Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
my home was recently broken into. It happened during the week. I just wanted to post this to the forum goers so they do not drop their guard like i did. The few things i learned was how easy it is to feel comfortable.
a few tips that i have is:
1 - To keep your home well lit especially if your home is recessed from the street.
2- also invest in a timer and have a lamp on it that turns on at different intervals. I have a timer that i am able to program individual days as well as different times which can turn on and off.
3- a really great tip i have is to ensure that the deadbolt you have on your door has the proper strikeplate and it is drilled into the stud . This way if they kick your door it will not budge. I also custom made a a straight flat steel plate that is fixed to the stud and the jamb which will help to reinforce the door so that if anyone was trying to kick it in they would not be able to. I also have it hidden underneath the door trim so no one can see it
4- buy some small wood strips (hardwood prefered) and place them in your window you can cut it to size and place it in the window and paint it the same color and your windows and then hide it off to the side. this will prevent your window from opening and when you do need to open your window you just take off the wood and you can open your window.
I am posting this out here in hopes to educate some people and to make them think about being vigilant about their home. Nothing is worst that having your home broken into and feeling that some stranger has violated your home.
It also helps to have a family plan. They sell battery operated motion sensors at RadioShack and in the middle of the night, if you put it pointing outward from your bedrooms if you hear it going off in the middle of the night it will either scare off any would be burglar, but also alert you to round up the kiddies into a safe room so you can call the police and hope they arrive before anyone else arrives in your safe room. It also helps to have your safe room "safe" so that it would be hard to break into. For instance, our "safe room" is the master bedroom. Solid oak door with big lock on it. Would be hard to kick down. This would give me enough time to call 911 and load the shotgun. If anyone even succeeded at breaking down the door they would be met by me with a 12 gauge. Not advocating guns, I personally hate them but if it comes between protecting my family, as a last resort I reserve the right.
Another common-sense measure that few people seem to think of is...
Always lock all of your doors when you go into your backyard.
Even if I think that I am only going to be in the yard for a few minutes, and even though the crime rate in my area is close to zero, it only takes a few minutes for an intruder to enter through an unlocked door and to clean out most of your valuables.
It also helps to have a safe that is in a location that cannot be detected. Trust me--even when I have told friends which room the safe was located in, and challenged them to find it, they were unable to find it.
I would tell you how my safe is concealed, but then I would have to kill you.
alarm, big dog, guns (loaded before the intruder comes to your house)
oh and with regard to keeping the property well lit, put in some right motion detector lamps. they arent going to want to stick around if their motion suddenly causes a bright light to light them up.
fire a 'warning shot' and you will be charged with some level of assault
laws are crazy and lawyers a plenty
a trail camera or some such surveilence might be worth it to catch the thief...check with neighbors if they saw anything or captured any strangers on their surveilence cameras.....lot of break ins are clustered so more possibility they may have been seen. Cops will be chasing their tail to track down stolen items you cannot prove are yours..so they won't.
Check craigslist and local pawn shops...take photos of everthing you own and show the serial numbers...
Another common-sense measure that few people seem to think of is... Always lock all of your doors when you go into your backyard.
Even if I think that I am only going to be in the yard for a few minutes, and even though the crime rate in my area is close to zero, it only takes a few minutes for an intruder to enter through an unlocked door and to clean out most of your valuables.
It also helps to have a safe that is in a location that cannot be detected. Trust me--even when I have told friends which room the safe was located in, and challenged them to find it, they were unable to find it.
I would tell you how my safe is concealed, but then I would have to kill you.
My mother locks her door when she is home and especially when she goes down to the basement to do laundry. She is 84.
my home was recently broken into. It happened during the week. I just wanted to post this to the forum goers so they do not drop their guard like i did. The few things i learned was how easy it is to feel comfortable.
a few tips that i have is:
1 - To keep your home well lit especially if your home is recessed from the street.
2- also invest in a timer and have a lamp on it that turns on at different intervals. I have a timer that i am able to program individual days as well as different times which can turn on and off.
3- a really great tip i have is to ensure that the deadbolt you have on your door has the proper strikeplate and it is drilled into the stud . This way if they kick your door it will not budge. I also custom made a a straight flat steel plate that is fixed to the stud and the jamb which will help to reinforce the door so that if anyone was trying to kick it in they would not be able to. I also have it hidden underneath the door trim so no one can see it
4- buy some small wood strips (hardwood prefered) and place them in your window you can cut it to size and place it in the window and paint it the same color and your windows and then hide it off to the side. this will prevent your window from opening and when you do need to open your window you just take off the wood and you can open your window.
I am posting this out here in hopes to educate some people and to make them think about being vigilant about their home. Nothing is worst that having your home broken into and feeling that some stranger has violated your home.
Upgrade your window locks and, if possible, add sash stops.
My mother locks her door when she is home and especially when she goes down to the basement to do laundry. She is 84.
Shouldn't everyone keep his/her doors locked at all times?
When I mentioned the tip about locking one's door when going into the backyard, I mentioned it simply because many folks seem to think that it is inconvenient to lock the door when merely going outside to one's own yard for just a few minutes. That exact scenario is how some folks have suffered quick "enter & grab" robberies.
Leaving one's door unlocked when he/she is at home just seems...naive...to me.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
