DIY home/homestead security alarms

[Hutch]

I am being informed by the voices in my head that I should improve my home security circumstance.  I have a mid-sized (2400sf) house, with 4 external doors, lots of glass, etc.  I also have an outbuilding hobby room.  This structure houses the reloading and ammo storage stuff.  It is closed with padlock and hasp, and has a large window facing the lake/pond as well.  This outbuilding is ~ 75 feet from the house, and on the other side of the sleeping quarters.  Call it 150 ft from the bedrooms.  The lot is relatively sheltered from the street, 2.5 acres or so, mostly mature HW trees.  Just a lovely setting.

I want to have some motion sensors and alarms deployed in case of intrusion.  I've looked around on various home-center store websites (Lowes, HD), as well as Sears and (gulp) Ebay.  I'd really like to NOT have ADT or equivalent come out.  I HATE their advertising (Cower and call, basically).  My interest at this time is to deploy motion sensors with LOUD audible alarms/strobes, covering the obvious entrances to both structures.

Anybody got any recommendations for a strategy, or a better idea? 

[Tallpine]

Six foot chain link fence around the whole thing with a couple of Belgian Malinois running loose inside

mid-sized (2400sf) house

Wow, it just boggles me to think that big of a house is considered "mid-sized" 

Back when I was a boy ... etc etc etc

[Hutch]

Yeah, times is changed.  I remember well my parents and 4 kids with a 4-door sedan and a 3br 1.5ba house.  Seemed normal then, very cramped now.

There will be no fence, no dog.  Keep the ideas coming.

[crawdaddyjim]

Please do not take this as a flippant answer.

If you will not have a fence and/or a dog then you  had better start working on your ability to stay awake and alert 24/7. Motion detectors detect ALL motion. It will give many, many false alarms. To the extent that you will be conditioned to ignore them.

Jim

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

smarthome.com

[freedom lover]

The easiest way to start would probably be to get some motion sensing lights and put them ten feet off the ground.

If you know your way around electronics it probably wouldn't be too hard for you to rig up some kind of loud alarm that would wail loudly if a door or window is opened. You could probably get ideas for a switch from a kiddy science project book.

And you could try getting some of those expensive deadbolts that are hard to pick. Make sure the bolt part goes at least 1 inch into the frame. You could also try getting some steel security doors that open outwards. Be wary of door frames that have windows built in. 

The problem is, the more secure your home looks, the more it looks like you have something valuable to hide. 

[Hutch]

All very good points.  I understand that the "Harder Homes and Gardens" would be a good idea, but right now, the voices in my head tell me to concentrate on the alarms.  Truthfully, anyone with a claw hammer could get in in 5 seconds, maybe 30 if he wanted to knock glass shards out of the frame to avoid cuts.  Physically securing the house would eliminate many of the reasons I bought it.  Luckily, I'm in a very low-crime area (for now).

[jamz]

Anyone with a claw hammer could get in regardless of any alarm system.  Alarms are just there to make noise. (Or, call teh authoritas if monitored).

I'd invest in inexpensive motion detecting exterior lights, cutting away and brush or bushes that hide/conceal any entryways, and reinforce door jambs and locks. This gives you security on the cheap.

[ilbob]

All very good points.  I understand that the "Harder Homes and Gardens" would be a good idea, but right now, the voices in my head tell me to concentrate on the alarms.  Truthfully, anyone with a claw hammer could get in in 5 seconds, maybe 30 if he wanted to knock glass shards out of the frame to avoid cuts.  Physically securing the house would eliminate many of the reasons I bought it.  Luckily, I'm in a very low-crime area (for now).

I guess if you want to be unsecured that is your right.

Keep in mind that most home invasions are either criminals going after other criminals, or criminals going after specific targets. If it is known you have stuff worth taking, you could become a target.

It is quite possible to substantially improve your homes physical security without having your home look like a prison.

If all you want to do is make yourself feel better while accomplishing little, get an alarm system. Keep in mind that every alarm system known to man can be defeated with a gun to the head. And very few people will even turn theirs on when they are home asleep, which is when you are most vulnerable.

I am not a huge fan of the 6 foot high chain link fence with barbed wire and vicious dogs approach, but there are a lot of things you can do that improve your security situation that are inobtrusive and not real expensive.

[Bob F.]

Good place to start:
http://www.x10securitysystems.com/lampmodule.html

Also google "window film". Or check Home Depot, etc. There's a film that can make that lake-facing window very hard to break out.

Stay safe.
Bob

[RaspberrySurprise]

If you really wanna have fun replace all your windows with lexan. Just make sure to reinforce the frames appropriately. Imagine the look on their faces when their hammer bounces off.

[Bogie]

Yup. Think reinforced windows. Because that's the easy/fast way in...

But first, take a good look at your exterior locks... Toss that "kwikset" stuff in the trash, and buy some GOOD locks. Because I can get in the crap with nothing but a pipe wrench. Probably faster than you can sort through your keys.

