Budget SHTF security upgrades for a rental home?

[kaligaran]

After moving out to CA, my 8 month hunt for a rental house has finally ended. Nice secluded cabin home on top of a mountain in a redwood forest, surrounded by state land. Located on a very safe private street (other houses near since the property is only .5 acres but not visible due to redwoods). Even walking distance to two 50-75k gallon water tanks that just supply the water to the neighborhood alone.

This was a very rare find for my budget and I'm quite excited. Of course since I don't own it so modifications have to be minimal but I plan on staying in this house for at least a couple of years so any improvements I do are worth the money when kept to a reasonable budget.

Windows
It has LOTS of windows and the door to the deck is full glass (deck has a staircase from the yard) so my first order of business has to be something with the windows.
I've been investigating security/safety window film. Clearly not the ultimate solution (bulletproof glass windows or film being the expensive and best option) but definitely a step in the right direction. Ebay actually has some good deals on 4mil security film and some of the sellers (mostly Korea) proudly display their European certifications. Assuming they are real of course.
While I can go the 3M route or a known brand. It would cost me $thousands$. I can pull it off with the films on eBay for about $250.

Lighting
Also wanting to investigate solar motion lights for the corners of the house.

Doors
My first thought about doors is that door clubs/door jamb upgrades seem pointless with the amount of windows in the house. Door clubs also require drilling in the floor. Something I can't do on hardwood as a renter.

Signage
I'll be adding a 'no tresspassing' sign up my driveway and off the road not to draw immediate attention.

'Game' Cameras
Considering getting one or two of those game cameras that send the pics to your cell phone. But I haven't investigated this at all.

Security System
Clearly a pre-SHTF upgrade. Due to the lack of crime anywhere within a 5mile radius of this home, it's not the top of my list. I'm not naive, I know the worst things can happen in the best areas. But the other stuff above is priority for me.

Misc
A gun safe that can bolt into the walls (I can patch the walls up on move out, but not as easy on a floor).



Thoughts, ideas, tips, opinions appreciated. I'm sure there's LOTS I haven't even considered.

[ineffableone]

Door Jam upgrades would not be pointless due to windows, due to doors being such a primary entrance. Door jams are notoriously weak. Check out the door jam armor thread here for more info on this subject http://zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=58410

Windows, don't forget the idea of putting up bars. You can go a prefashioned route, or make your own. You can even make wood "bars". Anything to limit access through windows. Even wood bars would help if you have a lot of easy access windows, since it would mean anyone breaking in would have to take time and make noise to get through them giving you more time to prepare or flee. Also don't forget the simple concept of making the approach to a window from out side more difficult. Make the areas under your windows as uninviting as you can.

Renting does make things difficult, but if your going to be there for years, and want to secure the place, putting a bit of money into some good upgrades would be worth it. The biggest issue would be limiting damage to the house. With a door jam upgrade, you can upgrade it and make it look as if was before you did it but it is not something you could take with you really. With window bars, you would have to remove them when you leave and patch the anchor holes. So some other options are.

Hurricane shutters are also another option for windows. They do make many that look like traditional wood shutters but are beefier metal construction.

Also for windows check out hurricane screens

[kaligaran]

Thanks for the link for the door jams. I'll have to give that a good read after work. IIRC every door has a window (either half of the door or the entire door) which is why I was considering windows first. Perhaps I was talking myself out of doing the doors. I guess I should re-visit the idea.

One thing I should have mentioned about windows is that I do plan on buying boards for them. I moved from FL where having pre-cut boards on hand for hurricane-proofing a house is the norm. I plan on doing the same thing here for allowing me to board up. But those are only intended for emergencies and not going to be up in non-SHTF situations. Bars had crossed my mind but pretty confident the landlord would not allow bars nor am I completely sure i would want them, I know there's both good and bad aspect to them. Either way, it's a good suggestion to investigate so thank you.

Thanks so much for reading! I knew I'd get some good feedback from this community! Hope it keeps coming!

[kaligaran]

BTW, those Tapco screens are really damn awesome.

I had seen something similar before. They are rather expensive though. I have about 15-16 windows accessible from teh ground level including the windows from the deck (there's stairs up to the deck). It would really break the bank. I'll have to see if anyone makes any generic ones.

[ineffableone]

BTW, those Tapco screens are really damn awesome.

I had seen something similar before. They are rather expensive though. I have about 15-16 windows accessible from teh ground level including the windows from the deck (there's stairs up to the deck). It would really break the bank. I'll have to see if anyone makes any generic ones.

Check out Lowes or Home Depot websites, and search for "hurricane". You will find tons of options for screens and shutters.

Also like I mentioned, wood bars might not be as impressive as metal ones, but will block easy access. Plus they tend to be easier to remove when it is time to leave.

