Yep, I guess it was just a matter of time. I came home last night to find that the back door of my house had been forced open. The door had a supposedly strong deadbolt installed, but the deadbolt itself actually broke off as the door jamb was being broken and splintered. (I will never buy a Schlage lock again!) A few hundred dollars in cash was stolen as well as an expensive camcorder, but I think the b*st*ards were either scared off before they were finished or else they were planning to return with a truck, as several of my expensive "toys" were piled by the front door ready to be carted off. I was fortunate that the inside of the house was not trashed, but it's a sad state of affairs when one is grateful that these scumbags are not malicious.

Of course, my fear is that these same scumbags will want to make a return visit now that they've seen what's available here. So my question to you all is this- What type of home security works best? Dogs are out of the question. I love ‘em but I'm allergic to critters, so I can't share the house with a dog. No, what I need is some feedback on electronic security systems. Are they effective? Does it need to be a monitored system? Is it practical to install one of these systems in an older house that doesn't have the alarm wiring pre-installed? What kind of expense is involved with the installation of a system and what are the monthly fees for a monitored systems?

Having our homes broken into is a problem that unfortunately many, if not most, of us have to deal with at some point. Any advice would be appreciated, not only by me, but probably by a whole lot of us. Thanks.

If it's any consolation, I amd allergic to dogs too. The allergist recomend a chihuahua, pomeranian or poodle. The chihuahua suits me fine, still not like a big dog..but it's a start. (drop the camcorder, haha). On the electronic side of things, I suppose it depends what you are willing to invest.. kinda like fieros.

Ok you're probobly not going to like this response, but I feel it only fair.
Home alarms are pure CRAP. I know, Ive worked from both aspects of them. Heres what I mean:
Before I became a police officer, I worked at an alarm monitoring station. We monitored for some 300 different alarm companies throughout the US, both residential and commercial.
If there is a percent between 99.99999999999 and 100, that would be the percent of alarms that we monitored that were FALSE. I dont care who makes them, they are garbage. They go off for no reason, or they go off because of stupid reasons. Here are some examples:
"Motion Detector"...ANYTHING will set this off (except a burglar of course) like an animal, plants or balloons being blown around by the a/c, even a bug! Whammo! False alarm.
"Glass break"..do you know how glass break alarms are triggered? NOPE! I know what you're thinking, theres sensors in or around the glass that break when the glass does, nope nope nope. Its triggered by SOUND! That means everytime someone drops something, a baby is having a blood curdling screaming attack, loud stereo, anything, WHAMMO! False alarm.
Needless to say, I hated that job! Then, I became a police officer. Guess what 90% of my calls are....yup, alarms. Bogus as usual.
Police agencies, at least in large metropolitan areas such as here in Memphis, ranks alarms as a VERY low priority call (unless its a bank)...If your alarm goes off, it goes to the monitoring station where they do their "thing"..then if needed, they notify the police. Here, it can take up to 2 hours before the police will make the scene after recieving a call from an alram company about a home alarm call. Why? Because the dispatchers will "drop" the call to the bottom of their computer screen for more important calls. Some of the police depts in the area here actually charge a fine to someone if they have a certain amount of false alarms within a certain time!
I'm very sorry if anyone here works for an alarm company. But, like I said, Ive worked alarms from both sides. Lets put it this way, they get about as much attention as a car alarm! Crooks could care less about alarms, at most it gives them a slight headache from having to hear that annoying sound while they clean out your house.

Sorry about what happened to your house man, at least no one was home and got hurt.

[This message has been edited by My7Fieros (edited 08-11-2000).]

[This message has been edited by My7Fieros (edited 08-11-2000).]

When I lived in a questionable area in Columbus for a few months in college, we made our own home security. I always had a HUGE pipe wrench sitting just behind my bedroom door. Roomate had a big steel bar he kept behind his. We were both up very late usually, watching tv, doing homework, whatever. There were several (maybe 4 or 5) times when someone tried to break in while we were there. On one occasion, we were at the door with steel bars in our hands before the person knew what happened. We threw the door open, scared the living piss out of the kid(about 16), and chased him two blocks before we lost him. Never did find him(lucky for him), my roomate was 6'2" and 210lbs. There were noises from that back door several other times, but by the time we turned on the inside lights and got to the door the person was always gone.

Back to the topic, there isn't much you can do to keep people out when you aren't there. Solid doors, good locks, prickly stuff below windows, etc.

