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Best home defense - home?

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Will102882

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Founding Member
Outside of neighborhood/acreage tactical advantages... I would like to get everyone’s thoughts on best style of home to defend. My house must-have was 2 stories with all beds upstairs. In my mind everyone important to me would be up and a stairwell to defend seemed ideal.

Anyone else have home defense must haves for their house when on the market?
 
Will102882 said:
Outside of neighborhood/acreage tactical advantages... I would like to get everyone’s thoughts on best style of home to defend. My house must-have was 2 stories with all beds upstairs. In my mind everyone important to me would be up and a stairwell to defend seemed ideal.

Anyone else have home defense must haves for their house when on the market?
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Best home to defend I don't think we'd want to live in. As far as defending from the upstairs, I don't know. Not going to be up there all the time. Family will be scattered on lower level and outside. In an emergency all family may not react fast enough to retreat up stairs. Or not be able to at all. You get everybody upstairs and then the Bad Actor starts the house on fire. Kinda screwed then.
The perfect home for what you want is something you'd have to build yourself I think. Most likely I see it as being mostly under ground. Some folks have refurbished old missile silos. That would be pretty close to perfect I would suppose.
 
I was banking on most likely time for a break in would be at night when everyone would be home and in bed.

hopefully we are long gone in the gun truck if people are setting houses on fire!

Outside of the refurbished underground silo (which the boss would love to decorate) - what features if any do you look for in a normal house??
 
Motion detection lights 360 deg around the house, with cameras. All the LEOs I know always ask first do you have cameras.

Alarm system for use at night with family members aware that things will go off if they go downstairs at night.

Lock all windows, and have deterrent vegetation planted at each window to discourage potential entry at a window,

Good locks at all doors (including dead bolts) secured firmly into door infrastructure.

A family plan that has all family members congregate in one room in the event of an incident, and the plan includes an escape option with a window ladder or other option (mini-zip line).

I'd also put a 5 ft high chain-link fence around the immediate house area to allow pets/kids to play in, as well as another layer of deterrent. Motion detectors should be set to detect with anything going over the fence at night.
 
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If you go the mini-zip line route if you have a rec center near with a rock wall go there for a family event. That's an easy way for the kids (mom & dad) to get familiar with a simple belay set-up & have fun so they know not to be afraid of a short zip line. That will get you out of the 2nd floor/house quickly in the event of an home invasion incident and/or house fire.

And do practice drills.
 
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I don't know of a particular common style/floor pland of home that would fit your need. You are going to have to refit it yourself. Steel outer doors with some heavy locks and beefed up doorjambs. Bar up the windows. A sturdy storm door. Underground utility lines.
Have a security expert come in and make an evaluation and prepare for a shock to your wallet.
 
Talyn said:
Motion detection lights 360 deg around the house, with cameras. All the LEOs I know always ask first do you have cameras.

Alarm system for use at night with family members aware that things will go off if they go downstairs at night.

Lock all windows, and have deterrent vegetation planted at each window to discourage potential entry at a window,

Good locks at all doors (including dead bolts) secured firmly into door infrastructure.

A family plan that has all family members congregate in one room in the event of an incident, and the plan includes an escape option with a window ladder or other option (mini-zip line).

I'd also put a 5 ft high chain-link fence around the immediate house area to allow pets/kids to play in, as well as another layer of deterrent. Motion detectors should be set to detect with anything going over the fence at night.
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I don't have to worry about the congregate in one room part. If anything goes bump in the night the population of my room goes up quickly.
 
You may want to look into a good breed of guard dog as well. Our heeler will begin barking as soon as you break the property line. He will continue to bark until you get past the home. His bark will change as the level of threat changes, he is way more alert than I am, and certainly more diligent. God help you if you make it over the fence and in the back yard with him.
 
HVACDOC said:
You may want to look into a good breed of guard dog as well. Our heeler will begin barking as soon as you break the property line. He will continue to bark until you get past the home. His bark will change as the level of threat changes, he is way more alert than I am, and certainly more diligent. God help you if you make it over the fence and in the back yard with him.
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Our Doberman was the same way. Cut the door to door nuisance down to zero. You a member of the family playful. You an outsider you were just that an outsider. Have company and she had her eyes on them. Great dog, actually ended up being the wife's dog, but that's a whole another story.......
 
I think you can make any house work. There are a ton of things you can do to fortify any house these days. Of course, it's all a matter of how much you are willing to spend. Research is free. Make sure the neighborhood/area is safe before you buy.
 
HVACDOC said:
You may want to look into a good breed of guard dog as well. Our heeler will begin barking as soon as you break the property line. He will continue to bark until you get past the home. His bark will change as the level of threat changes, he is way more alert than I am, and certainly more diligent. God help you if you make it over the fence and in the back yard with him.
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Our Belgian Malinois is a big part of our defense plan. It gets a little tiring at times with her barking at the mail carrier, garbage folks, casual walkers, etc., but that is her job (and she is pretty good at it!). :)

As far as a two story house, we have one we have lived in for 35 years now. I would not recommend one. If you stay in it until you start getting older, it gets harder and harder to go up and down the stairs. One guy I used to work with sold his when he hurt his hip and couldn't do the stairs. Luckily, we have one bedroom downstairs, but all of his were upstairs.

