Home security - Attempted break-in
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Need some advice...
Short overview: Our neighbor who lives 10 months out of the year in another state had someone break into their garage, then tried to break into their house (unsuccessful), a few weeks ago. Last night, we had someone trying to break into our garage (we heard someone kicking the door). The door is pretty heavy duty, with a heavy duty frame so the integrity didn't diminish at all, probably turning the intruder away. I got my gun from under the bed and called the Sheriff.
Our house:
*We moved to Boise, ID about 6 months ago.
*We live on the outskirts of town in a nice neighborhood.
*Doors are locked at all time, even during the day.
*Slider bars in our 2 sliding glass doors so they can only open 1 inch (1 leads to our bedroom, the other to the kitchen, from the back yard). They are also locked at all times.
*Shades are drawn at night across the whole house, windows and doors, when we are away and when the sun goes down.
*We keep the front of the house lit.
*All windows have stoppers that don't allow more than about 4 inches for the windows to open.
*No access to the roof without risking serious injury.
*Windows that are accessible from the roof are treated the same as the bottom level.Things that we have wanted, but have not purchased.
*German Shepard (we have wanted a dog so bad, and it fits the bill for security, intelligence, and active). We have a very large backyard for a dog, but since we're both in school, we just haven't had enough time to spend with a new puppy. We don't want to be the kind of owners that just buy a dog and leave it out in the yard, bored, all the time.
*Home defense shotgun. I sleep with a Springfield 1911, and my girlfriend sleeps with a Ruger .357. A shotgun is a better home defense firearm for a few reasons. I've wanted to get a Mossberg Special Purpose (pistol grip/18" barrel/etc... not something I'm taking to the range of course since pistol grip shotguns are a pain to shoot. Just a compact, point and click firearm for the house. I want to get something that my girlfriend can use, if it came down to that. Because she probably wouldn't be calm enough to accurately fire one of our handguns).
*Motion activated lights in dimly lit areas around the house.
*Motion activated surveillance. (This is where I'm not sure where to go...) I think we would like to have about 6-10 cameras (4-6 outside, 3-4 inside). I know security equipment can go super cheap, to extremely expensive. I think our budget for this category is going to be about $2500 max. Probably a kit that can do something at 50 feet in complete darkness, has a DVR, and is only activated by motion to save drive space. I know this is going to record a lot when animals go by as there are dogs and cats around the house.
*Clear film for the sliding glass doors that doesn't allow them to be shattered. Someone would have to break the glass, then remove it as a whole piece. I'm not sure where to even start with this one because the sliding glass doors are a big risk. http://www.amazon.com/Security-Window-Film-Wide-Roll/dp/B004LDBPY2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1460319149&sr=8-2&keywords=anti+shatter+glass+film+windowsA little over the top for some, sure. But it freaked the hell out of my girlfriend so it's time to ramp up our security a little more than we already are.
I think my biggest question would be what kind of digital surveillance does anyone recommend? Anything you've personally gotten to test out?
We both work full time, but we're also full time students so we are on a budget. Having said that, we don't want to cheap out on safety at the same time.
Edit: I'm also going to be putting up some signage around the house on windows & doors. Two on the sliding glass doors in the back, 1 on the side garage door, and one in the window next to the front door. That covers all entrances and is very clear. Here's a link... http://www.safetysign.com/products/p88107/nothing-inside-is-worth-your-life-yard-sign
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Honstely just get an alarm system like simplisafe if you don't have one, otherwise don't over think it. You can't keep someone out if they really want in. I live out in the country so most of the time during the day the doors are unlocked and open. I like the outside haha
Don't make purchasing decisions will your still emotional about it. Emotions don't make good decisions.
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@Jason said:
Honstely just get an alarm system like simplisafe if you don't have one, otherwise don't over think it. You can't keep someone out if they really want in. I live out in the country so most of the time during the day the doors are unlocked and open. I like the outside haha
Don't make purchasing decisions will your still emotional about it. Emotions don't make good decisions.
