House Shopping with defense in mind?

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Isaac-1

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My wife and I find ourselves unexpectedly in the market for a new home, it is a long story, but the short version is a developer wants to buy up all the land on our block.

So we have started looking for houses, and I am wondering how much of a concern do you place on defensive layout when you are looking at buying a house, and what features are important to you? For example one house that we looked at and overall liked the layout had a pair of french doors in the master bedroom which opened directly into the fenced back yard. Also the view down the hall from the master bedroom had a large picture window directly behind it leading to the street out front.

I should note I live in a low crime area, random break ins of occupied homes are rare, but not unheard of, and we are shopping in what are generally viewed as safer parts of town.

I know everything is a compromise, I am just wondering how you weight the factors which may be positive for daily living vs, defensible positions?

thanks for your thoughts
 
Frankly, it received no consideration in the design of my home. My landscaping, yes, but not the structure.

My neighbor built a panic room in his - mostly 'cuz he enjoyed the project.

Unless you are a pawn shop owner or a drug dealer, I would get what you can live with and make defensive mods later.
 
I just looked at some new homes in a development near my 3 year old home in Vero Beach. The main selling point was that every home came with a panic room, I looked at it, and it was built bbefore the house goes over it. A solid steel room, with twin bolts, "which I could have broken in ten of fifteen minutes. These were primarilly made for hurricanes, now they are pushing Home security, but since they have no locks on them it sounds stupid as the guy was showing me the room. I asked where the vent and water was, he just looked at me, and the bolts were just like a single bolt door, "only two". But I would install a proper panic room prior to building, even though this was not zombie proof, it could easily be made into a real vault, as it was poured into the foundation. You could get away with doing it pre build for about 10 grand. Just big enough for you to sit and wait for help, maybe 8 by 6. I would also put in a sink and a toilet, so 50 sq ft of living space plus the facility for a bathroom fixture and a fresh air system. Ammo and guns, cell phone vent ducted out to the surface, and a battery powered light. Seal her up and set some tear gas to a remote switch, then prey you never need it
 
In the OP's search I would be looking for weather protection, including floods. For home protection, nothing like a quality trained dog to help with a good night's sleep. :)
 
Some houses separate the master bedroom
From the single (childrens') rooms for "privacy". Avoid those
They deprive you of the ability to hunker down in place and force you to traverse the house to check on the kids' safety.

Bonus: defensive corners, ie for a right-handed man, the corners from master bed to hallway or hallway to top of stairwell should be left turns (the corner provides a measure of cover).

Consider framing and exterior wall composition. Steel doors and strong locks are wasted on door frames of pine lumber.

Oh, and ensure a fair fenced back yard for the two small loudmouth dogs you'll have sleeping in the living room at night. :)
 
Safe house

I live at the end of a Cull de Sac ( or court ) Middle class, blue collar neighborhood. Been here for 26 years, never had an issue of any kind.
I like being in the court, nieghbors are more likely to look out for each other. People walking or driving in are more noticable than being on a through street. I doubt crooks like being easliy trapped in.
 
Texan Scott said:
Some houses separate the master bedroom
From the single (childrens') rooms for "privacy". Avoid those
They deprive you of the ability to hunker down in place and force you to traverse the house to check on the kids' safety.

Bonus: defensive corners, ie for a right-handed man, the corners from master bed to hallway or hallway to top of stairwell should be left turns (the corner provides a measure of cover).

Consider framing and exterior wall composition. Steel doors and strong locks are wasted on door frames of pine lumber.

Oh, and ensure a fair fenced back yard for the two small loudmouth dogs you'll have sleeping in the living room at night. :)
Click to expand...


Good points. If it is a mother-in-law floor plan, I'd also consider fields of fire and their backdrops. You'd hate to run into a bad guy while coming out of your bedroom and having the wall behind him be your kids' or guest's room.
 
Wow. Quite the question.

I would give ZERO consideration to your home as a fortress when shopping. I would hope this is not yet another indication of the growing paranoia of a certain segment of American society...

Better things to consider, which are MUCH MORE LIKELY TO EFFECT YOU than the one-in-a-million chance of facing an armed intruder:

1. a good school system; this is where most of your property taxes go anyway, may as well get something for it.

2. police and fire

3. public water and sewer

4. access to grocery stores, pharmacies, gasoline stations, a major hospital and interstates.
 
Castle - a retreat safe against intrusion or invasion

Fortress - military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare



"A man's home is his castle"....yeah, I'd agree with that statement.:)
 
Jeff Cooper has some good stuff on this is some of his books. Basically he advises having the main entrance be at the back of an alcove such that visitors can be observed from both sides if they are facing your front door.
This is pretty hard to retrofit if it isn't there to begin with. French doors and sliders are a big problem unless you are going to have a "decorative" roll up security door that comes down over these doors at night. Hard to make that look good. There is always a compromise between fire safety/ease of exit and security/denial of entry. Castle....moat....drawbridge....
 
