Home Security

[Roguish Lawyer]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

How do you plan to secure and defend your home?

If you follow the adage of "deter, detect, delay, and defeat," how would you accomplish this?

Deter - House sits well back from the road on a hill, gravel drive, not much in the front yard, no obvious signs of wealth. Video surveillance camera by driveway entrance and video warning sign. Bright exterior floodlighting on just two switches covers most of the property, and all entrances/exits. Automatic dusk till dawn exterior lighting of entrances. Plan to add remote IR lighting for cameras and night vision. Selected interior lights left on at night and others are on timers. TV or radio on during day and most of the night. Thorny plants under windows. No ladders stored outside. Windows above basement level too tall to climb. All exterior doors locked but one, that one locked when I am not home. Chain and cable secure gate periodically. Garage is closed and doors locked automatically if we are not in it working. Front entrance requires a climb of more than 20 steps. Alarm monitoring signs by all entrances. Garage and main entrance are on back of house out of view from the street. Shrubbery kept trimmed below level of windows.

Detect - Driveway and blind spots covered by annunciators. Video surveillance wired into home TVs. Major views cover likely avenues of approach. Alarm system on all exterior doors and windows, set to chime when door or window opened. Gravel drive noisy to climb. Driveway passes by bedroom windows. Dog barks when outside noises heard.

Delay - Slow driving on gravel drive and two significant drainages create natural speed bumps, both easily covered from above from most of the front of the house, including Master BR. House is well off the road. Doors and windows locked. Windows are casement. Exterior doors are steel or fiberglass with 3" screws in hinges and bolt hardware. Frames are reinforced. Plan to add pockets for 2x6 door bars on steel doors. Deadbolt throws are boxed. Doors with glass have double cylinder deadbolts. Front door requires significant climb, enters into sunroom with locked and deadbolted interior doors into house. Main entrance is up several steps and could represent an excellent trap. Need portcullis though. Interior doors are 8-0 solid core and critical ones are secured with keyed locks. Frames are reinforced with double or triple studs. Multiple interior routes of defense, delay, and withdrawal or attack. Access to any bedroom requires breaching at least two or more locked doors. Valuables are secured in safes and secure areas. Garage doors lock automatically with deadbolts. No burglary tools left outside. Family briefed and drilled on emergency plan. Fire extinguishers and emergency flashlights in likely areas. Vehicles are locked, and no handheld remotes are left in cars.

Defend - Owner and family members well-armed and trained with a variety of weapons, including firearms. Good 360 degree fields of fire. Brick exterior. Need mouseholes, but the wife won't let me install them. Yet. Would like larger, more aggressive dog. Hardened interior structures for cover. I'll just leave it at that and save a few surprises.

Thoughts?

TR

You already know what I'm going to say, so we'll keep it between us, LMAO!

[swatsurgeon]

Need the house set up from 'I am Legend'

[alelks]

Originally Posted by Roguish Lawyer

You already know what I'm going to say, so we'll keep it between us, LMAO!

I just got back from the vet with my 8.5 month old female Rottweiler. She's 71 lbs now and has a nice DEEP bark. Unfortunately she's just too big to keep inside so I purchased a nice 8ft x 24 ft galvanized covered kennel with a 2" raised floor. I'll eventually put down concrete on 2/3 of the kennel.

If anyone is looking for a nice kennel these guys have good stuff.

I decided to go with the pro version since it's galvanized.

http://www.k9kennelstore.com/

[mark46th]

I have 3 Westies that can hear a mouse fart at the far end of the house, find it and kill it in utter darkness. Their back up is a naked old guy with a .45 and a flashlight....

[alelks]

Originally Posted by mark46th

I have 3 Westies that can hear a mouse fart at the far end of the house, find it and kill it in utter darkness. Their back up is a naked old guy with a .45 and a flashlight....

Now that's a picture I won't be able to get out of my head for a few days.

[JJ_BPK]

My eyes hurt thinking about those poor Westies..

[The Reaper]

Good feedback guys, and a few new tricks to consider.

Originally Posted by Old Dog New Trick

TR, you obviously have a strong position (location) in which to prepare so well. I can't see if you stated multi-story or just elevated entry but do you and family have an adequate escape plan from multiple locations. If not just the need to escape fire but a tactical entry team of the good or bad guys and rally points inside/outside?

We have a full basement and a loft upstairs from the main level.

There are multiple exits (including instructions on when to open the windows, and when to break them out) and an assembly plan with rally points.

Originally Posted by 69harley

Might want to consider securing the DVR for the video system and its back up power sourse. You also mentioned the security cameras are wired into the televisions, thats good. Can the default on your TVs be set to the security system so that when they are turned on (bump in the night) they automatically go to the feed from the security system?

Back to the security of the DVR and back up batteries. A good technique is to power the DVR from a car battery that is connected to a maintainer. If the power to the house is cut, the cameras and the DVR will still run for over a awhile.

Secure the DVR, battery and maintainer inside a gun safe. If not, when the bad guys do get inside the house they could just take the DVR.

The DVR is in a locked area, and is on the list to move into an even more secure area. We have back-up power, and battery back-ups to that for the DVR, surveillance, and security systems. Good points, thanks.

I could use a security / cable / TV / wireless expert though.

Originally Posted by Roguish Lawyer

You already know what I'm going to say, so we'll keep it between us, LMAO!

Oh, is that how it is going to be?

