Check your doors for burglar proofing

[308win]

This is the inside door between my garage and house. The only way someone could get to this door is to get throught the outside door or open the large garage door.

But then there are morons like me who forget to shut the garage door, ignore the barking dog, and spend hours dealing with credit card companies etc. when someone came in the open garage door, the door between the garage and the house (that also wasn't locked), the door between the utility room and the rest of the house (that also wasn't locked) and took my wife's purse out of the den.:banghead:

 

[Fun2Shoot]

Food for security thought

I had my apt burglerized twice in California and once found a locksmith pick on my door step as I opened my front door.

Crooks are lazy and mostly stupid, that's why they're crooks. Hold up their progress or make them work and they go on to easier pickin's.

Here's my strategy:

All my home's entry doors have double keyed Schlage dead bolts ( keyed on both sides) with extra deep catch pockets secured w/three 3" wood screws deep into the door jam. You can remove the inner keys while you're gone a long time so if the bums come in through the windows, they can't take the loot out the doors.

If gone an extended time, unplug the garage door opener and put a padlock through the guide roller channel. Bums can't back in a truck and clean you out.

Don't leave tools in sight for crooks to use for breaking in (crowbar, hammer etc)

Shove 1"X2" boards in the frames of little used double hung window to make them hard to pry open from outside.

Put up "Electronic Security Signs", even if you don't have a system. Get them at Radio Shack.

This is just my short list, but you get the idea.

 

[Nitrogen]

Something I havn't seen discussed in this thread, that also makes a big difference (it doesn't exactly apply to the original post, though)

Have you ever watched the TV show "It Takes a Thief"?

The most important parts of that show are the parts that most people don't pay attention to. (Even though most of the show is crap)

Everyone fixates on all the gadgets installed, but in the first 5 minutes, the 2 ex-thieves pick their target.
"The hedge at this house is too low, everyone can see me"
"Look at the alarm plaque, let's skip this one"
"Ohh. Look! A nice high fence. The hedges are huge, let's check this one out!"

You can't count on a thief being stupid, but you can almost count on them being lazy.

Breaking a window is easy, but it's also loud, and might draw attention. Sliding-Glass doors are usually just pulled off the tracks, rather than broken. Get a charlie-bar, and problem is mostly solved.

Another thing I havn't seen mentioned is curtains, or other window coverings. If you don't have curtains, a potential thief can walk by, see exactly what he wants to grab, and decide if your home is worth the effort. Blinds and curtains are something to consider, expecially if your home is close to the street.

The last thing: Burglar alarms. Most of the cheap ones sold to homowners are complete crap. They can be bypassed easily, and in some areas, are ignored completely by the authorities.

 

[Fun2Shoot]

....Another thing I havn't seen mentioned is curtains, or other window coverings. If you don't have curtains, a potential thief can walk by, see exactly what he wants to grab, and decide if your home is worth the effort. Blinds and curtains are something to consider, expecially if your home is close to the street.

Some of these preventive measures are so simple and mosty free that it foolish not to use them. Our house has an attached garage. The garage has a small window. I put some left over contact paper on the lower half of that window so that no one can look in from outside and see if any cars are home. Empty driveway and garage is a big invite to a break-in IMO.

My new next door neighbors have been out-of-town all week and their house may just as well have a big sign that says: Come and steal all you want-NO one home! The driveway has a weeks worth of newspapers laying in it. The house has no lights on anywhere all night long.

If I were a burglar, I would come in through the back door that no neighbor can see. I'd unlock the garage door from the inside. I'd leave the house from the back and then drive around the front at about 3AM, drive into the garage, put down the door and load up the loot and be on the road by 4AM.

The neighbors could at least have asked us to keep an eye on their home and given us a phone number where they could be reached. I told the new guy that we have been in this same house for 20 years. I'd say that he could trust us.

There are so many simple options in life that make it so much easier. I don't know why people don't use more of them.

 

[Geno]

The best defense inside, besides guns, is trained dogs...

Our dogs are trained to rip into anyone with a weapon. They even go nuts when they see me with a pistol, knife, etc. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of those "locking jaws". I agree Re: the double deadbolts, double keyed, etc. Lock the garage, etc. But, I have to share with you what the dealer who sold me my Cannon vault said,

"Given time, opportunity and tools, ANY crook can get into ANY vault, no matter how secure. So, get your things insured and just make them have to 'work' for it!" Best thing to do is communicate with the neighbors you trust and hope you truly can trust them.

