windows, put those little clamps or just put in a screw or drill a hole for a downel pin so they can't be opened far enough to crawl through so they would just have to break the glass. You could put a steel pipe inside the opening to cut across the open hole preventing anyone from crawling through.

My geese outperform my dog as far as detection goes.
Noisier, too.

Never did what you suggest as an excercise, but many times as a kid I'd "break into" our old house after forgetting my keys on the way to school. And, once at my parent's new home after I drove cross country, and realized I didn't have keys to the house since I moved 3000 miles away. So, I've broken into both of my parents' houses before. All without breaking the windows! Imagine how easy it'd be for someone that made a job out of that sort of thing.

I hear that guineas sound a pretty good alarm, too, but I'm not sure about nighttime. Some birds are nightblind. But they are noisy without strangers around, so I wonder how you would tell the difference?

A "Beware of Dog" sign when you have a dog is an invitation to a lawsuit. It is advertising (rightly or wrongly) that you know you have a vicious dog. Better is a "No Tresspassing" sign, legally.

Don't leave your door unlocked. Just because you trust your neighbors doesn't mean you can trust any bunch of joyriding teenagers or meth heads looking to score something they can sell.

Sue

I picked up a couple of small signs a few years ago. They were too funny to pass up but I'll admit that I've yet to mount them anywhere. The sign has the silloute of a person standing in crosshairs. The text below the image states "If you can see this, I can see you."

Often overlooked aspects to home security are reducing the attractiveness of breaking in by not advertising what you have inside and blending into the community, and arrangement of well formed and effective boundary markers and psychological deterrents.

The first point is pretty simple. If you set up your 120 inch high resolution TV on your patio where everyone within a quarter mile can enjoy the show with you and hook it up to you 1200 watt surround sound system and watch war movies in the evenings at high volume so half the county knows when John Wayne is storming Mount Suribachi then your a fool and just begging for trouble.

You needn't have a home like a destitute hermit but obviously high end homes with obviously expensive features tend to attract attention if they are not surrounded by similar homes. Try to be just a bit plainer and a bit less ostentatious than your neighbors.

Also be careful about how you talk. Bragging about your $50,000 dollar coin collection at work can get you unscheduled visitors.

Also be careful who you let in your home. Tradesmen should be licensed, bonded, have references and work for shops that use background checks and drug testing.

If your lucky enough to design or remodel your home some thought can be given to keep those areas likely to need service by outside tradesmen segregated from those areas containing valuables. The heat and AC plants, water heater, power panel and water shut-off should ideally be in a separate mechanical room. Appliances that might need servicing, like the refrigerator, washer and drier, should not be near tempting targets.

Creative use of folding doors, curtains and throw covers can help keep valuables out of sight while visitors or workers are in your home. The European tradition of dust covers was only partly about keeping dust at bay.

Remember that even if a tradesmen or visitor is honest they will notice what is around them and could talk about anything remarkable you have at the local watering hole. Your extensive collection of guns will interest the local cat burglar, or crackhead, if it gets mentioned.

Point being that you don't want to present an attractive target for any thieves. And you want to limit the number of people who know about those valuables you do have.

The second point is a little more difficult to define. It has to do with the psychological effects of architecture and architectural details that don't necessarily jump out as defensive measures.

One study of laboratory workers showed that something as simple as a picture of eyes on a wall in a room reduced the tendency to cheat. this was true even when the people being tested were not consciously aware of the pictures presence. In other tests people in rooms with pictures of eyes present reported having the feeling of being observed. Deep in the human mind the presence of eyes and eye shapes are associated with being observed, judged and brought to justice.

Interestingly many 'primitive' architectural designs incorporated details that resemble eyes.

Another architectural effect has to do with demarcation of transitions between public, semi-public, tribe, family and personal spaces. Gateways, arches, pillars and changes in elevation, with or without any physical barrier, tend to slow and deter intruders. Particularly when these boundary points can be assumed to be under observation.

A simple set of uprights at a gateway or low fence is an obvious but seldom understood psychological barrier. Anyone who thinks about it will understand that a if you live on a corner lot people will tend to run diagonally across you property to some extent. If you put up a low fence around the property line, typically all of sixteen inches high and used around flower beds, the number of people who will cut the corner is greatly reduced. The effect is far more profound than the height of the fence would suggest. A child could step over the fence but few people will cross it.

A window that overlooks the fence and a pair of vaguely eye shaped cutouts in the siding reinforce the effect.

This sort of thing also has an effect on how any intruder is seen and, to some extent, how you will be judged if you react violently to any intruder.

Everyone understands that even a very low fence marks territory. A low fence also makes the property look less like a penitentiary. Less like someone inside is worried about someone outside taking something valuable they have inside.