Next time, my wife's pot-bellied beagle gets first dibs at your chow.

TR

[PedOncoDoc]

Originally Posted by mark46th

Their back up is a naked old guy with a .45 and a flashlight....

Kind of a wierd back up plan - where do you keep him and what do you feed him?

[frostfire]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

Deter - House sits well back from the road on a hill, gravel drive, not much in the front yard, no obvious signs of wealth. Video surveillance camera by driveway entrance and video warning sign. Bright exterior floodlighting on just two switches covers most of the property, and all entrances/exits.

not to belabor the obvious, but I recall growing up seeing the upclass houses having cameras. Everyone in the neighborhood saw those cameras as sign of wealth.

I like the idea of deterrence of another plain jane structure with obvious wealthy-showing, bourgeois-lifestyle neighbors in close proximity

[MILON]

This has been a VERY informative thread and I thank you all for contributing your methods. My wife and I have recently moved into an apartment complex and the area appears to be okay, but I would like to take a few measures to better secure our unit.

Thinking sensors on the doors and windows, a motion sensor inside and the capability to connect those devices to my cell phone, would be a good start.

Are there any recommendations on products and/or where to buy home security products?

Also, if anyone knows of a reliable home security company in the San Antonio area, it would be much appreciated.

Milon

[MiTTMedic]

"Also, if anyone knows of a reliable home security company in the San Antonio area, it would be much appreciated."

I had a pretty cool ADT installer. Hooked me up some different kinds of sensors, etc. 1-week alarm battery backup, and the alarm is monitored via wireless. Ask them to come up with some creative applications.

[PSM]

When I taught perimeter security systems at Ft. Huachuca, many moons ago, we had IR, seismic, pressure, acoustic, motion, and buried magnetic detectors. We found that the magnetic detectors were 99.99% percent effective at detecting humans, the other detectors were often set off by wild animals. Only humans, and some domestic animals (shod horses and collared dogs), carry metal that set off the magnetic detectors. This would be my first choice, here, but I can't find a reasonably priced system.

Being 100% off-grid we can't use security lights (I don't like them anyway because they limit my view to the edge of the light pool).

Close in, I'm counting on the avatar dog, but Akita's don't bark unless they want something so I'm not sure how effective he'd be. He does "woof" when someone drives onto the property, but I'm not sure that it would wake me. (My wife says an artillery barrage wouldn't wake me. She's probably right, her snoring doesn't. )

One thing I've learned from the long-time locals is that locking a gate invites intruders as they think that you will be gone for a long time. We were gone 2 weeks over Thanksgiving and didn't lock the gate...or the front door. No problem.

Pat

[69harley]

Originally Posted by MILON

Are there any recommendations on products and/or where to buy home security products?

Super Circuits is sort of the Wall Mart of video security systems. Their stuff is OK, for higher end cameras look at Watec for the camera and Computar for the lenses.

Watec has some new cameras, like the 910HX, that in my experience see better in low light than most green tubes.

[BOfH]

QP TR et. al., thanks for posts, this is a very informative thread!

Some random thoughts:

Gadspot has some good cameras as well, especially their SmartIR series(the IR intensity dynamically adjusts as objects/people approach in order to prevent the bloom effect). I have some Vonnic cameras which are pretty solid as well, Sony ExView chipsets with an Effio DSP. DVR is custom built, Foxconn net-top running Linux/Zoneminder with USB capture devices in a secure location. I would generally avoid wireless if possible as it is easy to both jam and intercept, i.e. a simple deauth attach against A/B/G/N can render your cameras useless for the duration of the attack, if the intruders were so technically inclined.

As for alarm motion sensors, look for ones that use both PIR and radar(bear in mind that if you use wireless in the 5 GHz(802.11a) range, these could interfere). PIR alone can be defeated by changing the ambient room temperature(warm water under the door) etc. As for power, mine is trenched, and the phone line runs into the attic, making it difficult to cut.

I am set back from the street(4 houses built on a split lot - what used to be a single lot - with a driveway in the middle), with my garage sitting before the house, dusk to dawn PIR with 100watt floods have full coverage of that approach. Around the perimeter, I have solar powered LED floods combined with standard PIR dusk to dawn PIR units.

Considering wiring the sprinkler system to a motion sensing unit for deterrence(it is already controlled by an embedded system - NetDuino).

I am considering security film for my sliding and front door(has those fake stained glass panels ). Does anyone have experience with this?

My .02

[FlagDayNCO]

We had security film installed on a few of the locations we work with. Key to the security film working is understanding what it can and cannot do.

A true secure installation requires the replacement of the frame and the walls around the new window. Looks kind of silly that the window is mostly intact, laying on the ground, while there are huge holes from a sledge hammer and pry bar where the window frame used to be.

You also have to check local regulations, as some places prohibit their use in the name of fire safety. NYC has a very extensive building fire safety code.

On top of all this is the cost. The cost of installation will be several times the value of the home contents. You also have to use installers certified by the manufacturer.

We also discovered that one residence insurance policy included changes to the policy, in effect stating that if the enhanced measures failed, the carrier would not cover the loss. They also questioned the ability of fire rescue personnel to enter the domicile, if this window film was installed. This, in turn, led to a very robust fire detection, suppression and alarm system.

For the average home owner, the costs and limitations may far outweigh the perceived benefit.

May as well buy an old savings bank building or National Guard Armory.