To go into a little more depth about what fiero56 said. Use reinforced/steel frames for your doors. for doors that arent always used you can use deadman bars that go from a plate on your door to a plate that is attached to a floor brace. Ask 7fieros cops hate these cause you cant break them down. As for windows you can put a rod that prevents them from being moved but that doesnt help the glass. Also alot of light around your house helps too. And if you can get on a friendly basis with your nieghbors it helps knowing that someone will keep an eye on your house.
Dont blame your lock it was only as strong as the frame you put it in.

Patrick,I can't imagine how you must feel.There are many phone dialers on the market that you can set up to call a cell phone.you can trigger it with any number of devices,door or window switches,temperature switches,motion switches.All of the things needed are one time purchases except the phone.If you don't have a cell phone now,a cheap plan can cost as low as about $10.00 a month.Thats pretty cheap for an burglar/fire alarm system.

Arghhhhh!!!! I have a long reply to all of you fine people who have posted, but the damn thing refuses to be uploaded. I will try again later.

In the meantime, the more feedback the better. Thanks!

Patrick,You bring up a good point in that your phone line could be cut.If a thief really wants to get into your house nothing you can do will stop him.Like the saying"locks only stop honest people".But $ for$ this would probably be the best alarm system(In my opinion).The phone dialers can be programed to call more than one number in sequence with a preprogramed message.

Patrick, at work we use the "deadman" bars. I will take my digital camera in tommorrow and snag a picture of the setup.
<snip> I shortended this down some)
The alarm in our house has, motion sensors, glass breakage, curtain movement, door sensors, exterior sensors, and garage door and attic sensors. We have never had a false alarm. The infrared motion detectors allow plants, balloons, anything not living to pass by without going off(believe me, I've tried to set them off with everything I could find). We have several glass breakage sensors on each floor, and they haven't been set off yet. Curtin movement is turned off, for obvious reasons. Each outside door to the house has its own sensor. These are only set off if an outside door is opened. The attic sensors only go off if someone opens an attic entrance. Garage sensor goes off if someone opens the garage door forceably. The phone line for the alarm runs inside the brick walls, and exits underground to a phone box hidden in the tree line behind us. All wires in the neigborhood are burried, making it very difficult to locate them.

Living 2-3 miles from the police station, I don't think it would take long for the cops to arrive. Our service provider(ADT) will call the house if the alarm goes off, before notifying the cops. If someone answers, they must give the correct password in order to prevent having the cops arrive. If the password is incorrect, or no-one answers, they send over the cops.

Patrick one more little note to throw in. Now that you have been burgled and made reports with the police and your Ins Co. beware of "fly by night" alarm co's some may soon have your info and be wanting to give you a call. If you are still interesed in getting a home alarm ask around and then go with one of the major brands like ADT. I know you are smart enough to know this already but some times people can fall into the I need it right now syndrome because of a recent event.

Although these wouldn't do jack for the windows, you can buy some small "portable" alarms that you hang on the inside doorknob. They actually work fairly well. I used to use one when I was driving a truck and stayed in motels alot (not necessarily in the best parts of town). I think I paid less than $20.

Drew--"prickly stuff under windows", huh? Brilliant idea. I don't worry much about crime in my neighborhood, but if I did, I'd invest in some cacti in a heartbeat.

This feedback is great guys.

hugh, could the automatic phone dialer be programmed to dial 911 with a message like, "Get your butts over here fast, I'm being broken into!"
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Drew (fiero56), a picture of this "deadman" bar would be terrific! Maybe I couldn't see for looking, but I wasn't able to find any reference to this device on the 'net at all.

It's good to hear that in your case you haven't had any problems with false alarms. At least now I know that it is indeed possible to have an alarm system that isn't constantly being triggered by something other than burglars. You're fortunate that the phone lines in your neighborhood are buried. I'm curious to find out how the alarm companies make phone lines more inaccessible to burglars in an area like mine where normally the phone lines are in plain view (and within easy reach).
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Uaana, the only item that briefly crossed my mind regarding the "I need it right now syndrome" was a gun. However, I realize that a gun wouldn't do me much good against these scumbags unless I was always home to use it. I understand your point though about being careful which alarm company to choose (if I go that route).
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M-Man, I'm familiar with those devices and I agree that they can be worth while in certain situations. To be warned and woken up by this device when someone is trying to get into the room makes this inexpensive alarm handy to have. However, I'm afraid they wouldn't have much if any effect on burglars forcing open a door in an empty house.
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Ok, I'm looking forward to seeing Drew's picture of a "deadman" bar which apparently goes from the door to the floor. Keeping that in mind, in addition to the regularly mounted deadbolt, I was wondering how effective it would be to install a second deadbolt in the middle of the bottom of the door, and have the deadbolt slide into a steel plate on the doorsill. The doorsill would certainly be stronger than a door jamb, and it would really help guard against the door being kicked open. Anybody here ever tried installing a deadbolt in this manner?

