Boarding up windows

Tabnabs

I was reading someone's preps for tornadoes and hurricanes recently and the subject of boarding up windows was discussed.

It got me thinking about the usefulness of this in a SHTF situation to put off looters & rioters or for securing your house if you had to leave in SHTF times (but hoped to return). Considering the bricks and mortar construction type of Irish homes and what's available at DIY shops here, does anyone have any recommendations?

aaakev

If i owned my own house id get steel ones made up that could be bolted into place, cheap enough for the material

thehippychippy

Depends on your windows and the reveals( the side of your window opening). If it were me, I'd cut 18mm plywood the size of the ope outside. Either screw the ply to the window(wooden windows) or Put the ply tight against the window, and drill at least 2 holes on each side to accommodate a bolt or an 8mm steel bar all the way across or two short bits each side with a strip of ply between two of them to stop them being removed. Not sure if I described it well here but snug fitting plywood (making it hard to get a purchase with a nail bar) well fixed outside your window makes it really, really,really hard for anyone to get in.
(edited to correct spelling and to add another really)

ShadowFox

Ive marine ply cut to size for the inside and outside of each window ive 2x2 posts framed around the inside ones with really long shutter bolts in all 4 corners If i got the time id drill through to secure the outside ones to the inside (must reenforce inside ones with steel) if not the inside ones seem secure enough but you never know

Also for cheap marine ply check out your local building sites the hoarding around them is generally dumped see the foreman and you can pick some up very cheap

The Aussie

If your it doing up in Plywood, it would not hurt coating them up with a Intumescent coating (Fire rated paint), you can put as many layers as you want on to increase the burn time.
You could have the Plywood pre cut and coated, screw them into place put a bead of intumescent Sealant (Caulk) around the Plywood, all that's left is to pull the guttering off and sit inside your house and watch the world burn.

eirator

The Aussie wrote: »

If your it doing up in Plywood, it would not hurt coating them up with a Intumescent coating (Fire rated paint), you can put as many layers as you want on to increase the burn time.
You could have the Plywood pre cut and coated, screw them into place put a bead of intumescent Sealant (Caulk) around the Plywood, all that's left is to pull the guttering off and sit inside your house and watch the world burn.

Why not paint the Plywood so it looks like a real window? Nothing elaborate just white window frame and black for the glass, from a distance the house will look just like any other. Boarded up windows shout out to me that there's something inside worth having.

thehippychippy

But wouldn't you hit the houses with easy access first? Boarded up properly and it would take power tools to get in, and your neighbours houses probably won't be boarded up.

eirator

thehippychippy wrote: »

But wouldn't you hit the houses with easy access first? Boarded up properly and it would take power tools to get in, and your neighbours houses probably won't be boarded up.

If the house is boarded up then its like gift wrapping it and sticking it under the christmas tree is just begs to be opened up and looked at. Its also a good indication that there is not going to be any resistance so you can take as long as you like.

tbh I wouldn't be bothered with many neighbours houses, most of them are much nicer than ours and full of high value items but only in the current climate none of them would contain much of use in a SHTF scenario. I do however keep a mental note of who keeps their oil tank well filled

The Aussie

eirator wrote: »

If the house is boarded up then its like gift wrapping it and sticking it under the christmas tree is just begs to be opened up and looked at. Its also a good indication that there is not going to be any resistance so you can take as long as you like.

So let me get this right, you would look for somewhere that has obviously been pre-prepared.
Smash your way into there by this announcing your presence and intentions by doing so.
Enter a house in pitch black that you don't know the internal lay out of including internal defences.
By doing so putting yourself up against a unknown force, and also not knowing what they are capable of.

Yep, your going to be around a long time.
I would say there would be fierce resistance in a house that someone has gone to the effort of protecting long before the brown stuff has hit the fan, there is a word for anyone who would take a gamble like that. Corpse.

eirator

The Aussie wrote: »

So let me get this right, you would look for somewhere that has obviously been pre-prepared.
Smash your way into there by this announcing your presence and intentions by doing so.
Enter a house in pitch black that you don't know the internal lay out of including internal defences.
By doing so putting yourself up against a unknown force, and also not knowing what they are capable of.

Yep, your going to be around a long time.
I would say there would be fierce resistance in a house that someone has gone to the effort of protecting long before the brown stuff has hit the fan, there is a word for anyone who would take a gamble like that. Corpse.

But you're not dealing with just me are you.

mawk

aaakev wrote: »

If i owned my own house id get steel ones made up that could be bolted into place, cheap enough for the material

My arithmetic tells me that a 3mm steel plate 5'by 9' (about the size of my front window, is about 336kg. No possible way to hang that on your own. You'd need 4 guys

Not conducive to being in a hurry. Marine ply would be my choice

eirator

As for the actual boarding up it really depends on your windows, I wouldn't know where to start with plastic double glazed units but with our old wooden frames set in 2ft thick walls its quite an easy job. Correctly sized WPB plywood cut to size will fit in our windows on the outside and stay in place with very little effort. I know because I boarded up the windows as I replaced them all.

Then it depends what you are keeping out, if its the elements then sterling type particle board is better than you think, provided its used vertically it sheds the water and last a couple of years often more if not on the most exposed side to the house. A builder I know used to use particle board for boarding up empty houses before he did work on them, I questioned it as being a poor material be he often reused it from house to house so it lasted better than I expect. I've noticed its also used for the high painted wooden fences that get put around building sites - well the building sites that are left from the boom.

