I'm scared! Advice on making home more secure

[givemesteel]

Had a visit today which I strongly suspect was someone scoping our house out for a burglary. It's unnerved me as I'm on my own alot with two small dc in quite a 'remote' place (I do have neighbours nearby but we're not overlooked so feels more isolated than it is in reality).

I want to feel more safe in my home - can anyone advise on ballpark costs to install a locked electric gate with a video intercom? And cctv?

I've already got a burglar alarm and floodlights (the latter don't really help as are activated by foxes and so on at night).

Thanks

Poor you, sounds scary.

Electric gates with a push fob can be between 3-7k depending on what they are like and who does them. Makes it look v secure even if the rest of the perimeter isn't.

You could get a gate put up with a bolt of kick for a lot less.

Making it look v lived it helps, dusk to dawn lighting at front so not just come on when triggered.

CCTV you can do for about £500. I don't think this is as much of a deterrent as a well lit place.

You can do perimeter alarms for a few hundred but they are likely to be triggered by wildlife.

Dog?

We've been burgled twice, although they only got into the garage both times. We were burgled for a reason, if that makes sense. We did have some advice off the police both times but reading between the lines if they really want to get in they will.

Now, that's actually not meant to freak you out but to say that if you install enough security measures that it's not worth it, they won't bother, particularly if they would only be burgling you for the usual tv/cash etc, rather than something specific.

Your quickest fix is probably lighting and lock upgrades. You could look at having things on timers if you're out of the house when it would be dark, or for tv/radio during the day but you need to change the timers regularly. Is there a car there during the day? If there isn't could a neighbour park there? Do you have French doors? You can get locks that slip over both handles as an extra security measure.

Longer term fixes are gates, gravel, spiky plants, alarm systems, dog.

If they found you at home that in itself may have been a pretty strong deterrent?

Got so carried away I ignored your questions. Cctv is perhaps not as effective as you'd like to think so I'd probably look at gates over cctv although they are expensive. Hard to say on cost because there are lots of variables but why not get some people out to quote? If nothing else, increased visible activity on your property is only going to help.

Let the police know on the non emergency number and describe whoever it was that paid you a visit. If they were scoping out your house it's likely they went to others as well. Getting a monitored alarm installed would be the first thing I'd do along with ensuring the locks on doors, windows, sheds and garage are robust.

Thanks for the advice.

Yes our car is there most of the time but is often in garage if cold.

We don't have French doors but the locks for back doors could be improved.

I like the idea of a gate as if people can't even get on your property they probably think it's not worth the hassle. Plus it means I don't have to deal with cold callers. £3-7k does sound expensive though, but I'll get some quotes from local companies.

I'd love to get a big dog but dh hates them with a passion!

DH is a biker and we live in an area that's a target for bike theft. We installed security lights and CCTV with a vocal warning system (guard cam). It didn't stop 2 attempts, but it alerted us and DH scared them away by yelling out the window- and the CCTV allowed identification.
But a dog is probably the best deterrent after talking to some police friends

Oh we also got good gates and 'anti cat' strips on fencing to deter. If a dog isn't an option, perhaps a large 'beware of the dog' sign ?

We've got one of these it is advertised a lot on tv. Easily installed by a basic DIYer and you can save recordings.

All the delivery people who come to our house seem to know what they are and so presumably burglars do too, so it might be a deterrent.

Ours picks up movement from quite a long way and has it has a two way talkback system so you don't have to answer the door to anyone that looks dodgy but could shout out that you have called the police for example.

Careful with CCTV, new laws coming.

Dog is 15 years of committment and clearing up excreta, decent locks are a better idea!

Yes, we got anti cat strips too. I'd be tempted to leave the car visible if it were me.

If you do have something that might be particularly attractive to thieves, as we did, you need to decide how much you want to protect it. We kept the items in the garage even after the first break in (but upped security, though not enough evidently) as we didn't want them coming in the house if they came back. They are items you would expect to find in a garage though, if you've got expensive diamonds I don't suppose they'd check the garage for them first!

Guard dogs are the best burglar deterrents! Get a „beware of the dog“ sign (with an Alsation or Rottweiler pic) and a motion sensor with lights & an angry dog-bark alarm. CCTV are another option, but big angry barking dogs are mostly a big no-no for opportunistic burglars. If you want to make it extra believable, put a dog house with heavy chain in the back garden My husband works over night often and we use to live very rural. We got a medium sized dog, but after 2 men were snooping around the house one day, we got another larger dog (Alsation and XL breed cross). Nobody dared to ever snoop around again! Both dogs are kept in the house during the night - so our dog-bark alarm is real.

