What security do you recommend for moving into new home...

Chanes

robatwork wrote: »

Something slightly better than your neighbour.

Reminds me of the joke about the two men who spot a lion running towards them and one says to the other "we can't run faster than the Lion" and the other says "I only have to run faster than you"

Spazter

I changed the locks myself and bought the antisnap ones online then watched YouTube on how to fit. They were so easy to fit! I had 4 locks to change and had been quoted £65 a lock. It cost me £30 a lock doing them myself!

I've also had a burglar alarm fitted that is wireless and calls me from the home phone if the alarm is set off while away. The alarm arms and disarms from a key fob so is easy to set etc. There are quite a few rooms and door that have the sensors etc as a big house but was well worth the cost which I thought was very good at £668 fitted.

We also have cctv but brought that from our other house and we got this from Maplins at a real good price for a good system with 2 cameras and this can be set up to watch from your phone where ever you are.

Davesnave

katebl wrote: »

I'd recommend a cctv set up at least, for a couple hundred pounds you can monitor it remotely, worth it for peace of mind

CCTV has its uses, but my only experiences with it have been fairly negative.

I still remember vividly when people played and replayed the footage at work, when a large, heavy picnic bench and table went missing.

The cameras were hidden, so there was no way to tell when they were pointing in any direction, yet in 30 seconds the bench disappeared and no one was picked-up on any of the other cameras either. It was a feat worthy of David Copperfield.

More recently there was a break-in near me. The 'thief' smashed the cameras and filmed himself in the process, but took nothing. No one could recognise him however....

It was only much later that the intruder owned -up. He was one of the family!

Arleen

phill99 wrote: »

But to the opportunist thief, they will steer clear of the one with the alarm and good locks. They want to get in somewhere easily and quickly without noise.


And TBH even the poorest looking of houses will have something worth stealing for the thiefs next score - a mobile phone, laptop, camera or ipad. Virtually every house has these now so easy picking for a thief that can get in with ease.

Aye, Nothing will stop professional criminals if they've targeted your house, but most of the criminals are an opportunist who goes for the target that will cause them least trouble. And in the modern era, almost every house is worth couple hundreds in easy loot.

Couple more things to add:
- Strong doors and laminated windows. This will stop most burglars in their tracks, as they rarely relly on lockpicking, and more on breaking the doors/windows to get in. Buying those in quality so they cannot be broken easily will stop many burglars who will settle on your house.

- Locks operable only from the inside o all doors. Together with the above, that will stop pretty much any but most violent, and loud, entry into your house while you are inside. And in that case, gives you some time.

- When changing locks, make sure that they have "bump protection." That's the "easy lockpick" that most locks are susceptible to. But for not that much more money you can build locks with protection against it built in. Those still can be picked, but at least not by someone with a two quid worth of picks and 5 minutes spent on youtube.

This stuff does not come cheap, but if you wonder how effective it is, go and ask at nearby police station how most burglars get in.

davidmcn

Quizzical_Squirrel wrote: »

Sometimes insurers insist on particular locks, an alarm system, a safe ....
It's not always the owners' choice.

Or you've just inherited them from the previous owner.

I suspect any criminals targeting houses with large quantities of cash/jewellery etc will be using more specific intelligence than looking for alarms etc.

StaffieTerrier

Davesnave wrote: »

CCTV has its uses, but my only experiences with it have been fairly negative.

I still remember vividly when people played and replayed the footage at work, when a large, heavy picnic bench and table went missing.

The cameras were hidden, so there was no way to tell when they were pointing in any direction, yet in 30 seconds the bench disappeared and no one was picked-up on any of the other cameras either. It was a feat worthy of David Copperfield.

More recently there was a break-in near me. The 'thief' smashed the cameras and filmed himself in the process, but took nothing. No one could recognise him however....

It was only much later that the intruder owned -up. He was one of the family!

This reminds me of a break in we had at my old work place. They took various items but we thought 'it's ok we can review the cctv'. When we went to check they'd stolen the cctv recorder too.

robatwork

AdrianC wrote: »

Two identical houses - one has a big alarm, obvious high-security locks, and various other security features. The other doesn't.

Which is more likely to be worth robbing...?

Much depends on if you're deterring the planning, cat burglar types who will plan, stake out and observe. Or the drug-addled scrote opportunist needing an ipad for his next hit.

The latter is a bigger risk, and the former will probably get in if they really want to.

freeisgood

Gravel everywhere.....nice and crunchy and loud. (within reason )

getmore4less

my office anecdote working late(IT so a few still there)

They drove a van up to a side window baseball bats climbed in and proceeded to load the van.

Gone before the police arrived.


Don't have a fancy car that can make you house a target.

freeman3030

Hi,
Certainly change the locks! I too felt a bit insecure in my new home. Having previously lived in a flat, I'd always felt relitavely safe but moving into an end of terrace house (which once we moved in) discovered it had previously been burgled, my attention soon turned to security. I immediately changed the front door (I didn't like the look of the old door anyhow) but it only had one lock. I changed it for a composite door with a multipoint locking sustem with hooks.
My viewpoint on security alarms is, if I have one and my neighbour doesn't, hopefully they'll target my neighbours house instead of mine (I like my neighbours and hope they don't get burgled - but you see my point).
I purchased a Yale smart home alarm, it's all woreless, the bell box at the front of the house is battery operated and has tamper switches which will sound if it's tampered with. The control into is connected to the mains but has a battery backup incase of a power cut, so will sound if one of the sensors is triggered. Also the control box also connectes via cable to the router so I can remotely arm/disarm the alarm.
French doors are particularly easy to break into (just Google it) but you can get extra throw bolts to add onto upvc/wooden french doors (I'm sure they've got a proper name but I don't know what it is), or simply get a patlock to go over the two handles. Hope this helps.