Making a house 'lock up & leave' ?
Discussion
If you have a regular semi' or detached house on your average, generic village / town street... what could be done to make such a place truly, lock and leave?
In France, houses have massive shutters and because everyone has them, it doesn't look odd. It's just accepted. In England, a house with massive shutters closed would stand out like a sore thumb.
Does anyone know of any companies that do tasteful / perhaps, even hidden; shutter solutions. Like electric shutters that emerge from some subtle box and form a barrier to anyone outside. I wonder if there are any clever solutions to home security that basically make it like Fort Knox in a way that is not too obvious...
In France, houses have massive shutters and because everyone has them, it doesn't look odd. It's just accepted. In England, a house with massive shutters closed would stand out like a sore thumb.
Does anyone know of any companies that do tasteful / perhaps, even hidden; shutter solutions. Like electric shutters that emerge from some subtle box and form a barrier to anyone outside. I wonder if there are any clever solutions to home security that basically make it like Fort Knox in a way that is not too obvious...
mgtony said:
Wow! I love it... bit extreme though hah!Thanks for the tips so far, internal shutters; I'll check them out for a start. Thanks
Living in a nice area does not stop break-ins. Especially when you leave a place for a couple of months at a time. We bought an apartment for its lock and leave qualities, it's 1700 sq ft and in a large old conversion with gates etc. Perfect we thought... as large as a house but complete secure... but it's funny how you just can't get on with a place; we have a small dog also, and whilst she makes no noise; some of the busy bodies have been giving us aggro... so a house it is. I want the same feeling of lock and leave: or as near as I can get. This is in the Cheshire 'golden triangle', so about as good an area as you can get; but there are still break-ins. I'm the sort that would rather get it all sorted straight away rather than wait for a break-in and then decide to get the walls up, as it were. The house can be empty for two months at a time you see.
I think the interior shutters are worth looking at and will investigate further. I have seen this new doorbel that has a camera in it so I wonder if it's any good; it calls your phone when someone presses the bell, and give you a live feed. You can then talk to them; so if it's anyone trying the door to see if there's anyone in; it can put them off.
I think the interior shutters are worth looking at and will investigate further. I have seen this new doorbel that has a camera in it so I wonder if it's any good; it calls your phone when someone presses the bell, and give you a live feed. You can then talk to them; so if it's anyone trying the door to see if there's anyone in; it can put them off.
One question might be; if you know that you can be away for a month at a time, up to three or four times a year; do you even bother going for a traditional semi-detached or detached home; or is it just a matter of time?
I'm struggling to come to terms with the place my partner and I will be in; I love the house but can't see how it fits with our travel. I feel like it's asking for trouble, as it will quite obviously be empty. It's on a relatively busy back road and I can go to town on security; but something tells me that, even the fact I'm having to think about all of this is a bad sign. Previously, we were in a large apartment on a private gated road; and we could just close the door, lock and leave. A great feeling. But that type of set up had its own problems; namely, feeling like an old peoples home and people having issues with our small dog despite her not making a noise; just having an issue for the sake of having an issue; so nowhere is perfect I guess. Before getting with my partner, I was in apartments and again, I could lock the door and leave. It felt extremely safe.
A house that anyone can wake up to / walk around, will never be that safe I suppose. If we didn't go away at all; I would probably not be thinking like this; but I know it will be left for considerable chunks of time.
I'm struggling to come to terms with the place my partner and I will be in; I love the house but can't see how it fits with our travel. I feel like it's asking for trouble, as it will quite obviously be empty. It's on a relatively busy back road and I can go to town on security; but something tells me that, even the fact I'm having to think about all of this is a bad sign. Previously, we were in a large apartment on a private gated road; and we could just close the door, lock and leave. A great feeling. But that type of set up had its own problems; namely, feeling like an old peoples home and people having issues with our small dog despite her not making a noise; just having an issue for the sake of having an issue; so nowhere is perfect I guess. Before getting with my partner, I was in apartments and again, I could lock the door and leave. It felt extremely safe.
A house that anyone can wake up to / walk around, will never be that safe I suppose. If we didn't go away at all; I would probably not be thinking like this; but I know it will be left for considerable chunks of time.
Update: got the keys for the house... been doing it up over the last fortnight. So far, got PIR lights, viper locks, new alarm system, cheapo CCTV cameras / smart phone enabled... now I'm looking at the big stuff:
- Window security shutters for the front (internal)
- Window and door security shutters for the rear (possibly external)
- The hurricane film for the glass, that someone here mentioned
The outside security doors; I'm quite settled on... the interior 'cage' type / concertina type shutters; I'm still flummoxed. Does anyone make a fully detachable interior shutter that doesn't have to live on the wall / in the recess????
- Window security shutters for the front (internal)
- Window and door security shutters for the rear (possibly external)
- The hurricane film for the glass, that someone here mentioned
The outside security doors; I'm quite settled on... the interior 'cage' type / concertina type shutters; I'm still flummoxed. Does anyone make a fully detachable interior shutter that doesn't have to live on the wall / in the recess????
Thanks for feedback. I'm aware of how things could look and that's why internal shutters on the front will be used; that will exist behind blinds / plantation shutters - and therefore will be invisible. From the front; it will look normal with nothing that screams 'we are away'. From the back; it will be more obvious, admittedly.
To paint a better picture... I will have a home recording studio in the basement and the value of all the kit is... let's just say is a lot. Enough to make me nervous leaving it for weeks / months on end. Yes it's all insured but insurance does little to give actual peace of mind. Peace of mind comes from knowing that anyone that tries to get in will struggle...
I'm most certainly aware of how things will look and a neighbour will be parking his car on the drive whilst we're away - he's thankful for the extra parking spaces! And so I'm getting there. All in all, I'm glad we went through with the purchase as I much prefer the house, to the lock and leave apartment we had planned to stay in.
I suppose I really just want some internal security for windows, that's subtle and unobtrusive.
To paint a better picture... I will have a home recording studio in the basement and the value of all the kit is... let's just say is a lot. Enough to make me nervous leaving it for weeks / months on end. Yes it's all insured but insurance does little to give actual peace of mind. Peace of mind comes from knowing that anyone that tries to get in will struggle...
I'm most certainly aware of how things will look and a neighbour will be parking his car on the drive whilst we're away - he's thankful for the extra parking spaces! And so I'm getting there. All in all, I'm glad we went through with the purchase as I much prefer the house, to the lock and leave apartment we had planned to stay in.
I suppose I really just want some internal security for windows, that's subtle and unobtrusive.
4Q said:
The obvious answer is to secure the basement but don't make it obvious to attract their interest. A decent steel core internal security door could look like a normal door but be very difficult to break into without specialist tools and lots of noise.
You also need to balance cost vs risk - is it worth spending £20k to protect £5k worth of stuff? Especially is its insured anyway?
£5k might be the value of one microphone! The value of everything down there will be large enough to warrant extreme security. I appreciate everyone's feedback and am now thinking of only securing the basement door in such an extreme way; whilst sticking to more standard security for the back door and windows - so that it doesn't look so obvious.You also need to balance cost vs risk - is it worth spending £20k to protect £5k worth of stuff? Especially is its insured anyway?
timetex said:
LDN said:
£5k might be the value of one microphone! The value of everything down there will be large enough to warrant extreme security. I appreciate everyone's feedback and am now thinking of only securing the basement door in such an extreme way; whilst sticking to more standard security for the back door and windows - so that it doesn't look so obvious.
Out of interest, where was the recording studio going to be situated in the apartment?Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff