Building a new house, need security advise

i have to thank some of you for a chuckle. the nanner nanner i can defeat your plywood with a chainsaw and your concrete with a jackhammer . oh ya....well i can just shoot you like indiana jones.

there are a few facts. everything can be broken into if someones intent on doing so. security measures are to create time or effort in breaching said security. making it take too long too much energy or too uncomfortable on would be intruders. probably most importantly is peace of mind for the homeowner.

building a safe room, storm shelter, panic room, man traps or even building in a ways that takes security and response to threats into account are all prudent measures. lots of people are including the 1/2 inch steel safe capsules in their new home or remodel. they are big enough for the family, say 10 ft x 10 ft and secured in a way they will stay if the house takes a direct hit from a tornado. its better than watching your kids being blown away cause the couldnt hold on to you in the closet.

if i ever build a house from scratch i will have at the very minimum a safe room or storm shelter built in. it will be minimum of grouted block or better yet cast concrete section foundation type construction. i want a place for my family to go if endangered and im not there. i want a place that will stand up to a tornado even if the rest of the house is spread of the state. i want a place for securing weapons and supplies for a bug in situation. i want it just because i do. the point is not to find every way to tear apart ones ideas or thoughts but to productively discuss and grow them. who cares if your dad can beat up his dad.

most burglars wont be prepared to get thru double 3/4" plywood reinforced walls and a properly hung fire door. just as thats true some burglars show up with a plasma cutter to cut thru your vault door you bought at that surplus auction with a dream of having a vault in your home. you prepare the best you can and go with it.

i know it was just about a safe but thats the thing about discussions....they evolve.
 
First, my windows are small and too high for even a tiny person to get in without a big ladder ...
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And probably do not meet the building code for egress windows.
A fireman in full turn out gear needs to be able to get into the bedroom windows.

Talk with your AHJ about window sizes and sill height above the interior floor.
 
I have to thank some of you for a chuckle. the nanner nanner i can defeat your plywood with a chainsaw and your concrete with a jackhammer . oh ya....well i can just shoot you like indiana jones.
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LOLOL ... no kidding! I will never understand WHY some people in these forums get ENTIRELY off topic to flex their muscles and show-off their (self-percieved???) intellectual superiority. WHO CARES who is smarter than who or who is tougher than who or who's idea is better??? The guy asked for security advice, not a p*ssing contest! I had to comment on this because I ran into a similar problem in a thread that I recently posted. Jeez, come-on guys!

It is very true that if someone REALLY wants to rob you, they will. If it were me I would just make sure that the building is structurally sound, the doors and windows are adequate to prevent EASY entry (maybe even have security bars installed on the windows and door if you are really concerned about forced entry through them) and have a good, highly rated dead-bolt on the door. If you want to get more extreme than that, you can always buy an electronic security system from CompUSA or Best-Buy (they are really pretty inexpensive and about as good as any others) and put-up a chainlink fence and keep a BIG mean dog inside the yard. My advice ... do whatever makes YOU feel better about your security. Also, NEVER let others that you do not trust COMPLETELY know what you have ... that is the cardinal rule! Usually when people rob you, they already know what you have inside BEFORE they go to the trouble of robbing you. Saves them the trouble of making a "dry-run".
 
One of my favorite features is outside lights that you control from inside the house to backlight people outside of your home. Think about that. You hear a bump in the night, turn on your outside lights and scan the windows to see a silhouette. Lights like that put the other guy at a big disadvantage. A real big disadvantage.
 
I live in a huge house on a big lot but my son's live in smaller homes. Security is the same and many of the ideas are already mentioned here.
1. Outside motion lights are a major tactical multiplyer.
2. Dog that barks, we all have them, big dogs that bond with the family, Lab-Shep mix for us.
3. High Lumen flashlights in most rooms.
4. Gun safe and another coming.
5. A quickly avalible phone list of the neighbors phones. (I've stopped two robberys of my across the street neighbors house.)
6. Quick grab gun IWB much of the time.
7. Pyrocantha planted in long lines at the base of the cement wall.
8. Mini cactus and regular Tea roses under and near windows.
 
The structure itself is pure white oak & antique chestnut - 14'x20'
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In a house that small, you probably won't have room for a floor gun safe. Since it is new construction, you can build in a shallow false wall in one of the closets, and store your guns/ammo/valuables between the wall studs. A good way to conceal the opening is with a piece of paneling. Glue magnets to the panel, and countersink corresponding locations in the studs. Glue a washer in each location for the magnet to stick to.
have a huge walk in closet or an additional room built off the master that is re-bar reinforced grouted block with its own phone and electrical service. ideally i would like both. they would serve the dual purpose of a safe room a safe and disaster shelter.
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If you reinforce a bathroom instead of a closet you automagically also get a water supply and sanitation facility for an extended stay.
 
I'd really think about it before you commit to building the house (if you can call it that). You mentioned 14' x 20' which equals 280 sqft. if my math is right ;). My bedroom is more than twice that with the master bath included. Do you plan on having a seperated bathroom and kitchen? What kind of floor plan do you want? Even my 1 bedroom apartment in college was about 750 sqft. Do you plan on having running water and electricity? Are there even connections for water, sewar, and electricity? It sure sounds like a hell of a lot more trouble than it is worth in my opinion.

If you are really on a budget, get a trailer. You could always reinforce the locks on the doors. You could probably even change out your glass windows for lexan. Overall security wouldn't be great since the metal walls are pretty thin, but how many break-ins actually involve the bad guys going through a wall?
 
Like the man said, never build something on someone elses property because you will never be the owner. I can picture the two of you on Judge Judy one day fighting it out trying to convince the judge you had some kind of a verbal contract. You better make out a contract and put it all in writing.

Like the other man said, if you must place your abode on the friends property, put in something portable like a trailer that you could move once you have a falling out.
 
I did not read most posts.

With a "fairly extensive collection" why not build a safe/vault room. Would not have to be very big but could be SECURE.
 
Jeff Cooper spelled it out in "TO RIDE, SHOOT STRAIGHT, AND SPEAK THE TRUTH" on page 47 "NOTES ON TACTICAL RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE".

Hard to beat the wisdom he laid out there if you're really serious about it.

:D
 
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