Thanks all for your replies.

specialsubject how are the laws changing for cctv in terms of using it on your property?

justanother when your police friends say a dog is the best deterrent, do they really only mean large and/or noisy barky dogs? IF I were to convince dh to get a dog (not just for security obviously, I do like dogs) dh wouldn't tolerate a very barky dog and I wouldn't want a fierce breed that I couldn't trust with my dc. I wish I did have a dog though, I think I'd feel safer.

multigrey those video doorbells would be a more affordable alternative, thanks for the suggestion.

In terms of where we live there are bigger houses with much wealthier people living in them but I would seriously whether we'd be more of a target as you could rob our house and literally no one would see.

I would have to agree with motherof3dragons. Guard dogs are the best solution! They jump up at the faintest sound, alot of people are scared of them too

wowfudge I guess I should report it though technically he wasn't doing anything wrong so I could sound a bit crazy.

He was one of those people trying to sell dusters and cloths with a story etc. But I thought he was acting suspicious as I observed him as didn't initially answer the door so probably thought no one was in. I just don't buy that he'd bother to walk round the area trying to sell that stuff when each house is quite spaced apart, if you actually wanted to sell that stuff surely you'd target a street where houses were close together to have a higher hit rate?

jessiered yes I'm sure they're off putting but wouldn't it get annoying your dogs barking at everything when it's mostly a false alarm! It's mainly the barking that makes dh hate dogs do I'd only be able to get him to consider a minimal barking breed.

New data protection act in may. Not sure what the rules are or will be but check before paying out.

The police advised dogs after we had a break in. We now have two spaniels who are real softies (fab with kids) but they do go nuts if anyone comes through the gates. They make me feel safe.

I've got a Jack Russel Chihuahua cross, she's tiny, easy to care for, a real sweetie with a very laid back nature (I'm terrified of bigger dogs!)
But my god, the minute she hears so much of a whisper or footstep outside the house she goes barmy! Her bark sounds fairly ferocious and people are always shocked when I open the door and there's a friendly little dog sat there wagging their tail, waiting to say hello!

Yes those duster selling people are a scam. Called 'Nottingham Knockers'. They usually say that they are from the Probation service trying to learn a new trade and stop reoffending. You should make police aware.

The advice given to us by our local police when we installed a security camera on the front porch was: 1 train the camera on your own property
where possible and not on neighbours (our car is parked on the st) 2 Put a sign up saying security cameras installed.

Looks like the new data laws apply to business etc:
www.itgovernance.co.uk/data-protection-dpa-and-eu-data-protection-regulation

Don't get a dog just as a burglar deterrent. They need a lot of time, work and love, plus a lot of dogs get stolen in break ins nowadays. My friend had a Doberman that was a really scary dog. Her house was broken into twice while she had the dog, they gave it drugged meat and it slept through everything..

I think locked gates, high fences and lights/CCTV are better - make it difficult to rob. Most burgulars want a quick grab and load up the car scenario, they don't want the delay of having to run up and down a drive and over a gate. However on the flip side, don't make locks visible. We used to keep our horse tack in an unlocked shed for years. When we got liveries we put a padlock on the shed. With a visible lock it was targeted and robbed within weeks. It must have drawn attention to the fact that there was something worth stealing..

I know someone whose daft dog practically showed the burglars round the house! You can get security devices which play the sound of a dog barking and lights that make it look as though there is a TV on. Putting a radio on.if you aren't in makes it sound as though the house is occupied.

Could you put a very large kennel and some other dog stuff in visible spots to give the impression that you gave a dog?

Definitely report. A few years ago, someone came knocking at the door and gave me a very confused story about what he was selling. It felt a bit off, so I called the non-emergency number. The police were extremely helpful, didn't make me feel like I was bonkers and let me know that they were grateful for the info.

Our local community policeman always wants to know about the door-to-door dusters scammers so that they can keep tabs on where they are throughout the region.

We've got locks from ABS. Apparently they're very good (but couldn't tell you why, DH did the research!).

I must check up on the new laws and see how they affects us.

We have 2 massive dogs! 6ft fence and wall and a locked back gate with 2 padlocks.

I have cctv which covers the garden, and the front door.