[feedthedog]

This is what I did, but I own the place. http://www.zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=97250

The DIY window film is pretty decent, but remember that you have residential windows/frames and not the beefier comercial ones. The window film is really only going to be as solid as what you anchor it to. I anchored my to the wood window frames with the recommended DOW structural sealant. Mine looks ok, but you can totally tell that I messed with it. Cheap bars are an option and a good visible deterrent, but IMO they look like crap.

If you have glass doors then you may want to film the glass, but I'm not sure that the door jamb armor is necessary. You could just buy a $25 reinforced strike plate from Lowes and use four really good quality screws to anchor it. My doors fit so poorly that I used enormous "Ledgerlock" lag screws like you would use to secure a deck to the side of your house.

If your door modifications start to move toward $400, then I would forget about that plan get a security storm door. Home Depot and Lowes both carry them, and they are awesome.

The security screens rock, but are really expensive and you may have a hard time finding a distributor if you don't live in a hurricane prone area.

[kaligaran]

Again awesome feedback.

Feedthedog, thank you for the link to your post as well. Pictures always help.

If I owned this home I'd be happy to spend the money to upgrade all of the windows and doors but it's hard to justify dropping that much money when there's a 100% chance that we will move out in the next couple of years compared to the slim chance that S will HTF.

Regardless, I think it makes sense to do some upgrades that are relativly inexpensive.

I didn't realize that strike plates were only $25 from lowes, I'll have to do more investigation there. I had thought that they normally ran upwards of $60 each and we have 4 doors into the home. So $100 vs $240 makes them more appealing.

I'm also going to scour craigslist going forward for various upgrades used. I also am prolly just going to replace that glass door with a normal door and then reinstall the glass one when we move out so I don't have to worry about having a full glass door.

Thanks so much everyone. If you think of anything else, please post. I move in about 6 weeks and trying to get a 'to-do'/'to-buy' list going.

[feedthedog]

you have glass doors, so something like this would probable be sufficient: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100575127/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=strike+plate&storeId=10051#.UB7KZzHhdXc

That would probably force someone to break the glass instead of just pushing the door open. Its also $6, so its hard to go wrong. I dont see a good reason to put $100 worth of DJA on a glass door. If you don't care about the looks, you can buy cheap security doors for $100.

Check to see if you have a habitat for humanity Re-Store near you. It's like the Salvation Army for building materials.

[mough]

I thought I'd add because I rent an old victorian house, and the word budget is my middle name.

After a bunch of young vandals kept messing with my car, and eventually broke into our cars, An aquatance of mine who knows a thing or two about breaking into houses (yes he payed his debt to society) came over to help me evaluate my home security. I wasn't able to afford nearly the upgrades he suggested, but we were able to come up with some creative solutions.

At first I thought any would be robber would overlook my home. In its outward appearance it is rather delapidated, especially compared to the near mansions on our street. Of course my house would be overlooked.. not. My buddy said yes, they might have more or better loot, but my house is easy. Crooks always look for the path of least resistance, and it would be assumed I'd at least have a tv, a computer, the NRA stickers on my truck suggest I'm a gun owner, and what guy my age doesn't have some sort of gaming console. Well, I don't but I fit the demographic.

The first weak point he found was the basement windows. One was already broken, the others only had a single pane of glass. The basement door to the outside was as old as the house, and not secure at all, so we boarded them up with plywood and painted them to match the foundation.

The second was the huge front double doors. So I replaced the locks, jambs, and hinges. I moved the deadbolt down so that I couldn't be reached by breaking the door window.

Every other window in the house is single pane glass, and I can't afford to replace them, but I'm looking into the security film. In the meantime we put tack strips in the window sills, and planted thorny bushes underneath them. Security lighting now luminates every window as well.

My wife and I both work straight second shift, and my room mate works swing shift, which is good because it almost randomizes when the house is unoccupied, however there is a 4 hour window four days a week that no one is home. So we got a dog named dozer. A bullmastiff/german sheperd/great dane mix who is intimidating as hell. He barks and growls aggressively at anyone approaching the door, and barks laudly to alert us if something seems out of the ordinary. Once you meet him though, he is a wuss, and would lick you to death, but the crooks don't know that. A couple beware of dog signs add a nice touch.

A fake ADT sign in the yard might not do a whole lot of good, but its better than not having it at all, and Dollar store proximity alarms are now installed on every window and door as well.

When it was all said and done my buddy came back to re evaluated when we weren't home. He said that if he really wanted to get in, he could, but he would be far more likely to move on and look for easier targets. He also wasn't expecting the dog, and said that was his deciding factor for him not gaining entry.

Total cost :
new locks $60
Tack strips Had already
Security lighting $50
Dog free
plywood free from work (came from used pallets)
proximity alarms $10
Thorny bushes Free (transplanted from hedgerow at my parents house)

[kaligaran]

Thanks for more tips.

I had totally forgot about the Habitat for Humanity re-store. We had one in FL. I'll have to look here. I also need to look into proximity alarms. $10 is a great price. Not to mention the other suggestions!

I'll be pulling ideas from all of these responses!