I think it should be a consideration but not the only one. In the situation mentioned by Isaac-1 I’d say if the rest of the house works I’d buy it and remodel the door and window to suit your needs.

Having said that if I were to build a house I would definitely give some consideration to not only safety/ defense but sustainability; I’d try to build the house in such a way that the ambient temperature stayed around 58-60 degrees year round and add a couple of fire places and maybe a real wood burning cook stove in the kitchen in case the power went out. I’d want a well and I’d try to place the windows in such a way that I could use sunlight to light the house as much as possible. Or install sky lights for that purpose.

As for safety / security I’d want a concrete or Block house (fire). I’d have no sliding patio doors and I’d want a screen front porch with a security door that opens outward. I’d also want a real safe room/ storage room.
 
Wow. Quite the question.

I would give ZERO consideration to your home as a fortress when shopping. I would hope this is not yet another indication of the growing paranoia of a certain segment of American society...
Click to expand...

I agree with ACP's post wholeheartedly. There are so many other factors I look at that honestly this has never crossed my mind when looking for a place to live. If this is a serious concern for you then I would look at houses in a more safe neighborhood.
 
We did discuss the balance, I don't think there is typically any large emphasis on security vs other features. Living in a sketchy area of a large, crime stricken city may raise some concern for this, however I've never lived anywhere that I have felt a need to pick a house based on how well I could defend it during a highly improbable life or death scenario.
 
Unless you are having the house designed expressly for you, you will find builders build houses to sell them - that means features that will make most SO's happy - big kitchens, lots of window for view and light.

Pick the safest neighborhood in the best school district. You can always look at gated communities - not perfect, but they do keep out the drive-by folks
 
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Don't Be Concerned With Home Defense, Be Concerned About Crime

Houses aren't designed for defensive purposes, so unless you are building and have lots of money to spend, don't bother.

I do have some suggestions that will give you piece-of-mind when considering long-term living and crime:

1. Don't buy a corner house, as they are more likely to be burgled than others.

2. Don't buy a home that is not visible from the road, as burglars like to work out of the public eye.

3. Houses in older neighborhoods where the kids are grown and gone have less crime problems than new neighborhoods that have lots of kids.

4. The bigger the home lots, the more room between houses and the less negative neighborhood interaction you will experience. Look for lots at least 2-acres in size.
 
Location, location, location

  • Is it in a low lying area, where flooding may be a problem?
  • Are the roads in and out of the area susceptible to flooding?
  • Are slopes of the roads and driveways apt to cause danger or difficulty in snowy or icy weather (that won't apply to the OP, but it is a concern in many areas)?
  • Is it close to the fire department and high-pressure hydrants?
  • How is the cell phone reception?
  • Are there high-tension power lines adjacent to the property?
  • Does the house stand alone readily visible from a passing highway, potentially attracting burglars?
  • Is the location too readily accessible from main highways, providing quick escape for burglars?
  • Can criminals access the property from nearby wooded areas, waterways, or a lake without being seen from the street?

Notice that only the last three of nine have anything to do with crime, and I would put them low in priority order.

After location comes landscaping, and after that comes design. Regarding design, fire safety and storm protection should rank higher among concerns than defense.
 
When my GF and I were buying our home, defensibility was relatively low on the list of priorities. We were much more interested in layout, fixtures, design, square footage, value, yard size, lack of HOA, close enough to good private schools, etc.

You have to put things in perspective. You are buying a HOME... i.e. a place where you will live, and where you will spend the majority of your time. If you are being a rationally selfish person, as everyone should be, things that are used and enjoyed daily are much more important than preparing for a very unlikely event like a home invasion. It is all about the odds, really. And as others have said, you can always make mods later to enhance security, attend some training, get dogs, etc.
 
I would kinda sum up Kleanbore's comments as the FIRST layer of home security and 'fortification' is neighborhood and location.

a high crime is high crime, you could be in a gated and patrolled community that is backing the ghetto... with multi-million dollar homes, or in the middle of corn fields and be NO safer than a house in a middle class subdivision. And a HELL of a lot less secure than a gentrified street with neighbors that notice what happens 24 hours a day.

I have a neighbor that works nights
others that are home all day, and we talk, nice place to live.
 
I will reiterate one point on the "fortress" concept that comes up here from time to time:

IF you have family you will feel the need to protect or at least be able to check on quickly in times of concern, do not go for a spread out plan that puts loved ones (especially children) on another floor or another end of the house. While there are many things that could be designed into a home to make it more defensible under siege or hardened from intrusion, this is the only one I can honestly say would make me turn my back on a home choice (given any other reasonable alternatives).
 
do not go for a spread out plan that puts loved ones (especially children) on another floor or another end of the house.
Click to expand...

Again, that could be a factor, or not. if the kids are upstairs and you are down, then you have the ability to prevent someone from getting upstairs; it all depends on the layout.

Move next to retired folks - someone is always home and watching out - the way it is where I live - we don't have a crime issue as a result
 
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