How to harden your home to reduce successful break in?

[txinvestigator]

Excellent tip, Mate.

 

[ROGER4314]

I've posted about my neighborhood on several occasions. In my case, they are the best deterrent to theft. There are 26 families who live on a dead end street. We all know each other and look out for everyone else. Most of us have been here for many years and are friends as well as neighbors.

No one enters our neighborhood without a hundred eyes on them. An added plus is that almost ALL of us are armed! Some knothead packing stuff out of one of these homes is really going to suffer!

In your preparations, don't forget your neighbors! They are probably one of your BEST resources! Then, too.....This dead end street is NOT a gun free zone!

Flash

 

[Acera]

You can reinforce you window panes. We used this product in a couple of applications. Extremely hard to break through. I first found about this stuff when it was used on Gateway computer stores to protect against smash and grab types who went after the front windows of the stores to get the display computers at night. They could shatter the glass, but the film protected it from them being able to make a hole big enough to get anything out of. We tried a piece and could puncture it with a pick axe, but could not rip a hole from there. It's actually simple enough for a homeowner to do.

They have many grades, but the ones below are the best.

3M? Safety & Security Window Films - Safety and security window film for government facilities - 3M US

 

[hellishhorses]

I've posted about my neighborhood on several occasions. In my case, they are the best deterrent to theft. There are 26 families who live on a dead end street. We all know each other and look out for everyone else. Most of us have been here for many years and are friends as well as neighbors.

No one enters our neighborhood without a hundred eyes on them. An added plus is that almost ALL of us are armed! Some knothead packing stuff out of one of these homes is really going to suffer!

In your preparations, don't forget your neighbors! They are probably one of your BEST resources! Then, too.....This dead end street is NOT a gun free zone!

Flash

Best advice here. We cut each other's grass, pick up each other's newspapers, our kids are always outside together. Cody and Roy (his dog) work the night shift, so he's home during the day. Ray and the pastor neighbor are both retired and always home. Everett is a police officer and keeps a keen eye out. My wife is home three afternoons a week. Angie & Mike have split schedules. Steve's a teacher (summers off) and Carla's a nurse. Duane's in the military and his two roommates have late schedules so they're home during the day. Rob lost his job and Nicole is a parole officer. Grace is retired, so she's home unless she's taking Daniel to school. And Jack's dog barks at his own shadow, so I know that little ankle-biter will give us a heads up even if my dog is laying in her kennel, licking her own crotch.

Point is, get to know your neighbors. You might meet some really nice people and they'll look out for you. We've had an incident involving a white van snooping around a neighbor's house, but was run off when two of them saw this, called the police and told them to leave. The added benefit is 24-hr personal surveillance, the chances of us ALL being gone at the same time are virtually zero.

 

[cpileri]

Sir!
What system is that? id is the iCam/dropcam thing/
I was looking for someone who has tested that system, but no one I know has.
C-

Further, I have posted elsewhere on this forum about home security cameras if someone wants to dig up the info. Can't find it right now from my phone.

With a little bit of computer wizardry, I set up four cameras around my home. They rotate, zoom, detect motion, send and receive audio, and have IR night vision. They alert my iPhone when motion is detected. The cameras were each $80 and the software was about $10. I'm happy.

 

[cpileri]

this?
https://www.dropcam.com/

C-

 

[35Remington]

Jamb Enforcer $20

Door jambs, door jamb, door jamb enforcers - Reinforce your door jambs for added security against home break-ins. Resists up to 300 lbs of force!

Good to have a photo. See Post #4 with link to purchase or read reviews.

BC, the cameras are $80.00 each making 35 Remington's setup over $300.00. I recently purchased a four camera setup at Sam's Club for $480.00 with DVR loop so that all the goings-on are recorded for the Police. My system also sends alerts to my Smartphone and is money well spent.

Sapper, what kept me from buying the system you have is the lack of remote monitoring ability. I can check in on my house from anywhere in the world that has an internet connection, and when I'm in those very few places that do not have a connection, I provide someone I trust with the ability to log in for me.

Sir!
What system is that? id is the iCam/dropcam thing/
I was looking for someone who has tested that system, but no one I know has.
C-

The app shown in my post above is called Foscam Pro, for $6 (iTunes link here). It provides two way audio, and panning and zooming of cameras. It does not record unless it's open, though. I use another app for recording, called iCam. You install their free iCam Source program on your home computer, install the iCam app for $5 (iTunes link here) on your phone, and they communicate with each other that way. iCam Source saves the images to your computer. I use DropBox to instantly save them to the cloud, since a burglar is likely to steal the computer after entry.