[Perd Hapley]

You pay tuition, and find the wife and I a place to stay - I will patrol your yard with a carbine every night.

Well, maybe just give me Sundays off at least.   

[Leatherneck]

Hutch,
I hear you about the ADT/Brinks ads. But separate the product from the ad philosophy. I'm very pleased with my ADT security: door opening sensors, motion sensors, and glass breakage alarms, all monitored via land line with a cellular backup. You can do all these things minus the monitor for lower cost. Bright security lights with audible alarm sounds right for your remote building.

TC

[Harold Tuttle]

an X-10 system can be monitored and manipulated from a cheap PC

the IR triggers are good and they can send lights on requests to remote AC triggers

your entire house electrical system becomes a network that input/output requests travel upon

There are also some interesting radio frequency triggers that are remote powered,
but they seem to pull down the 2 AA batteries in a couple of weeks

The main equation is a who, what, where, when & why process

Who is the threat? 16 year old trouble makers or black ops ninjas?
What would they be doing? stealing car, tools, guns, alpaca breeding stock?
Where are they going to access your property? from the lake, driveway, walk on from neighbors, or fast rope?
When are you expecting trouble, while you are obviously home or while you are away?
Why have they selected your property?

I think a couple of IR triggered outdoor lights and randomly timered lighting is a good start

[Perd Hapley]

Claymores.

[Hutch]

Great food for thought, amigos.  If my threat is black-ops ninjas fast-roping it, I'm hosed.

Current options/plans:

1) Driveway sensor
2) MD lights at every obvious entry point
3) Glass break sensors at the pond-facing side.
4) Hardware cloth or metal mesh over the window in the outbuilding.
5) Tack-weld the hinge pins on the swing-out double doors in outbuilding.

Does anyone know of a supplier for a barrier bar that would secure double doors? (some modern version of the castle/fort door oaken plank that drops into place.  It needs to be on the outside, obviously.

[Leatherneck]

I prefer to bar the double doors on my outbuildings from the inside. That assumes you have a separate people-door that also locks securely. If not, then some combination  of steel brackets, a hasp, and a sturdy plank should be possible.

TC

[K Frame]

Two or three of these should work wonders...

[Perd Hapley]

Great food for thought, amigos.  If my threat is black-ops ninjas fast-roping it, I'm hosed.

The conspiracy notes your weakness, and thanks you for your cooperation. 

[charby]

There will be no fence, no dog.  Keep the ideas coming.

Why no dog?  I have a Chocolate Labrador alarm, she would lick a prowler to death but she barks when anyone comes near Casa de la Charby. You don't have to have an attack dog, just a watch dog. A watch dog is a dog that barks when a person is near the residence. A Yorkie can do that.

[Hutch]

No fence for a yard dog, and no dogs in the house.  Ergo, no dog.  Dogs are a responsibility.  Cats are merely a burden.  Dogs have masters, cats have staff.  I travel a great deal for my job :|, so I can not be responsible for training and exercising a dog.  My kids have grown and moved (well, sort of.  Actually, the wife and I moved), so there'd be little or no companionship for the dog.  If circumstances permitted, I'd go adopt a mutt from the pound.

I once was told the Soviets had satellite recon shots of my rooftop antenna farm, and had a warhead on an SS19 assigned.  Fast-roping Ninjas may kill me in my sleep, but I won't be afraid (the voices in my head assure me....)

[MechAg94]

Have you considered caltrops?  :)

[Jim147]

Locks and alarms only keep honest people honest.

If your away much you might look to neighbors if you have some close.

I don't. Someone could come in when I'm gone and pull the doors or walls
clear off the house with their truck or one of my tractors and no body
would know until I get back home.

[Hawkmoon]

Exterior motion sensors in a rural setting will be a nuisance. No alarm connected to it, but I have a motion sensor on the floodlight over the primary garage. Took the one off the secondary garage. The thing comes on at the strangest times. I'll walk into the kitchen at 12:30 or 1:30 in the morning, and the floodlight will be on. The neighbor's cat sets it off (the one who sleeps on the hood of my Jeep); the racoon sets it off; the woodchuck sets it off; ...

But I have it primarily for my own convenience, so that it lights up when my wife and/or I drive in after dark. So it does what's asked. Security is from motion sensors inside the house. No glass breakage alarms, but sensors on all entry doors, motion sensor covering the basement from the doorway to the foot of the stairs, and multiple motion sensors covering the interior on the main floor. It's zoned so we can bypass the interiors on the main floor when we're home at night, but the doors and the basement remain protected.

There are companies that sell the gear if you want to install it yourself. Or you can get a company to come install a system, and just not pay for monitoring.

http://www.buyerzone.com/security/security-home/qz_questions_803z.jhtml

BTW -- The Petit family (Google Petit+Cheshire+CT+invasion) were also in a low crime area. That's the major reason Mrs. Petit and the two teen-age daughters are now deceased.