Home Security

delly

My question isn't really about getting home security, but more so the effects of it. I have an alarm, 2 sensor lights and extra locks on my downstairs windows and doors. Its a modern house about 2-3 years old, with your standard pvc double glazing.

I'm just wondering could anybody tell me from experience, that do houses that are fully locked down during the day or night get broken into? I often hear of houses getting broken into, but i always assume that they ethier left a window open, or don't have an alarm. I'm not nieve(sp?) in the fact that nothing is 100% in this life, but i'm looking to get some real life stories about why certain houses were broken into and not others. Also, is it actually possible for a burgler to bypass alarms?

fred funk }{

Nearly all houses broken into dont have alarms. An alarm cant be by-passed by a burglar if it is installed correctly. Security lighting is an excellent deterrent and any form of physical security like extra bolts on windows/doors is also effective.

What you should aim to do is make it really hard for the burglar so dont leave ladders or anything that can help him lying around.

Another thing that some burglars are doing now is removing the pane of glass from the frame and crawling in undetected even when the alarm is set. There are ways to protect against this and you should talk to your alarm company about this.

rooferPete

Hi delly,

If somebody wants to get in they will, the best any of us can do is to make our home appear to be the hardest to enter, or appear to be the the one house that presents the highest risk of getting caught if broken into.

Alarms are a deterant not a real defence, good locks are similar, so a combination of the two should make your home less inviting to the average thief.

You could try adding the community Garda to the list with your alarm installer, they like to be consulted before any possible event.

.

Jnealon

Most burglars gain entry through a back window, back door or the patio door. Some of the more athletic and oppurtunistic burglars will climb on to an extension if they see a window open and squeeze in through it whether you're in it or not.
The more experienced thief will come with his own tools. These incluide a vice like device for pulling the barrel clean out of a door, a drill for drilling through the lock and as the op said a pair of suckers for removing the double glazed unit from the window. I dont understand why window companies make windows that allow the glass to be removed from the outside. The only way of detecting the last method is to have pirs as backup as the shock sensors will detect this.

Some people lock all internal doors. This can be a mistake as on a couple of occasions I have seen holes in walls and doors smashed frames in bits from burglars wanting to get through the house.

Another occasion burglars broke in to the house, set off the alarm, then took a shovel to the panel, internal bell and then threw blocks at the external bell until it broke

A mixture of physical and electronic security is best but not always practical

scribs

Lidl are selling security cameras for your house for 75 Euros at the end of the month
That ill deter the scum and if it doesnt at least you will have a nice pic of them for the gardai

MaceFace

of deterring burglars breaking into YOUR house - make it harder than your neighbours.
As for a burglar throwing bricks at your bell box - I think that is a sure fire way of getting noticed.
I remember watching a program before on the Beeb where they had some ex-cons who they took down a road and asked which houses they would break in to. They explained their decisions and it all came down to which house was the easiest.
If all your neighbours have alarms - get one (well, get one anyway).
A security camera would also help, but makes you house look like a drug den or a whore house.

delly

Thanks for the ideas people. I reckon that i've got it pretty secure at the moment alright, and there are a few houses around me that don't even have an alarm. My own alarm has shock, contact and infared sensors, so i'd hope to have most forms of entry secure.

As i said earlier, i have a couple of sensor lights in the garden, the main one is quite good though as when the sensor has not been triggered, it shines at a low wattage accross the garden, enough so its not in total darkness, but if the sensor is broken it goes to full beam.

Kernel

You can buy double glazed windows that cannot have the pane removed from the outside, these are great. Oh, and buy a big dog, I recommend a German Shepard.

Cameras will probably be the first thing to get nicked.

Alun

I saw something on the telly a while ago that said that even with the older style windows that can be removed easily from the outisde, that you can get them modified to prevent this. Apparently they remove the existing window panes and then fit a super strong double sided tape in the frames and then reinstall the panes. You can remove the beading on the outside, but you'd also have to have someone on the inside to prise around the edges to free them up to remove them.

shabbyroad

Alun wrote:

I saw something on the telly a while ago that said that even with the older style windows that can be removed easily from the outisde, that you can get them modified to prevent this. Apparently they remove the existing window panes and then fit a super strong double sided tape in the frames and then reinstall the panes. You can remove the beading on the outside, but you'd also have to have someone on the inside to prise around the edges to free them up to remove them.

This is something I'm very interested in (and my neighbours too), we've had a spate of break-ins over the last 2 years and 3 of my neighbours have been done in the last 6 months. Bastards are breaking in to get car keys.
What they're doing is removing the glass from either the backdoor or window, easily done and they can get in without setting off an alarm.

Anymore information on this Alun (or anyone else ?)

Alun

shabbyroad wrote:

Anymore information on this Alun (or anyone else ?)

'Fraid not ... I wasn't paying too much attention at the time, and I can't even remember whether it was on Irish or UK TV. Strangely enough I had to have a double glazing pane replaced the other day, and was amazed at how easily it was removed, so I'd like to be able to remember too

Might be an idea to ring around a few glazing firms and ask them what they can do.

EDIT: This seems to be the stuff they were talking about ...

http://www.ukindustrialtapes.co.uk/glazing/gp01.asp

DOUBLE EDIT: Just got off the phone with the guy that replaced our double glazing pane. Apparently we're OK because the design of the external beads is such that you have to be inside first to remove the rubber strips around the edge of the windows. Then you can push the window pane inwards, and only then can the external beads be removed to remove the window. It's called a "shuffle bead" apparently. I've found something here about it ... http://www.double-glazing-web.co.uk/home-security.htm

prospect

That is correct Alun.
We supply windows with that system. They theory is that the black rubber gasket on the inside pushes the glass very tight against the bead. This pressure in turn locks the bead onto the main window frame.
In order to remove the glass, you have to go inside and remove the gasket. Then go outside and push the glass inwards as far as it will go. Then there is room to 'un-snap' and remove the bead. Then the glass can be lifted out on the outside.

fred funk }{

My mate does alarms for a living and he modified my alarm so it would trigger if the glass was removed. He just put contacts on the frame and glass, with the magnet glued to the glass so if someone removed the glass it would break the contact. Simple and cheap.

beller b

fred funk }{ wrote:

My mate does alarms for a living and he modified my alarm so it would trigger if the glass was removed. He just put contacts on the frame and glass, with the magnet glued to the glass so if someone removed the glass it would break the contact. Simple and cheap.

Thats what some companys are suggesting now, Fred.Another good idea is to have a couple of PiRs around the house (at least 1 upstairs & downstairs) If they do manage to get by the windows these will get them.

pbergin

As previously said you can get a doubly sided sticky tape put around the glass and the only way to get the glass out is to break the window. We had it put on our windows when we had them made and I can say for definite, the only way to get the glass out is to break it (we had to do it recently). So if you have impact sensors on your windows it will deffo sound if they break the glass.