It is less credible for a burglar to claim he 'was lost' and 'looking for a nearby house' if they have to go through a gateway that is clearly marked with your name and address. If they have to open two or three gates to get to your porch they have, in effect, been warned that hey are not welcome if they have no business. If the confrontation gets violent on your porch the jury and judge will implicitly take this into account.

The same situation without any such demarcation of your territory means that a person can credibly walk right up to your house and look around. If confronted they can easily claim that they are new to the area and looking for a friend's house that they think live in the general area.

This is a classic low risk method for thieves to case a house to gain knowledge of who stays in a house, what valuables might be present, when people are present or most likely out. They can 'innocently' case the place and plan their burglary without fear of arrest or violence.

Demarcating your territory and using universal architectural symbols that reinforce a persons uneasiness and feelings of being observed can tilt the situation in your favor and subtly convince any potential intruder that they should try their luck at some other house.

Thank you everyone for your information. I am considering a family dog as an early warning device sometime in the future.

Aiming of the motion lights will be addressed once I get them up and running (after we close).

I am not planning on fencing the property right now and I will be looking at getting better doors as finances allow.

First priorities will be new deadbolts with 2 keyed sides as you can't break a window to open them.

reinforcing the existing doorframes with longer screws (I am not about to tear up the wall to reinforce them more than that.)

getting a good lock system on the one outbuilding so that my tools are secured against theft and being used to break into my own home.

planting non friendly spiky shrubs along the front of the building so that the windows are not entry points and making sure windows can be locked securely.

Getting my steel locking gun cabinet (no it is technically not a safe but you aren't going to break into it easily) installed in the home

I believe those double sided deadbolts aren't legally allowed in residential homes, you may want to check with your local laws. In case of fire it could potentially trap people inside. Medeco makes a set that has a removable keyed knob (basically a key that has a knob attached), but that's pretty much the same as just leaving a key in the door. And unless everyone in your family is disciplined, that's what will eventually happen anyway, they'll just leave a key in the lock for convienence

The longer screws might work, but if the wood itself is weak it won't help much, it'll still rip out of the frame. There's a reinforcement strip about 3-4 feet long that screws onto the frame and spread the load over a much larger area, it's called strikemaster or something like that. You don't have to do much modification either, it's just a very long strip of metal that replaces the strike plate.

You'd be surprised how easy it is to break into a gun cabinet. Whatever it is just make sure to bolt it down, because if they can carry it off, it doesn't matter how secure it is. One motivated person can easily carry off a 300 lb safe.

You can also look into installing home security cameras. I just installed a system not too long ago, it isn't very hard. It won't physically stop anyone from coming on to your property, but it does give you a sense of security to be able to watch your house when you're gone. I'm halfway around the world right now and I can see what time the mailman arrived today and anyone that came onto the property.

+1. Most gun "safes" (like you would see at Bass Pro Shops) are not nearly as tough as you would think. There are good ones out there from several companies but they are not cheap. They are also very heavy.

Locks only keep out honest people. Likewise security systems: bought one, and the only break-ins were committed by my kids, while the old folks were away on vacation, for adolescent party purposes. I go with the dogs-they bark at everybody, including the kids. Geese and guinea hens are more effective, but substantially less winsome than the dogs. The fowl do cook up better than the dogs.I am working on a security device that will fire low velocity cold cuts at intruders: turn the dogs loose, and the intruders will be way too busy to do any serious intruding.

"I will also be building a gun range in my back yard so the sound of gunfire may deter thieves."

That's a two-sided sword sort of thing. It will also let everybody in the area know you are a gun enthusiast and probably have a lot of guns in your home. It won't take long to figure out when nobody's home! I would invest in a quality gun safe.

I would think a double-wide would be hard to really harden and secure, but I'm no expert. There has to be a speciality website that offers suggestions on security for manufactured homes.

well double wides do still have steel frames underneath, even if its the modular type where they remove the wheels park of the metal frame stays so you could drop some thick steel from thge gun safe through the floor to the frame and weld it in place.

I don't know of anyone that has used the "Burglar Bomb" products but I'm tempted to incorporate a couple into my alarm system.

If you haven't heard of them look here http://www.stopthecrime.com/prod-repulsar4.htm

Geese, they frighten me.

Just kidding, before even reading benjammin's post, I thought, "dogs", big junkyard ones, doberman gang types that can climb ladders and leap between buildings.

+5 on that. Geese are damn cobras with wings!

-Blast

A minister of ducks would know, hahaha......
Seriously, I have been chased by dogs and escaped, but those dagblame geese never give up!

+1 on the dog. Get two or more. Dogs are much braver in a pack.

At least until the geese organize.......

Geese are also excellent guards. Peacocks are good alarms. There are a fair number of non-traditional defensive animals.

My aunt Helen swears by her donkey!! It's very protective of the other critters.

Don't put your name on your house or mailbox. People are less wary of others who can address them by name.

Sue