I think if you have a good guard dog, most ner'do wells will look for an easier target. Our dog may not attack somebody (not sure), but neither us nor anyone else knows for sure and she sure acts mean!
 
somorris said:
Our Belgian Malinois is a big part of our defense plan. It gets a little tiring at times with her barking at the mail carrier, garbage folks, casual walkers, etc., but that is her job (and she is pretty good at it!). :)

As far as a two story house, we have one we have lived in for 35 years now. I would not recommend one. If you stay in it until you start getting older, it gets harder and harder to go up and down the stairs. One guy I used to work with sold his when he hurt his hip and couldn't do the stairs. Luckily, we have one bedroom downstairs, but all of his were upstairs.

I think if you have a good guard dog, most ner'do wells will look for an easier target. Our dog may not attack somebody (not sure), but neither us nor anyone else knows for sure and she sure acts mean!
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Our heeler is fine if you come through the house with one of us. According to the meter reader and the guy that was trying to break into my neighbors house he's not too friendly. The meter reader thought better of jumping the fence upon meeting him and the other guy got a new set of bracelets thanks to a call from my wife.
He is rather intense though so I would suggest researching any breed that interests you. He's six and when I feed him he stands flat footed and jumps high enough to look me eye to eye. Not bad for a dog that is knee high to me.
 
I prefer to have a castle with high walls, archers, boiling oil, a moat filled with hungry crocodiles and a draw bridge as the first line of defense. But that's not gonna happen so I rely on my 2nd line of defense which is motion sensor cameras that alert my phone and a readily available AR-15 or other gun if the bad guy is really serious about having a short life expectancy. Castle law and stand you're ground law all in one state, God bless America!

I don't live paranoid but I do live prepared!
 
Will102882 said:
I was banking on most likely time for a break in would be at night when everyone would be home and in bed.
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Those who are intent on theft will do anything and everything possible to -NOT- be there when you are home: this includes accommodations made for those who may for whatever reason come home during lunch, and also targeting specifically to -NOT- encounter children who may be returning or have returned home from school.

Home-invasions are much more rare, and in those cases, theft may not be the only thing on the minds of the person or persons committing the crime.

Burglars aren't looking for harsher punishments or even the possibility of facing off with an armed homeowner: they're there to cart off your possessions and make a buck by turning them around at pennies for the dollar so that they can fuel whatever their chosen habit happens to be. ;)

If you're worried about theft, a comprehensive home-security system and properly hardening points-of-entry are perhaps the best way to prevent such crime. Having a dog - one that will respond to door knocks, etc. - can't hurt, either.

And similar to failing the interpersonal crime interview, you can also help fail the home burglary interview by being more aware - and this includes making sure that you don't "advertise" with your trash, particularly coming off the holiday season. Boxes displaying firearms and firearms accessories, ammo, high-value electronics, etc., can all cause you to ace that interview in a spectacular manner that is most undesirable.

Interviews and articles like these may show some conflicting answers among the participants, but trends as well as commonalities can be seen:

www.ktvb.com

We asked 86 burglars how they broke into homes

What burglars said were the biggest deterrents, what didn't stop them, and how you can protect your home.
www.ktvb.com www.ktvb.com
www.fox5atlanta.com

We asked 99 burglars 20 questions -- their answers could make you safer

No matter whether you live in a house or an apartment, we all share at least one concern: making sure someone doesn't break in and steal our possessions.
www.fox5atlanta.com www.fox5atlanta.com
www.sdmmag.com

News Team Interviews Convicted Burglars Who Reveal Tricks of the Trade

The I-Team of New York’s NBC Channel 4 put together a four-part investigative series in which they sent surveys to more than 500 convicted burglars and interviewed many of them.
www.sdmmag.com www.sdmmag.com

There's plenty of overlap between hardening your living quarters versus a strong-arm home-invasion versus a simple burglary, but be aware that the motivations between these crimes don't necessarily coincide or overlap. Your preparations should account for this reality. :)
 
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Having a simple door brace in each bedroom behind the door is not a bad idea, and in a pinch be jammed under the door knob. The brace will stand up to someone kicking in a bedroom door a lot better then a bedroom door lock. Having this feature can buy valuable time for you or your family to call 911 or escape through a window. You would need to teach the family to put these in use in the event of an intrusion for this to be effective. This is not a bad device to have even if you are living alone it can better allow an area refuge and for you to grab a defensive weapon. If the baddie insist on forcing their way in give them a case of lead poisoning.
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10mmLife said:
Having a door brace in each bedroom behind the door is not a bad idea, and in a pinch be jammed under the door knob. The brace will stand up to someone kicking in a bedroom door a lot better then a bedroom door lock. Having this feature can buy valuable time for the your family to call 911 or escape through a window. You would need to teach the family to put these in use in the event of an intrusion for this to be effective. This is not a bad device to have even if you are living alone it can better allow an area refuge and for you to grab a defensive weapon. If the baddie insist on forcing their way in give them a case of lead poisoning.View attachment 1672
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Most interior doors are wood frame and steel would be nice for a little extra safety!
 
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