Then if your windows are already smashed for some SHTF reason its easy to put one board on the outside and one on the inside and hold the boards together with coach bolts or threaded bar cut to length with suitable washers and nuts.

The cheapest material you'll get in a builders merchants is probably shuttering grade plywood (8ft x 4ft). Shuttering as is concrete formwork shuttering so its rough grade stuff made with a waterproof glue about a half inch thick but good enough in this context. I used it when I replaced our windows and used a large sheet on the inside screwed in place and taped around to stop the mess comming in when I was using an angle grinder on the window opening and creating loads of dust.

I had actually thought of having shuttering ready here but decided against it as a Tsunami would wash us away anyway and it would be just one more thing to rot in storage, but I was toying with the idea of traditional style opening wooden shutters on the windows at the front of the house, to take the force of the rain and wind we get off the sea. I already have opening "shutters" on the back doors (sea facing) which are made of shiplap in pairs like french doors. The set up is with heavy lift off hinges and set up with a drip strip over the door so that when closed they can't be lifted off the hinges and in summer can be taken away altogether (that was the idea - never happens). These door shutters can only be opened from the inside and have a stable door type over hand bar catch on them that is very easy and quick to open yet very secure. I'd do the front windows in a similar way but I was thinking of having them so that one opens upwards and one down which is more to do with the look of the thing and the way the house is built on that side (wooden extension). Not really for security but more for winter warmth.

eirator

mawk wrote: »

My arithmetic tells me that a 3mm steel plate 5'by 9' (about the size of my front window, is about 336kg. No possible way to hang that on your own. You'd need 4 guys

Not conducive to being in a hurry. Marine ply would be my choice

When I read that I was thinking steel mesh the sort you see on shop windows. And even then they'd be in sections 3 or more for a 9foot long window and slid into preinstalled rails. It didn't occur to me that anyone would try and use steel sheet but in smaller sections I think it could be made to work but the angle or box sections necessary on the smaller sections would up the weight but perhaps allow thinner sheet?

aaakev

mawk wrote: »

My arithmetic tells me that a 3mm steel plate 5'by 9' (about the size of my front window, is about 336kg. No possible way to hang that on your own. You'd need 4 guys

Not conducive to being in a hurry. Marine ply would be my choice

I wasnt thinking of plate steel i was thinking more along the lines of the pic attacked but heavier steel with steel mesh. The welder i used to work with made a few for business and some houses where he lives and they really looked the part and were solid. He used angle and box steel, very strong and light enough

aaakev

This pic is more along the lines of what i ment with steel mesh, not wire, welded to the inside of the bars

eirator

And I was thinking more along these lines http://www.glassessential.com/window-security-bars/wire-mesh-guard for steel shutters but with a channel section at the top and bottom of the window so the wire mesh guards can be slid in place and locked there like some smaller high street shops do.

The Aussie

eirator wrote: »

But you're not dealing with just me are you.

Sorry, I will amend my post to take into consideration plurals

The Aussie wrote: »

So let me get this right, you would look for somewhere that has obviously been pre-prepared.
Smash your way into there by this announcing your presence and intentions by doing so.
Enter a house in pitch black that you don't know the internal lay out of including internal defences.
By doing so putting yourself up against a unknown force, and also not knowing what they are capable of.

Yep, your going to be around a long time.
I would say there would be fierce resistance in a house that someone has gone to the effort of protecting long before the brown stuff has hit the fan, there is a word for anyone who would take a gamble like that. Corpses

Outcome might still be devastating for the "Would Be Bandits".
Why take a risk on the unknown? I mean why take a risk that if it might not be the end of you in that encounter, but leave you with injuries the will be the end of you after a long slow drawn out period. Which takes me back to the word Corpse (Singular).

aaakev

The Aussie wrote: »

Sorry, I will amend my post to take into consideration plurals




Outcome might still be devastating for the "Would Be Bandits".
Why take a risk on the unknown? I mean why take a risk that if it might not be the end of you in that encounter, but leave you with injuries the will be the end of you after a long slow drawn out period. Which takes me back to the word Corpse (Singular).

I agree, if that was my house and i was still in it the person trying to come in would be met with BB loads from the shotgun, that would ruin anyones day

Esel

aaakev wrote: »

I wasn't thinking of plate steel i was thinking more along the lines of the pic attacked but heavier steel with steel mesh

Nice Freudian slip there!

aaakev

Esel wrote: »

Nice Freudian slip there!

Haha damn phone...

touts

Depends what you want to protect against.

If it is a storm and random looting for a couple of days then Marine ply screwed to the window frame would work. The glass will be protected during the storm while opportunist looters are likely to just move on to your neighbour's easier less protected house. If you wanted to have them ready but had no where to store them why not use them to floor your attic. Also lets face it we dont really get hit by hurricanes here in Ireland so its hard to justify the expense as protection for a once every 50 year event. So flooring your attic is a good option. If your attic is floored then try using them as shelving in a garage or shed or the attic. If the once in 50 year storm hits you will have a few days notice so you can unscrew them from whatever you are using them for in less time than it will take to measure, buy and cut new ones.

If its a more long term collapse with a rise in crime (say like Argentina or South Africa) then metal bars and grills are your only real option. Remember in South Africa where most windows have bars on them now the really determined robbers are breaking in through the roof so a bit of ply held on with Philips head screws aint going to stop them.

If you want to protect against a zombie apocalypse well.....