Tips for improving home security?

DorsetDude

DorsetDude

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Keith
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One of my biggest fears is being burgled. So, short of getting an alarm system installed with phone line connection to police what options are there to put off potential burglars?

Windows fully closed whenever out a no brainer I guess. If I go out of an evening I leave a light on and also have a fake telly thing that flashes colours as though a tv is on. I also have two cars so one is always on the drive making it look like someone may be at home I guess.

I also gather that if you have a drive with gates across half way down sort of thing, you are better off with "see through" gates rather than panelled gates. This is because passers by can see the thief trying to jimmy your door or whatever whereas with panelled he is hidden behind out of sight and feels safer.

Tips on beefing up garage security also welcome, I have double wooden doors on mine, not up and over, cars never kept in it as drives too narrow to reach it anyway. It has a large double glazed window on the side. Tempted to chicken wire over that somehow from the inside as it never gets opened.

Cheers!
 
Yale do a very competent self-fit wireless home alarm for £150 which will dial up to 3 different numbers if it's activated http://www.screwfix.com/p/yale-premium-wireless-alarm-kit/54473

My parents, brother, sister, MiL and myself have these fitted (I fitted all of them apart from my brother's and I'm far from a "handy Andy") over the last 8 years or so and they're very good. The massive plus for me is that you can just keep adding sensors to it to meet your needs, they also do a smoke alarm for it too!

Even a dummy alarm box will put off most would-be burglars, as harsh as it sounds but the aim of the game is to make your house look a less attractive proposition to your neighbours' houses.

The amount of places I see (especially this time of year) with no lights on and no cars on the driveway is unreal.
 
Decent doors and windows
Decent locks on the above.

CCTV that's clearly visible with decent images. If the worst case does happen at least you may have footage.

How far do you want to go?
Gravel driveway - the smaller gravel gives you the nice crunchy sound as people walk on it.

Some think nothing of smashing windows. Not as many people take notice these days. Don't leave window keys in the locks.

On the other hand - if it looks like Fort Knox too much then others think you're protecting something. You don't want too much attention
 
I think a little common sense (which you seem to have) is enough. Most burglaries are due to opportunity - windows left open etc... By making sure everything is locked and bolted, and that you have the odd light on that will go a long way. A fake (or a real unconnected one) alarm box would be a good visual deterrent - maybe too these new doorbells which are video linked could be an option. Also not leaving things on display if people look through windows.
 
tangoone said:
Decent doors and windows
Decent locks on the above.

Some think nothing of smashing windows. Not as many people take notice these days. Don't leave window keys in the locks.
Click to expand...

Exactly what made me re-think the config of my alarm system........... There were a series of break-ins around my neighbourhood around this time last year, in each instance they'd smashed through double glazed doors to the side/rear of the property. They reckon that the sound of breaking glass in the night would possibly wake the occupants/neighbours but if there's no further noise most people would dismiss it and go back to sleep.

I had contact breakers on my back & side doors but realised they were useless in this scenario so I upped the ante a little....... Motion sensors are now in my dining room, kitchen and downstairs toilet with locks on the doors leading to my lounge so if someone did smash their way in (hopefully) the motion sensors will pick them up and they'll not be able to progress much further very quickly giving the alarm time to make the call out and alert me or a family member.

My neighbour found it funny that I'd gone to this level but without giving away too much, I probably shouldn't be too worried about my house being broken into ;)
 
You've got it well thought out

Some burglars are quite happy to do it daytime too. Too many people leave tools around the garden or put a cheap brass padlock on their sheds.

As long as it's enough to get them to move on to your neighbours - that's the main thing.
 
Having spoken to a couple of people about their burglaries recently has shed some light.

Story 1: One of my friends was broken into. The family had popped out for about an hour and returned to find things askew. The thieves had walked up to the house, rang the doorbell and knocked on the door. No answer. They went round the back and broke one of the multipoint lock doors. The PIR sensor detected them and triggered the alarm. The thieves tried to find the alarm box to disable it but couldn't. They still managed to steal around £4000 in under ten minutes.

My friend's neighbour was also broken into and had the alarm box ripped out so the alarm never actually sounded. Friend had ADT come and give a quote. Shock sensors on the doors and windows that might be broken into are probably better than contact sensors. Also, the monitored alarm alerts the control office who can ask the police to come out but there's no guarantee that there will be a police response.

Story 2: One of my neighbours had a car stolen off their driveway. One neighbour has an A7 and the other an S5. Wife was asleep and I was awake. Wife heard a noise but I didn't. Got up to have a look. Couldn't see or hear anything so went back to bed. Then we both heard more noise and I got up to see the S5 being driven off. Assumed it was the neighbour heading off some where. Then heard tapping. A7 owner had run across to S5's house and started knocking on their door. After a few minutes, the police had arrived. Turns out the thieves had attempted to steal the A7 but got scared off but ran across the road to steal the S5. No keys involved. They hadn't entered the house. Just smashed the driver's side window and then plugged in a laptop to disable the immobiliser and drove off.

Moral 1: If a thief wants something, they'll take it.
Moral 2: Use a crooklock or disklock or similar on your car if it's valuable (alongside trackers etc)
 
Seems the only way not to get burgled is never to go out :(
Personally it's what I have insurance for, apart from a few personal things of little value I'm not that worried
All my photos are stored on hard drives, one a small portable which comes with me
 
Gremlin said:
Seems the only way not to get burgled is never to go out :(
Personally it's what I have insurance for, apart from a few personal things of little value I'm not that worried
All my photos are stored on hard drives, one a small portable which comes with me
Click to expand...

