How hard a target should my house be?

[Phil801]

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

How hard a target should my house be?



Regarding the letter of the previous post and some of the comments, I was left with the impression that some of you believe that I think a house should be a bunker with two foot concrete walls and welded hedgehogs and barb wire around the perimeter and that’s just not the case.
Ideally we would all have houses designed specifically for our intended purposes, both secure and tasteful, safe as a bunker but worthy of Architecture Digest. It can be done, but its expensive.
As for a realistic approach, we will often have to settle for something in between, both because of expenses and because we have to accept that little fact about living with other family members that may not think as you do, because the people around you may not see things the same way. Do you really want to pile up sandbags around your home, dig fox holes in preparation for the “golden horde” that just wont come? Knock yourself out! Then tell me what your wife had to say about it, your neighbors, your kids and their friends, if they get a hard time at school because dad is a nut case or not. And its not even about what others think, its about the pro and cons of doing so. Digging fox holes and trenches and setting military stile defensive positions is a solution for a type of problem you don’t have. Your problem isn’t getting attacked by a North Korean platoon, your problem is the burglar breaking in when you go to the supermarket or visit your parents in Florida for the weekend. Your problem is getting forced inside at gunpoint after opening the garage door.

So how much security do I need?

The short question to that and the one that I know because of lots of experience with this kind of problem is: At least better than the guy next door!!
It will all depend on the standard set by others. In Buenos Aires if you don’t have burglar bars and a gated perimeter, there’s many neighborhoods where you’d be the only one without those.
If you live in a nice little quiet town in a safe part of the world where people barely lock their doors at all, remembering to lock the doors and setting up an alarm system that is noticeable from the outside means that any bad guy will move on to the next house which is easier to break into.
We’d all love to have the super house with the fancy security system, poured concrete walls, safe room and underground bunker to top it off. In general we have to settle for less. Still we have to remember that minimum we must achieve, our security setup must be better than the neighborhood average at the very least.

[Kelly Alwood]

Home security is kind of a double edged sword. For the common idiot burglar, more security than your neighbors will be a major deterrent. Meth heads and your common community dirtbags will be discouraged by most signs of higher than normal security. However, something to think about is this: If you go too far in looking like you are paranoid, you will draw attention. To the more sophisticated burglars, a fortified home with great locks, bars, alarm system, etc. tells them that you have items inside that are worth checking out.
So the best option is usually somewhere in the middle. You can fortify as much as you can afford, but keep it low profile enough that it is a deterrent and not an attractant.
Locks are usually a good low profile way to really beef up security. A good ASSA, Medeco, BiLock, Mul-T, or similar lock is great. But pretty useless if you have regular glass windows on your home. The easiest and quietest way into your home is most likely through the wall. Most homes can be breached with a razor blade knife, cutting through the vinal siding and then through your drywall. Bypassing your lock and doors and windows altogether.
The best deterrent and protection that I have ever seen is a dog.
Just some things to ponder upon from a different angle.