Mustachian Home Security?

[miss snow]

I live in an area that has seen a huge surge in home break-ins and burglaries. I find myself worrying about our house way too much when we're not there.  We already have an alarm system which has thwarted thieves once, plus we have dogs that are tiny but make big noise. I'm still terrified that someone is going to break a non-alarmed window and get in that way. Plus sometimes we deactivate the alarm in the basement studio when we have guests in our AirBNB.

My neighbor had some security window film put on his house and that kept would-be thieves out at least once. He paid $700 for a professional install...which seems steep. Anybody bought the kind that you do yourself? If so, does it look ok? Any other ideas on securing the house? Should I just relax?

[jeromedawg]

I live in an area that has seen a huge surge in home break-ins and burglaries. I find myself worrying about our house way too much when we're not there.  We already have an alarm system which has thwarted thieves once, plus we have dogs that are tiny but make big noise. I'm still terrified that someone is going to break a non-alarmed window and get in that way. Plus sometimes we deactivate the alarm in the basement studio when we have guests in our AirBNB.

My neighbor had some security window film put on his house and that kept would-be thieves out at least once. He paid $700 for a professional install...which seems steep. Anybody bought the kind that you do yourself? If so, does it look ok? Any other ideas on securing the house? Should I just relax?

That's definitely a viable concern. Do you have motion detectors? You outta consider investing in a couple. Is your alarm system modern? If so, they have wireless motion detectors that may work. It all depends on how new your alarm system is. If it's older it might be more of a challenge but could be doable as a DIY if you are able to run wires.

Otherwise, you could buy a couple of Foscams or make use of an existing webcam and set it up facing the window(s) your concerned about. And enable motion detection/recording on them to alert you (so you can call the cops if you see someone doing anything shady or breaking and entering). Not quite the same as audible alarms but doable. I think there are also standalone glass-break audible alarms and of course the standard standalone magnetic-break alarms that sound-off if a window pane is slide out of place. Not sure what the prices all are but I don't think they're unreasonably expensive especially if you install them yourself (which I don't imagine being all that difficult)

[miss snow]

We have motion detectors but the dogs have set them off when we aren't home so we usually deactivate those too. So...basically we end up deactivating a lot of what we pay for! I think a camera is a good call and I might just invest in the non breakable window film. Maybe with home security it's worth it just to spend more on quality since you'd end up paying your insurance deductible if something bad happened anyway??

[forummm]

If what you want is just noise to scare people away, you can get $20 motion detectors from WalMart. If you're worried about them actually taking something, I solve that by not having anything valuable enough to steal and have it set me back too much.

[jeromedawg]

We have motion detectors but the dogs have set them off when we aren't home so we usually deactivate those too. So...basically we end up deactivating a lot of what we pay for! I think a camera is a good call and I might just invest in the non breakable window film. Maybe with home security it's worth it just to spend more on quality since you'd end up paying your insurance deductible if something bad happened anyway??

Ahh, yea that's kind of a hard one with the motion detectors and dogs, unless you can keep them in a different part of the house where they won't set them off or something. Another thought is maybe to move the motion detectors into the specific area where the windows are but where the dogs may not be able to set off (if that make sense - e.g. a room that you can shut the door to but has a window that you might be concerned about). You may have to pay an electrician or contractor (or alarm specialist) to come out and do that but it might be worth while.
The camera would definitely be good to have but you do have to be careful about even those too in terms of hackers (like if you plan to make it accessible over the internet, which probably isn't the best idea unless you are familiar with how to further secure things that you make public from your network). The window film still sounds like a good idea though.

[SaintM]

Interstate Arms Black GA Defender

Suggested Retail Price: $209.00

[miss snow]

Thanks for the advice guys! Yeah, forummm, it's funny because we don't even care about our stuff so much as the thieves damaging the house and leaving ways for our furry kids to get out.

[Coonz]

Mustachian home security? You mean glaring out the window all day at passersby because you are retired and can do whatever you want? Yeah, that is free.