My HD dilema

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dcwldct

Inactive
Don't get me wrong, I love my house. However, I have never felt really comfortable with defensive options.

The door to the master bedroom is about 5 feet from the foot of the stairs on ground floor and parallel to the first steps. The stairway can be approached from the front door(which involves crossing the living room and a large foyer area right in front of my door) or the rear (by means of a hallway which leads from the kitchen/dining/breakfast nook area).

The issue is that all my kids sleep upstairs. I would of course prefer to minimize movement and exposure, but I need to be able to cover the stairs.

My current plan involves opening bedroom door and quickly moving to half-bath about 5 ft away (door perpendicular to my BR). From there I can cover both the stairs and the door to my bedroom (where my wife would still be). The biggest issue is the movement involved. I have an alarm system, so I'm hoping a typical BG would at the very least hesitate at the entrance long enough for me to take up my position.



Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
Well

Barring a remodeling, perhaps spike strips? I kid, but in all seriousness that's a difficult one to consider. First I would think that in most circumstances though that any burglar wouldn't be inclined to break in and run upstairs immediately. Your room would probably be the most obvious target audience I think. However let me see if I have this visualized correctly. You walk into your front door, into the living room, and you room and the stairs are on one side, with the half bath on the other, with a hallway leading from the back which opens into the living room. Meaning that from the hallway, you would step into the living room and first have the stairs at your side, followed by your room. If this is the case, then when you are at your bedroom doorway, the front door is on one side, and the stairs and back hallway are on the other. This would be a good position because you could probably have you room door open and instantly see if the front door is open-if it is not, you need only face the other direction covering both the stairs and the hallway to the back. Don't. Forget that whenever possible, you should clear as much of a room before going into it by standing back from the door way and moving to the side. That way once you go in you need only briefly check the corners and then go to your position on the long hallway. Unless I have the setup wrong. Does anyone disagree with my thoughts?
 
i will once again beat my drum for defense in depth. Install passive measures to alert you of an intrude at your property perimeter. Harden your doors and windows. Exterior doors should be attached to reinforced frames.

Windows should be protected by landscaping. Holly bushes or some other thorny tough plant. In the desert we use a lot of cactus. I have used black berry bushes.

The windows themselves can be coated with a laminate similar to that used to tint car windows. The laminates will hold the glass in place should a BG attempt to break the window.

Motion detector lights above doors and windows will also deter the BGs. Audible alarms will also help deter the intruder.

these measures will allow you time to respond to the situation. You will not have to move to your position after the BG has kicked in the front door.
 
"IF" you have the time to react, grab your wife and run up to the top of the stairs. That way you have an advantage and also your family. Again this is a big IF, just like any other scenario.
 
Add my 2 cents to those suggesting a hardened perimeter, making access to the interior difficult enough that the dirtballs go to easier pickings. This includes keeping garage doors closed, tools, toys and bikes close to the house, etc..

Motion detecting light fixtures, deadbolts, and a simple and serious understanding and agreement of what happens when a bump in the night (or day) occurs, who does what, who does not do what....you get the picture.

And I think most of us struggle with the fact that even in daylight hours, in most of our neighborhoods things are no longer like they used to be, so at our house we try to keep doors locked at all times. In all honesty, we fall short of that more than we should.
 
This may not work for you, . . . but it used to be our in home tactic.

My only son had his bedroom upstairs, . . . stairs beginning on ground floor 6 feet from my bedroom door, . . . with the front door and foyer between the two.

My son was instructed to go to the farthest corner of his bed, . . . over by his night stand, . . . and hunker ON TOP of the bed, . . . his hand gun covering the door to his room. He would stay there until he got the ALL CLEAR from me.

Granted, he was a teenager when we moved in, . . . which helped. But at least I KNEW where he was, . . . and would not direct rounds into that direction.

We never needed to use the tactic, . . . and he is married and gone, . . . but at least we had a plan. I even thought of some extra bullet proofing under that corner of his bed just in case, . . . but I never figured out how to do it until it was too late, . . . he got married and moved on.

Depending on the ages of your children, . . . perhaps something like that could be a starting point, . . .

May God bless,
Dwight
 
I built a ranch style concrete bunker when I came home from the navy. I agree with many of the suggestions about looking the part of a hard target. Predatory criminals are like any other predator they want the reward with little risk and least amount of energy expended.

Dogs are the best alarm system very hard to bypass. Making it noisy to get into your home should be the first step. To get in my house you have to break something or many somethings. This takes time and makes noise and is likely to make the dogs very angry.

Fake cameras are cheap and make a good deterrence as well.
 
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