Posted in IMHO because I don’t think there’s a simple factual answer (or maybe there is? gulp). I’m about to move into a new (for me) apartment. It’s not the greatestest, but it’s a 1 BR with a good space:cost ratio, commute’s not too bad, and around the corner from Chinese food, so I don’t mind resting my head there awhile. Problem is it’s a first floor. This is Move Number Umpteen for me, so I’m no stranger to strangers sneaking around. Two gigantic windows, one in in the living room (slider, opens to a deck/patio of sorts) and another in the bedroom. I can accept the living room window as that’s pretty standard for we lowly “bottom dwellers” like me, gigantomous bedroom window seems a bit much however. How can I make this more secure, while at the same time snazz up the place a bit?
Obviously, for slider windows a stick of wood in the track will help against your garden variety burglar. Impenetrable! Only so long as the bad guy is polite enough to not make a mess while he’s robbing me blind. I’ve considered putting bars up on the windows, but that’s an expensive solution and uglification like that would probably lower my chances of getting my security deposit back.
Room dividers I’ve considered, as they are great for studio apartments and they are very versatile. Eastern-styles run from around $30 to $100something depending on quality and/or special deals. Being mostly creations of wood and paper they won’t stop a determined burglar, but would at least block the window somewhat (and therefore the thief’s view of my creamy nougats inside), and can add pizazz to a bland white-by-white room.*
I’ve thought about putting a book case up, but that would (at best) block most of the natural light and (at worse) lead to a broken case and smushed books when the thief gently nudges the thing over on his way in. Rose bushes aren’t in season. Piranha moat is right out.
Or, I could line the inside of the windows with banana peels. Joey Burglar would slip wistfully into my cunningly arranged row of bear traps. Then, awakened by his cries of mercy, I would fetch the demon away with my Red Ryder BB Gun.
I’m somewhat not ideas-laden on this one, Doper decorators.
*I’m considering doing an accent wall and other touches, but that’s for another thread.
I’ve lived in a first-floor, front-facing apartment with a huge slider window and no bars in a pretty bad neighborhood for the past 2.5 years and I haven’t been murdered or burgled yet. Maybe it’s the fact that I don’t have all that much of value, but I just don’t worry about it.
I have giant sliding windows in most of my rooms, and use the ol’ board tactic. I figure even a stupid burglar knows that breaking the glass would make a hell of a lot of noise, which would disturb the nosy neighbors, and it’s just not worth it so they’ll choose to move along. At least that’s what I tell myself late at night in the dark when the noises start. :eek:
There are plastic sheets that stick to windows and make them nearly unbreakable, but peel off (with some effort, since you have to glue down the edges) when it’s time to leave. If the windows do break, they basically act like safety glass in a car windshield. I don’t know how expensive they are, but my mother has a set, and uses them on all her downstairs windows. If you combine that with the wood-in-the-track, and some nice gauze/lace curtains to obscure obvious targets, and perhaps add the beware of dog sign already mentioned, then you’ve probably done all you can do. I would also recommend you look into renter’s insurance. You can get it on the cheap, and it at least covers you if you DO get robbed. The insurance people could probably also recommend useful anti-theft measures, as well.
I’ll offer the ideas I pull out of my ass, but you should get some advice from the police station. They might know your actual risk of a crime in your area, and have suggestions for prevention.
Anyway…
My first thought was renter’s insurance. That way, if anything get stolen, you just replace it. You could get a safe for anything sentimental or irreplaceable.
If you want security for your person, you could spring for an alarm system, though you’d probably have to get the motion kind for the window area since they usually don’t detect a broken window. Your best option for personal safety is probably a weapon you’re comfortable using. A dog of the right breed is also tried and true burglar deterrent, though maybe not a possibility in any given apartment.
If personal security is really the issue, and the circumstances prevent you from getting an alarm system or using a weapon, I think some kind of window covering is probably your best bet. That’s going to deter most people from breaking into a multi-unit dwelling.