And as I've stated before, more feedback on home security is welcome and appreciated.

Patrick, I was running a little late to work this morning, and realized I forgot my camera when I arrived at work. I will take one tommorrow morning and post it.

I will also mention that we have a cat(used to have several dogs in this house too) and it is free to move about the house during the night. The alarm control panel has a button that turns off the interior motion sensors, but leaves everything else on, leaving the house protected, but people inside are free to move about without setting it off.

If you can't wait for a picture of the deadman set up rent (I think) Cat burglar or something similar it's Whoopie Goldberg for sure just read the one that has her as a burglar and Jim Belushi as a cop.

I don't think our boys in blue would appreciate that too much.On another note rather than use a phone dialer,use whatever sensors are necessary and use a recorded low growl from what sounds like a very big dog.

Well....For one, I work for ADT right now....Good system but ill be damned if you a tech out to fix anything..There is a big shortage of techs and you can be waiting a week......

Loki

I always believed making a burglar think there's somebody (or something) home works best. As My7Fieros said, burglar alarms go off for no reason at all - I speak from experience since the burglar alarm at my office goes off regularly. Even if a burglar alarm does go off, they know they have a certain amount of time before the police will arrive and if they are professionals they'll only need a few minutes to get your money and the most valuable stuff.

The one thing burglars don't like is when somebody is home. Normally a big dog is all it takes for a burglar to try the house next door instead, but since you are allergic to them that's out of the question.

But there are several things you can buy that makes it look as if somebody is home. Here are a few things out of the top of my head:

• - Random ON/OFF switchers. These things can switch on lights, close drapes, switch on radios, etc. with random intervals. Best for when you are away at night.
  
• Fake Dogs! Yes, I know it sounds silly but it works pretty good. I have one of those at the office. It's actually nothing more than a device with digital recordings of a dog. Nice thing is that it works with radar(?) so it'll work through walls, doors, etc. If you are within 10 feet of the device, you'll hear a dog barking (the "Hey! I hear something"-bark). The closer you get, the more vicious that thing starts to bark. If you are within 2 feet, it'll sound as if the dog is desperately trying to get through the wall to get to you. Like I said, this works pretty good! I have had lots of fun with it at the office. I placed it behind a door and would ask people to get something from that room. And they always returned with "I'm not going in there - there's some rabid dog in there!"
  

Other things that work quite well:

• Fake Camera's. You can buy fake camera's in lots of places and these things actually work quite well.
  
• Alarm Labels. You know, the ones you stick to the inside of windows and such. Best thing is if you would create your own instead of buying them in the store. Burglars know how those look but if you create your own, they'll probably think they are real.
  
• Have some copies of Mercenary Today laying around. J/K ofcourse...
  

Hope this helps.

I used to work for a property management company, and some of the houses I took care of were in a less than favorable part of town (drug dealing in the middle of the street, anyone?) We had one multi unit security building that guys would break into for a number of reasons. Homeless would bust the door down to sleep in our stairwells, drug dealers for a private place to sell, and customers of the dealers to make illicit gains to be able to buy drugs. It was chronoic probelm. Being the supervisor, I was charged with the responsibility of making sure this stopped once and for all. Here's what I did.

I bought a piece of angle iron, 3/16" thick, 3 feet long, by one and a half by one and a half inches on the sides. I also got a piece of bar stock, 3 feet long by 3/16", a piece of plate steel, about 4" by 12" and the best deadbolt I could find. I mortised the door jamb to recieve the bar stock in place of the thin little striker plate. Then I mortised the latch side edges of the door, so the angle iron would lay across where the latch extends from the door, and the inside face of the door. Then I took the plate steel, and mortised the inside face of the door so the lock would install through this plate. I filled and painted all the metal to match the door and jamb, and then drilled the holes for the lock assembly on the plate on the door, for the latch to pass through on the angle iron on the edge, and then the bar stoc where the latch would engage it. (It's important to note that the bar stock was installed with 3 1/2" long drywall screws, One about every 6 inches the entire length)
If my explination is too confusing, I can post a diagram, since I don't have any pictures)

I heard the last guy that tried to kick that door in was taken awy in an ambulance with his ankle broken in a couple of places.