I reflect back on the neighbor to the right who hired the neighbor to our left to sit his dog. She was about 13 and fully trustworthless!!! Within hours, she had herself, her two derelict brothers and their (seriously) about 5 equally derelict friends THROUGHOUT the house, all the lights on, on all levels, "lost" the house keys, etc. When the neighbor came home, he was, ah, let's say, upset. So if you hire the neighbor kid, secure the interior of the house too. We have HIGH quality locks on ALL doors, even interior doors. Talk about having to "earn" it.

Best of all, get a security camera that snaps photos and saves to somewhere "secure" like the gun vault. Then, even if they "borrow" your tools, etc., you can have the police get it back for you.

This was a timely post! Thank-you! It's always nice to receive reminders to not let my guard down.

It reminds me of when I was a high school principal and two kids broke into our house...DURING school hours!!!! I cross-referenced 3 data bases (attendance, driving and discipline). It came down to 3 students, one car, and two sets of foot prints. The one student I knew would NEVER do so...besides, that student was with a parent at the doctor. The other two, could, might and DID! The tires tracks matched. BOTH sets of foot prints matched. BINGO!!!! BUSTED!!!! The detective told me, "Man, you're in the wrong business! I've never solved a B&E this fast!" (About 1 hour). Within 24 hours they had their car impounded and had been fired from the store where they worked. It would have been comical if it weren't so aweful. Although, they had already "fenced" the items. I never got my computers, etc. back.

Doc2005

 

[rbernie]

We live in a nice, new, suburban neighborhood. All of the houses around here are equipped with automatic garage door openers. The most common form of forced entry involves pushing the center of the top garage door panel inward and grabbing/pulling the emergency door release rope with a hook on a stick. Takes about fifteen seconds to accomplish. Given that we all have garages in the back off an alley, this can be done in almost complete privacy. This is how the fire department got my wife back into the house when she locked herself out while I was out of town. Somebody also tried this on the house next door not two weeks ago, while the owners were in San Antonio. Fortunately, the break-in was thwarted by the fact that the electric doors were deactivated and the door had been manually locked.

I am convinced that the only thing that's prevented my house from being forcibly entered is the fact that I have two large dogs that make quite a racket at the slightest hint of noise. There's almost no perimeter defense that can't be bypassed in some fashion, but most folks simply do NOT want to confront a couple of angry sounding dogs.

And that works for me.

 

[Blue Line]

One trick I've learned about garage doors is I have two holes in the track that I can insert a nail or pin to keep the door from going up. I use this when I'm going away for some time and also remember to turn off the garage door opener so as not to burn out the motor. Another item to slow someone down.

 

[abaddon]

One more trick - at night leave a bathroom light on. If the robbers are planning on breaking in while you are sleeping the bathroom light will make them think you're not asleep.

 

[BullfrogKen]

Re-opening an automatic garage door

All of the houses around here are equipped with automatic garage door openers. The most common form of forced entry involves . . . .

I wish you hadn't posted such details.

Methods of opening automatic garage doors are common knowledge among those who make a living from thievery. Shall we not make it easily accessible to the novices by refraining from posting the techniques in an internet thread about burglary?

 

[odysseus]

Best of all, get a security camera that snaps photos and saves to somewhere "secure" like the gun vault. Then, even if they "borrow" your tools, etc., you can have the police get it back for you.

Better yet, a secure ftp/smtp server host of your ISP. It's all off site.

 

[Matthew748]

While reading this thread I cannot help but think about an acquaintance I met years ago. He lived in an iffy neighborhood and upgraded all of the exterior doors on his house and installed bars in the windows. He did the same for his unattached garage. He was robbed one night while away. The robbers simply cut an opening through one of the walls.

 

[johnnymenudo]

While reading this thread I cannot help but think about an acquaintance I met years ago. He lived in an iffy neighborhood and upgraded all of the exterior doors on his house and installed bars in the windows. He did the same for his unattached garage. He was robbed one night while away. The robbers simply cut an opening through one of the walls.

A reciprocating saw and 5 minutes will get you through just about anything short of masonry. With the new cordless saws, it makes it disgustingly easy to cut a hole in the side of house. This won't set off alarms either unless you have motion detectors.

JM

 

[JohnKSa]

Come and steal all you want-NO one home! The driveway has a weeks worth of newspapers laying in it. The house has no lights on anywhere all night long.

You could collect the papers and put them up on their porch out of sight.

BTW, making your LOCK more secure is probably a waste of time. If they get into the garage, they're probably not going to fiddle around with a screwdriver to poke the bolt open, if it's locked they'll kick it open.