If you are worried about yourself, a 12 guage shotgun beside the bed is the most sure thing. If you are just worried about the situation in general, beware of dog signs are good but you could make your own, better ones, such as “Rescue Pit Bull Shelter. DO NOT TAP ON GLASS!!!”
This saddens me. I admit that I left Capitol Hill in Denver because the Crips and Bloods where killing people for sport. The Crips preferred to whack people with golf clubs.
I slept in my clothes. In my apartment. I was young. I ran.
There is no reason to compare the shotgun to the .357 or dogs or alarm systems… What ever works for you works. We have been there and done that.
I live in the mountains now and I will never be pushed away again by thugs. This is not internet tough-guy talk. Any attempt to hurt myself or my family will be dealt with great force.
Definitely get renters insurance, get a small safe for valuables [bonus if it is fireproof in case of a fire, saves teh documents from burning!]
And yes there are alarms that detect broken glass, it is called a glass break alarm, it picks up the sound so it isnt so good if you sleep with the tv on or snore like a chainsaw… but there is another kind that uses a film that is electrostatically charged and when broken sets off the alarm =)
I used to work both in the insurance industry and the alarm industry.
Dispite those ads you see for Brinks Home Security, burglers aren’t idiots. Even the crack heads that live in my neighborhood can figure out when you come and go. They’re not gonna murder you when they can wait till you pick up your food at the Chinese resturant and go in get your TV and leave.
I’m fortunate 'cause in my building there are a bunch of old ladies that have nothing better to do than stare out the window and heaven forbid you go into the building or they call the cops. Thank goodness for these busy bodies they make the building livable.
So that’s another things, make friends with the nieghbors so they can look out for you and vice versa
On renter’s insurance: try to get a low deductible at a reasonable rate if you can. My apartment was burglarized once, and I had a laptop, an iPod, and a watch stolen. I hadn’t paid close enough attention to what kind of policy I was getting (I basically just called up my Liberty Mutual agent, who had my car insurance, and asked them to give me a renter’s policy), and they subtracted a $500 deductible from my $1300 claim, which forced me to downgrade to a cheaper laptop.
I am sorry that you have to live in an area where this question even needs to be asked. Really.
Our door will remain open, except for the screen, all night tonight because it’s warm. We only lock the place if we are going away for a couple days.
Of course all the members of the household have multiple firearms. So an intruder might get one of us, but the noise would literally bring the rest of the house down on them. We live in the boodocks, in a small community, and are able to live without fear.
If you live in a place where you have to think about the fear of break-in on a daily basis, arm yourself and learn how to use it.
My advice would be to get some translucent Map-Tac for all the glass. It’ll let light in and it comes in pretty patterns, but no one will be able to see through the glass. Any prospective burglars won’t know if there’s anything to steal, and, on the off chance there is, whether or not there’s a rottweiler standing just inside, licking his chops and thinking, “Please please please…”
Skylark, where the heck are you? Even when I lived in Lawrence, MA (supposedly once voted murder capital of the US during the 70s) we didn’t have the problems you’re worried about in a first floor apartment. Sure, there were a couple of break-in attempts when we lived on the second floor of the second apartment building, but once my parents put a sign on the back door that said “the drug dealers live on the third floor” they stopped. Have the new neighbors told you that there’s a lot of crime?
Anyway, as a method of blocking the view, go to Lowes or Home Depot and see if they have “stained glass” window film. They’re not hideous, allow in light, and if you pick the right one it should make it hard to see into your room.
All yucks aside, Norfolk isn’t that bad. I’m moving from Virginia Beach (a whole couple of minutes), so I’m just going into this with noses raised haughty-like. I’m not a fan of the Seven Cities -any of them at all- but I look at it like W. C. Fields and Philadelphia: despite the digs it is home (whether I like it or not). My nature and past experiences make me view it as a security concern, but I’m mainly seeing this as a decorative problem.
I’ve got a hugantic aquarium on backorder, but it’s reserved for give some pretentiary to the place.