Agree to a point but knowing a few people who have been burgled, the sense of violation has been so great in some cases they've had to move house.........
 
Russ77 said:
Agree to a point but knowing a few people who have been burgled, the sense of violation has been so great in some cases they've had to move house.........
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Yep I agree, that was kind on tongue in cheek,h ad a car stolen a few years ago, did get it back but it was sold, never felt comfortable
with it
 
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tangoone said:
Some burglars are quite happy to do it daytime too. Too many people leave tools around the garden or put a cheap brass padlock on their sheds.
Click to expand...
Yes its daytime that worries me more as Im out all day. Have only got a basic padlock and hasp on garage door at present but getting a chippy to come and gve me a quote on a mortice lock soon. Maybe ask his advice on beefing up the garage security a bit too.

A fake dobermann barking if door bell goes might be cool. Maybe a 'beware of the rottweiler' sticker on the door?
 
I'm thinking of bringing back the idea of moats. Failing that nuclear bunkers come up for sale every so often.
 
An easy one is planting thorny bushes (or holly) to deter someone coming over fences, or plant under windows.
 
omens said:
Moral 2: Use a crooklock or disklock or similar on your car if it's valuable (alongside trackers etc)
Click to expand...
Moral 2b: Use a disklock on cheap vehicles too. Someone tried to steal my first car (Fiesta MkII) off the drive; the disklock stopped them.
 
Just make sure your property looks more secure than your neighbours....
 
This would solve your problem:

8814348538_6e5b1819e9_m.jpg
 
epic locks on doors, CISA are what we have.
All windows fitted with locks and locked.
loads of timers for lights.
 
kendo1 said:
An easy one is planting thorny bushes (or holly) to deter someone coming over fences, or plant under windows.
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This ^ Roses, those vicious spiky kind that look good but can rip your hands to pieces.

Reasonable precautions is what it's all about, do what you can to make your house not just look like but BE a bad target. If you don't mind spending a bit of cash you can fit decorative steel shutters, like bars but you can open them out. A solid wood door with more than one lock, security cameras that record 24/7, all just common sense stuff.
Realise that you cannot stop someone who is determined to get in but you can make it difficult and time consuming for them which will put off all but the keenest burglar.
 
Holly is a poor short term choice for foliage.....slow growing.
 
Cartus said:
Pyracantha or Berberis would be my choice.
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Berberis makes an excellent barrier hedge, but understand the thorns will go through heavy gardening gloves like they're not there.
An important consideration when you're trimming or pruning it, and you come to pick up the bits... :crying:
 
Gremlin said:
Seems the only way not to get burgled is never to go out :(
Personally it's what I have insurance for, apart from a few personal things of little value I'm not that worried
All my photos are stored on hard drives, one a small portable which comes with me
Click to expand...
I fully agree. We have been unfortunate to have experience it. There was a 15 minute window during the day between my wife taking home a friends child and me arriving back from work. They smashed the front window during the day time. I thought it was possibly in progress and didn't enter. Police was on site within 6 minutes, shortly followed by four more cars. It was quite something to witness them enter front door and jump both fences to get around the back. Wife and children came by then and were totally upset at our neighbours.

Unfortunately the burglars were gone already. I entered the property once scene of crime officers arrived (within 30 minutes, the same time as my insurance Hiscox window repair man arrived). The devastation and trail of mess was quite something.

However it was very clear that this was not personal. They knew what they were doing. We didn't take it personal despite significant losses going into many many tens of thousands.

We still happily here. The police thought the reason they choose our hour over someone else was purely because we did not have a clear indication of a local security firm alarm system installed and activated.

We've don't that and other measures, and had a very good experience with a local GOLD rated certified firm who maintain and installed. Expanded it as well with other measures like CCTV that actually provide footage that is useful in the dark, the length of the drive way, the width and depth of the garden, and immediate public highway ;) and is totally unobtrusive.

Personally I still think it was a rip off of trades people or window cleaner, something like that. They seem to know exactly where to find the good stuff.
 
Friends got broken into as they snapped the locks in the door, so recently replaced all our locks with strong Yale ones that prevent them being snapped. I've considered fitting an alarm too, so may look into it
 
Bloke opposite me let his house go to rack and ruin, he was an ex Copper and said it was pretty much a sure fire option if they think next door has better stuff.
Not sure the wife would let me get away with that though.
 
If your local Hyacinth Bucket complains, the council can make him tidy it up.
 
As somebody has already pointed out, a dog is one if the best deterrent for the opportunist . Less so for a targeted victim .
 
Never leaving home.
Roof mounted machine guns.
Door handles wired to the mains.
Ground glass on each exterior surface ( coated with a poison, of course )
Basically, your average Medway towns home. :D
 
Tori_T said:
"We think the two foot wide cat flap may have something to do with that, sir."
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Nah, that's just for the dopey Labrador, and he doesn't like cats at all! :D
 
Tori_T said:
"We think the two foot wide cat flap may have something to do with that, sir."
Click to expand...


I was wondering what flat caps had to do with the price of fish until I reread that!
 
Dogs are one answer ,but you have to listen to what there telling you .but if your really that worried then I'm afraid the only real answer is to move .plenty of cheap luxury housing in Wales :hug:
 
As I said, maybe a 'beware of the alsation' sign and/or dog lead hung up in the porch might be enough to help deter an opportunist. Somebody who knows me better would obviously know its fake though.
 
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