Make the DOOR more secure instead. If it holds them up long enough for the alarm to go off, it's done its job.

If you're worried about the time it takes to open the door with a key, put a non-locking knob on the door and then add a good deadbolt and a reinforced doorframe. There will still be only one lock to open so you should be able to get in fast enough to turn off the alarm.

 

[poe_9999]

http://www.turnerlock.com/howItWorks.aspx

No key required to look this deadbolt from the outside.

 

[johnnymenudo]

BTW, making your LOCK more secure is probably a waste of time. If they get into the garage, they're probably not going to fiddle around with a screwdriver to poke the bolt open, if it's locked they'll kick it open.

Well they would have a hard time kicking it open since it opens to the outside but I get your point.

JM

 

[Kharn]

http://www.turnerlock.com/howItWorks.aspx

No key required to look this deadbolt from the outside.

Sounds like a great way to lock yourself out of the house.

Kharn

 

[JohnKSa]

since it opens to the outside

Ooops, missed that point. In that case, there's REALLY no point in beefing up the lock. They can just knock out the hinge pins and take the door out of the frame.

 

[308win]

We live in a nice, new, suburban neighborhood. All of the houses around here are equipped with automatic garage door openers. The most common form of forced entry involves pushing the center of the top garage door panel inward and grabbing/pulling the emergency door release rope with a hook on a stick. Takes about fifteen seconds to accomplish. Given that we all have garages in the back off an alley, this can be done in almost complete privacy. This is how the fire department got my wife back into the house when she locked herself out while I was out of town. Somebody also tried this on the house next door not two weeks ago, while the owners were in San Antonio. Fortunately, the break-in was thwarted by the fact that the electric doors were deactivated and the door had been manually locked.

I am convinced that the only thing that's prevented my house from being forcibly entered is the fact that I have two large dogs that make quite a racket at the slightest hint of noise. There's almost no perimeter defense that can't be bypassed in some fashion, but most folks simply do NOT want to confront a couple of angry sounding dogs.

And that works for me.

If you have anymore gems like this please post them. I am already figuring a way to make the track disconnect so it can't be disconnected without having access to it from the inside.

 

[Maverick]

Several people mentioned house alarm systems. But how good are they?
If someone wants to get into your house - they will. I don't believe it's a good idea to post any stickers or signs on the house advertising that there is an alarm in the house. Burglars can easily cut telephone and cable wires outside of the your house. It takes another 5 seconds after the entry to locate the alarm buzzer and to rip it off the wall. Then they have all the time needed to "clean" your residence.
Any thought on that?

 

[trueblue1776]

getting a new home soon (my first) this is some great stuff guys, thanks I already have the big dog, but any little bits on how I can make my family safer are most appreciated, you guys rock.

 

[JohnKSa]

It would take more than 5 seconds to find the siren for my alarm. But I doubt anyone in the neighborhood would take notice in the time it did take unless it happened in the middle of the night and woke up the neighbor's baby.

Cutting phone lines will work to disable land lines. Folks who worry about this use a cell phone setup for their alarm system.

The general idea behind alarms (and alarm signs) is not that they make your house secure, it's that they make your house less attractive to thieves than the house across the street that doesn't have an alarm. They might also scare off kids looking for an Xbox or beer. Some folks even use them to make sure their kids aren't sneaking out at night.

Alarm systems will wake you up at night if the noise of a break-in doesn't and will save you the trouble of phoning for help if you're otherwise engaged. Good systems have some other features that can be useful in a pinch.

If you're worried about giving away information about your alarm system with the signs, swap signs with someone else who has a different brand of alarm system.

 

[Tokugawa]

RBERNIE, thanks for the tip. I will secure the garage door. Never thought about getting at the release.

 

[teknical]

I wish you hadn't posted such details.

Methods of opening automatic garage doors are common knowledge among those who make a living from thievery. Shall we not make it easily accessible to the novices by refraining from posting the techniques in an internet thread about burglary?

In the IT field, your thinking is called Security Through Obscurity and it doesn't work. Tell all your friends this.

It was because of a post on THR about that emergency door release that I implemented a fix. Now, it's much harder to use that trick to get in. Had no one said anything about it, I would be blissfully unaware and wide open to attack.

Remember: Security through obscurity doesn't work.

 

[johnnymenudo]

Ooops, missed that point. In that case, there's REALLY no point in beefing up the lock. They can just knock out the hinge pins and take the door out of the frame.

No - the pins have set screws that won't allow them to be knocked out without having the door open to loosen the screws.

JM