Hoodies in my back garden!!

TigerTim

One of my kids wasn’t feeling well last Thursday night & I came downstairs to get her a drink. As I stood at the sink at 5.30 in the morning, 2 “hoodies” who must have been startled by me putting on the lights came from the back of the house where the patio door is & passed my kitchen window. I got a fair fright. I just roared “Get out” as loud as I could. My back garden has a 6 foot high fence with gates at both sides & the garden is enclosed so they didn’t arrive there by accident. They legged it & I notified the Gardai.

Yesterday I was telling some people at work about my experience. One guy told me that his brother’s house along with 2 others was broken into about 2 weeks ago & those houses are quite close to me. He said that in all cases they had got in thru’ the patio door. They apparently made no noise & had some way of bursting the lock out of the patio door with no damage to the door. The barrel of the lock was found on the ground. I looked at mine last night & it looks like the plate around the barrel is fairly loose – it’s only held with glue/mastic. I took it off to have a look & there also seems to be a hole in the sealant inside as if something was pushed thru’ it.

My questions: I know how a lock is held in with the long bolt into the barrel – is it that easy to shear it/break it & remove the barrel?.
I don’t have an alarm at the moment but will probably get one. Is there anyway of making the patio door more secure in case they come back again. I might take the handle off the outside. I thought of a simple shooting-bolt on the inside but there is not very much to attach it to – the door frame is aluminium & looks quite light.
Anyone got any ideas.

Thanks,

Tim

Vanbis

What area did this happen in? I heard before that they also remove the rubber seal on double glazing and lift out the whole window and jump through with causing damage.

CJhaughey

Where are they getting in to your garden?
Through the gate or over the fence?
I had a friend who had problems with people jumping over the fence into his back garden.
After doing some work in the house he left some 6x2 planks lying about in the back garden with some 4 inch nails sticking through them, He didn't have time to remove the nails, and unfortunately one of the fence jumpers must have landed on one judging by the trail leading away from the fence.
Unfortunate really, but accidents happen......

RKQ

There are afew locks available for patio doors.
They are easy to fit, internally to the frame.
They are available in all good hardware stores and DIY stores. Invest in one today and fit it before bedtime.
Mightn't be any harm to leave the garden light on at irregular times or fit a sensor light over the patio door.
Good luck

TigerTim

Thanks for the replies. Based in Kerry. Have gates at both sides of the house but they are not locked, just a sliding bolt. They just opened one of them & left the same way.

Thanks,

Tim

Minder

If you have a sliding patio door, the sliding panel should be on the inside - measure the track into which the door slides and cut a piece of timber to fit it. Then every night, you lie the timber in the track, so even if someone breaks the lock, they cannot slide the door open. It doesn't need to be very big - 1 inch square or a dowel like a brush handle, and it doesn't need to be an exact fit. Just long enough to stop the door being opened.

RosieJoe

Minder wrote: »

If you have a sliding patio door, the sliding panel should be on the inside - measure the track into which the door slides and cut a piece of timber to fit it. Then every night, you lie the timber in the track, so even if someone breaks the lock, they cannot slide the door open. It doesn't need to be very big - 1 inch square or a dowel like a brush handle, and it doesn't need to be an exact fit. Just long enough to stop the door being opened.

This is a good idea but it does not stop them lifting the door up and off the rails!

Get a lock like this that attaches to the stationary part of the door and goes into the moving part to stop them from lifting the door up: lock

It attaches like this lock but to the door as opposed to the floor: floor lock

topper75

CJhaughey wrote: »

Where are they getting in to your garden?
Through the gate or over the fence?
I had a friend who had problems with people jumping over the fence into his back garden.
After doing some work in the house he left some 6x2 planks lying about in the back garden with some 4 inch nails sticking through them, He didn't have time to remove the nails, and unfortunately one of the fence jumpers must have landed on one judging by the trail leading away from the fence.
Unfortunate really, but accidents happen......

Sound good, but paying out for negligence to one of these hoodies does not appeal. Think there was a precedent for this but can't find it. Something along the lines of it being reasonably conceivable that a member of the public might enter your property for non-malicious reasons such as a kid getting a ball, and therefore negligent of you to leave dangerous rusty nails in wood on your property. I sh*t you not.

Minder

RosieJoe wrote: »

This is a good idea but it does not stop them lifting the door up and off the rails!