I'm definitely not making any purchases out of an emotional state. 10 mins after the Sheriff vehicles left, I was back to snoozing (my girlfriend and sister stayed up all night). Definitely not emotional. I even said in the OC that those are things we have been wanting to purchase for some time, but haven't just yet. We're not going to buy a bunch of stuff at once, we can't afford it all. So we're going to buy stuff in stages.
If someone wants in, sure, they can get in. But I'm still going to do what I can to deter someone for the safety of my family... I guess this block isn't as safe as I thought as it has somewhat of a history of cars being broken into (if they are left unlocked). But whoever is doing this cut the subtle tactics and started doing B&Es, even if they know you're home. They should really stop though, everyone on this block has guns. The burglar is going to be really disappointed one night when someone walks outside and dumps them.
I'm gonna check out that alarm system, seems pretty low on the price range with good reviews so that's a bonus. Thanks
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SimpliSafe is the way I would go - I had it for about 15 days before returning it. It didn't do what I needed to do. I have kids, and
NEEDwant the ability of doing voice announce when a door is opened. I have an installed system, which failed on me with how the installer installed it. There isn't a practical way to repair it without a lot of damage to the walls. I have been trying to figure out how to do a hybred system of home brew and what I already have to get it to the level I want -
@gjacobse said:
SimpliSafe is the way I would go - I had it for about 15 days before returning it. It didn't do what I needed to do. I have kids, and
NEEDwant the ability of doing voice announce when a door is opened. I have an installed system, which failed on me with how the installer installed it. There isn't a practical way to repair it without a lot of damage to the walls. I have been trying to figure out how to do a hybred system of home brew and what I already have to get it to the level I wantIt will chime. I've never had a system from ADT or anyone that voice announces which door, do they make those?
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@Jason said:
@gjacobse said:
SimpliSafe is the way I would go - I had it for about 15 days before returning it. It didn't do what I needed to do. I have kids, and
NEEDwant the ability of doing voice announce when a door is opened. I have an installed system, which failed on me with how the installer installed it. There isn't a practical way to repair it without a lot of damage to the walls. I have been trying to figure out how to do a hybred system of home brew and what I already have to get it to the level I wantIt will chime. I've never had a system from ADT or anyone that voice announces which door, do they make those?
Yes,.. I just don't remember who.
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Lights and an alarm system are the big ones. At some point you put so much effort into the sliding glass door that they will just hack through the wood wall and come in that way, unless you have a concrete house which few in the US do.
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@scottalanmiller said:
Lights and an alarm system are the big ones. At some point you put so much effort into the sliding glass door that they will just hack through the wood wall and come in that way, unless you have a concrete house which few in the US do.
Yep. I have home automation on all my lights and i can control my in side lights and outside remotely (along with bathroom exhust fans, not sure how that would be helpful) as well as set schedules. The themostat is great too.
http://www.lutron.com/en-US/Products/Pages/SingleRoomControls/CasetaWireless/Components.aspx
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Automated lights are huge as they create, at a minimum, a moment of panic in the intruder. It means that, for sure, at a minimum a sensor has seen them and triggered something.
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I played with x10 equipment back in the day and it worked for me. I haven't used the cameras, but you can setup a motion sensor outside that turns on a light inside, and even turn on a few a few seconds appart like someone is moving through the house. It was reliable, affordable, and kinda fun to setup.
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@s.hackleman said:
I played with x10 equipment back in the day and it worked for me. I haven't used the cameras, but you can setup a motion sensor outside that turns on a light inside, and even turn on a few a few seconds appart like someone is moving through the house. It was reliable, affordable, and kinda fun to setup.
How very "Home Alone" of you
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@scottalanmiller said:
@s.hackleman said:
I played with x10 equipment back in the day and it worked for me. I haven't used the cameras, but you can setup a motion sensor outside that turns on a light inside, and even turn on a few a few seconds appart like someone is moving through the house. It was reliable, affordable, and kinda fun to setup.
How very "Home Alone" of you
We had all of our network gear in our College apartment on a trigger with a switch at everyones desk. That way we could reboot the 802.11b router every 2 hours with out standing up.