I need to say again that this set up is NOT plug and play, and requires a little tweaking. I use the Foscam FI8910W cameras (Amazon link here). You need to have pretty good Wi-Fi at your house for this to work.

 

[35Remington]

There was a previous thread a while back called Home Defense Plan. It's here: http://www.texasguntalk.com/forums/general-firearms-ammo/46738-home-defense-plan.html

I posted the following in that thread. Some of it is now redundant; the rest might be useful.

35Remington, can you share the brand and model of your system? Every time I think I've found one, I run into a bunch of bad reviews (Amazon, Home Depot, and others). My neighbor across the street installed one himself from Sam's Club. He has wires tacked to the brick walls in some places, and ran cables through the wall on the side of his house, but his seems to work. He even has one camera pointed at my driveway. He gave me the logon to the system so I could check with my iPhone. I'm still considering it.

The cameras are Foscam FI8910W. They get bad reviews from idiots who do not know how to use them, and great reviews from people like me who realize that for $80 you are buying an infrared camera that has two-way audio and PTZ.

They do take some setup. It's not a plug and play system. There is tons of info on the web though. The cameras need power, but are otherwise wireless.

I run two separate apps on my iPhone: FoscamPro and iCam. One allows for recording of images when motion is detected, and the other allows zooming, panning, two way audio, and presets. There is not one app that does everything that I am aware of. Each of these was about $5. Images are recorded to my home computer and instantly stored on Dropbox as backup.

Here are some pics with reference items for scale.

 

[cpileri]

Hmmm....
First off, thanks for the links!
Second, do you have any recommendation for a "plug'n'play" version that works for us less- (or non-) tech saavy individuals?
C-

 

[35Remington]

Hmmm....
First off, thanks for the links!
Second, do you have any recommendation for a "plug'n'play" version that works for us less- (or non-) tech saavy individuals?
C-

Sorry, can't help but laugh. I didn't go this route because I wanted something that required fiddling. This was the only way I could accomplish my goals without paying a professional $$$$ to make it happen. If you want everything I've got, and you want it to be easy, I see only two options:

(1) Find another way to do it that I couldn't find (and I researched HARD).
(2) Hire someone and spend gobs of $$$$.

 

[F350-6]

Just keep in mind these deterrents and barriers work two ways. Locking others out also involves locking yourself in. Make sure you have escape paths and plans should the need arise.

 

[ag1052]

Im thinking about getting one of these driveway alert systems. Anyone have something like this? Id probably get one for the front and back porch.
Wireless Driveway Alert & Driveway Alarm System

 

[breakingcontact]

BC, the cameras are $80.00 each making 35 Remington's setup over $300.00. I recently purchased a four camera setup at Sam's Club for $480.00 with DVR loop so that all the goings-on are recorded for the Police. My system also sends alerts to my Smartphone and is money well spent.

Ah im tracking now.

 

[London]

Poor man's alarm system:

This requires a hard floor to really work; concrete is best. Place two beer bottles in inconspicuous parts of the room or driveway a few feet above the ground. Connect them both with a thin string tied around the tops. BG walks into string, bottles fall down and make loud noise. I doubt he'll want to stick around after that.

 

[breakingcontact]

Living in an actual community where neighbors know each other is that human deterrent to theft and burglary. When I lived in a small town, the old ladies in the neighborhood kept an eye on everything and weren't afraid to call around to find out what was up.

I'm moving to a small subdivision in the suburbs outside Austin, I'm hoping to really get to know people there and not just wave at the family across the street for 20 years and never get to know them.

Community is really undervalued in general but often among the firearms/survival crowd. We can't all be Rambo.

 

[kusai]

A few friends and families had their home broken into and since then they have put up doors/windows guard on all of them.

 

[matefrio]

A few friends and families had their home broken into and since then they have put up doors/windows guard on all of them.

You'd want to have a fire escape though on some of the windows. When I lived in Argentina many houses were setup so the only entry\exit was the front and back doors. Scared me.

 

[IXLR8]

Several homes in our neighborhood with alarms were broken into. Always through a back window which was removed intact not tripping the alarm contact on the window. The police recommend motion detectors in the house, and it sounds like a good idea to me. During the break ins, the alarm was active but never tripped. These were probably not your average thieves, but they were successful.

 

[TX69]

A few friends and families had their home broken into and since then they have put up doors/windows guard on all of them.

Neat idea but most people avoid buying into a home/neighborhood that is all barred up like that.

 

[breakingcontact]

Neat idea but most people avoid buying into a home/neighborhood that is all barred up like that.

but but but...they made it fancy looking so it doesn't REALLY look like bars on the windows!

A neighborhood in East St Louis I used to drive through quickly had bars on the windows of churches and day cares.