Get a lock like this that attaches to the stationary part of the door and goes into the moving part to stop them from lifting the door up: lock

It attaches like this lock but to the door as opposed to the floor: floor lock

Good point but, unless the locking pin is longer than the top runner is deep, the door can still be lifted off the runner. If you put one on the floor and one on the inside door frame, the door couldn't be lifted or slid back.

RosieJoe

Minder wrote: »

Good point but, unless the locking pin is longer than the top runner is deep, the door can still be lifted off the runner. If you put one on the floor and one on the inside door frame, the door couldn't be lifted or slid back.

I think you may qualify for a discount on your home insurance if you have these locks in place.

TigerTim

Thanks, again.

Won't be going down the rusty nails route however tempting. The door slides on the outside so the piece of timber is not of any use to me but a good idea all the same. Will check out locks on the way home.

Tim

CJhaughey

topper75 wrote: »

Sound good, but paying out for negligence to one of these hoodies does not appeal. Think there was a precedent for this but can't find it. Something along the lines of it being reasonably conceivable that a member of the public might enter your property for non-malicious reasons such as a kid getting a ball, and therefore negligent of you to leave dangerous rusty nails in wood on your property. I sh*t you not.

True enough, but if it goes to court names and addresses become public.

TigerTim

Called in to my local old-fashioned locksmith this evening & bought one of those locks that stops the patio door being lifted. Fitted it tonight so hopefully a little more security. While I was in the shop, I asked the owner how these guys can get the barrel out. He showed me a barrel & pointed out the point where the bold screws in to the barrel. This apparently is a weak point & if the barrel protrudes a good bit outside they can grip it with a vice grips & give it a good yank or else a good slap with a hammer which breaks the lock. Out comes half the barrel & then a quick fish with a screwdriver & the lock is open. That's the deal, apparently.

T

RosieJoe

It is scary how easily they can get into a house if they want.

Peace of mind now with the new lock. Next step is to put a PIR Light out the back as another deterrent.

UrbanFox

topper75 wrote: »

Sound good, but paying out for negligence to one of these hoodies does not appeal. Think there was a precedent for this but can't find it. Something along the lines of it being reasonably conceivable that a member of the public might enter your property for non-malicious reasons such as a kid getting a ball, and therefore negligent of you to leave dangerous rusty nails in wood on your property. I sh*t you not.

Galling though it sounds, occupiers actually owe trespassers a duty of care.

A major civil case occurred in England in 1972 entitled British Railways Board -v- Herrington where it was held that occupiers owe a duty to act with due regard for humane consideration as far as trespasser are concerned ! In plain English, don't leave your property in such a state as to give some of these gurriors the opportunity to sue.

Also, you cannot set traps, much as you might be tempted to do so. This was a matter alleged against Tony Martin in the UK a few years ago in a criminal case when he wounded a trespasser fatally.

Cocoon

TigerTim wrote: »

Called in to my local old-fashioned locksmith this evening & bought one of those locks that stops the patio door being lifted. Fitted it tonight so hopefully a little more security. While I was in the shop, I asked the owner how these guys can get the barrel out. He showed me a barrel & pointed out the point where the bold screws in to the barrel. This apparently is a weak point & if the barrel protrudes a good bit outside they can grip it with a vice grips & give it a good yank or else a good slap with a hammer which breaks the lock. Out comes half the barrel & then a quick fish with a screwdriver & the lock is open. That's the deal, apparently.

T

I replaced all the locks at home with these

http://www.afs-securitysystems.com/Break-Secure.php

they can be keyed alike so for convenience one key fits all locks.

garyh3

OK I posted a while back on this issue with the Euro type lock where if it stick out from the lock it can be twisted and snapped out.....

There are a few lock on the market..... I was looking at the lock above where they are designed to snap at certain points leaving 2 cylinders.....

I went to ebay and was speaking to a guy who sell a lot of security locks and he recommended getting a 6 pin anti drill anti pick, and with that get an anti twist device which you put over the lock and screw into the side stopping the lock from being twisted.

He says that a 2 cylinder lock can be easily picked.

Also put on a motion sensor at the back of the hosue which turns on a light ....+ we have dogs and there also very noisy ......

Must mention that get the correct euro lock for your door by measuring from the Cylinder barrell to the end to give you the size.

like this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/EURO-CYLINDER-LOCK-GUARD-FOR-UPVC-DOORS-HOME-SECURITY_W0QQitemZ190250254944QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item190250254944&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

regards



GaryH