Another thing, that I haven't seen posted here, if you have entry doors with lights (glass) Make sure your deadbolts are DOUBLE deadbolts (keyways inside and out) Make sure you sleep with a key in the inside lock, or near to the door for emergencies, but take it when you are away.

If possible, if you have a basement, replace the windows with glass block, basement windows are highly vulnerable.

Sliding galss doors are bad too. Evem if you have a bar, if it's and inch too short, someone can get in, they'll lift the door to diengage the lock, open the door as far as they can, and then lift it out of the bottom track and let it fall out. To prevent this, open the door all the way, and run a couple of screws into the upper door guide, leave them extended just enough that they allow the door to close, but not in so much that the door can be lifted out of the track.

Automated systems are available, and relatively inexpensive I might add, that allow you to control everything from your computer. It's a software/hardware setup in which you replace switches and outlets with the modules for the system. (add-on modules can also be used for situations where you don't want to relpace anything) and you can program your computer to turn on TV's, radios. (talk radio shows are the BEST deterrent, It sounds like there's more than one person in the house) but the system, since it's controlled by your computer, can be programmed ffor various activities, not just the same repetitive sequences, which are dead giveaways if your house is being watched. Sophisticated criminlas require sophisticated countermeasures.

I truly hope some of these ideas help, I'm glad no one was hurt, and hope nothing of any sentimental value was taken, those are the worste thngs to lose.

-Taiji

[This message has been edited by Taijiguy (edited 08-14-2000).]

I will agree with that statement LOKI.
My wife is a Resource Desk MGR here In FL for ADT and it is a great service but whew man like previous posts said by someone lots and LOTS of false alarms !

Patrick,

There are sensors that you can use besides the motion detectors and glass breakage sensors that could still offer a reasonable amount of protection. The basic N.C./N.O. magnetic contact closure switches for doors would trigger the alarm. Also, you could use that foil tape on your window so if the window breaks, the tape breaks and sets off the alarm.

Keep in mind also that you dont have to have your alarm monitored if you dont want to. Get your self a small alarm panel and two 50 watt horns for the outside of your house. Criminals dont like noise. As long as they can hear a siren, they wont stick around.

The only other option would be remotely controlled medium range auto-targeting chain guns.

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Dillon - Titusville, FL
Black '87 SE V6
"You mean like the back seat of a Volkswagen?"

Hey, you guys are wonderful! I hope every one of you realizes that there's probably a great number of people who are being educated by what you've had to say here.

I'm still having problems uploading my (long) posts. Here's the first half:

Drew, no problem. Whenever you get a chance to take and post a picture is fine.
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Uaana, I think I'll pass on that video and wait for Drew's picture instead.
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hugh, this recorded dog growl idea may have some merit.
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Loki and Robert, it's beginning to sound to me like ADT is a company that's grown a bit too fast.
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Cliff, lots of interesting stuff! I use timers on exterior lights, and I have timers on a couple of interior lights, but none of them are random. I'll look into getting one or two of these for inside.

I like this idea of fake dogs more and more. Certainly a lot easier on my allergies than a real canine.

I guess the fake cameras would work best if they were located in a highly visible location that's also difficult (for a vandal) to access. Heck, my hobby is amateur video, I should be setting up real cameras!

I've had alarm company labels here for years. Unfortunately they've been in a drawer somewhere all this time.
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Taijiguy, very informative post. Sounds like you had a challenging job there for awhile. Great description of how to reinforce the door and door jamb. It's too bad that the guy who broke his ankle on the door hadn't tried to head-butt it instead.

I have bars on my basement windows, and on the back door I have Lexan in addition to the glass. I guess these scumbags realized they wouldn't be able to get through the Lexan on the back door so they just kicked and pushed until the lock and/or jamb gave out.

Using one's computer for home security is a good idea. Almost as good as using the computer to access Cliff's forum. I'll have to look into that suggestion.

Regarding the loss of sentimental items, the problem I'm facing right now is that I'm not sure what all was taken. There are a couple of dresser drawers that I've kept odds and ends in for years, and they were gone through by these jerks. I can tell by the empty spaces that there is stuff missing, but I don't remember at this point what it could be. It'll probably come to me out of the blue sometime next year...
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Continued in Part Two...

quote Originally posted by Patrick: No, what I need is some feedback on electronic security systems. Are they effective? Does it need to be a monitored system? Is it practical to install one of these systems in an older house that doesn't have the alarm wiring pre-installed? What kind of expense is involved with the installation of a system and what are the monthly fees for a monitored systems? Thanks.

Patrick

You're right about other people being educated here and following this thread with interest. I quoted your original question because I haven't yet seen anything posted about any wiring being needed, installation cost, or monthly fees yet.

I'm just ready to replace some windows in my house so, if needed, now would be the time to do any wiring necessary.

Good luck with the allergies, I have them myself.

Gesundheit!!!

Well, to address at least part of that question, yes, for many security systems, wiring is required. Fortunately they can do post-wiring without any trouble. Especially if you have a basement. In my area, ADT is offering a full installation (they don't specify how many doors or windows is included) but they promise two keypads, for 99 bucks, and whatever their monthly monitoring fee is.

-Taiji

Monitoring usually runs between $20 and $30 bucks a month.

The wiring is not really intrusive, its usually a 2 conductor 20-24AWG wire (smaller than your average speaker wire) that is easily camoflauged along baseboards, window trim, etc. (inside, of course!!)

The wireless system of which Taiji speaks sounds like X10 www.x10.com . RadioShack also sells the identical stuff under their own name Plug-n-Power.
That system has so many different modules and accessories that you can make it do exactly what you want, and control the whole thing from your computer. Your computer can tell it to turn on lights, coffee machines, TV sets, etc. and then shut them off again.
Now they even have wireless color cameras, although B&W cameras would be better for nighttime viewing of the yard.

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Dillon - Titusville, FL
Black '87 SE V6
"You mean like the back seat of a Volkswagen?"

Foh Fum, thanks to Taiji and DJ, we've got some more answers. Much appreciated guys!

In Vancouver, several companies are offering FREE installation of a monitored alarm system if you sign up for 3(?) years at a cost of $25(Cdn) per month. Doesn't seem like too bad of a deal, but I haven't decided on anything for sure yet.

Although I'm disappointed that I never did get to see what a "deadman" bar looks like, I did learn enough from my on-line investigating to acknowledge that it is definitely a good idea to have some kind of a locking device that makes use of the FLOOR. The floor and/or doorsill is MUCH stronger and more robust than most, if not all, door jambs. So what I did today was to install second deadbolts on the bottom of both my front and back doors that lock into steel plates mounted on the doorsills. This may not be quite as good as a "deadman" bar, but it's a whole lot more secure than it was before.

I'll report in again as I learn more about alarm systems.

ADT is growing WAY to fast... We just took a Bank One account.. 50 million dollar account.. And they say we have to be there in 4 hours, dont care if traffic is bad or the tech gets in a wreck.. 4 hours or we loss a $50 million account..Hope it doesnt land in my hands heheh And yes I would say roughly 80+% of all alarms are false or something stupid like (a contact needing screwed in) Get a big gun and a mean dog

Loki

All this talk just because some people are too damn lazy to go out and get a job.It's a real shame.

Sorry Patrick, forgot about this thread. I re-read the dead-man bar setup, and ours at work is slightly different. The backdoor at work is two doors that swing outwards. The doors are heavy steel, with a steel frame cemented into the building. The doors have 2 1"x1" steel bars bolted horizontally to them, then cut where the doors open. When the doors are then closed, the steel bars line up(one at the top, one at the bottom). We then have two more 1"x1" steel bars that attach to the ones attached to the door. This makes it impossible to break them open, even if you drive a vehicle into them. I know this description is impossible to follow, I'll get pictures of our setup soon.

Back in middle school, I had some neighbors two doors down, that regularly took vacations. I was always hired to take care of the pets, the mail, newspapers, open close curtains, etc. One time I set off the house alarm, and didn't know how to turn it off. The cops arrived in about 5 minutes. Very quick.

Something that would be worth while for anyone to check in their home is how well the door jambs are attached to the studs. Out of curiosity I removed the interior trim from the door jambs on both my front and back doors. It was shocking to see how weak the construction was. There was a 3/4 inch gap between the jambs and the closest stud on both sides of both doors. This made it impossible to tighten long screws through the jamb into the stud because it would pull the jamb towards the stud and deform the whole shape of the doorway. It's easy to fix though because all it takes are pieces of wood the right thickness inserted between the jambs and the studs. The end result is that the use of long screws to attach the hinges and the striker plates really makes a difference in the strength of the overall door frame. I suggest that everyone concerned about home security should take off their interior door trim to have a look. If you're careful, you'll be able to shore up your defenses and put the trim back on with a minimum of fuss.