Tactical apartment tips?

[Wedge]

I live in a pretty good neighborhood, not great but not bad either.

I have a deadbolt in the door, wood dowels in the window tracks (they are sliding windows popular in apartment buildings), and a wood board in the sliding glass door.

Apartment is on the second floor. There is a deck that is outside the sliding glass door that would be easy enough to climb up. There is a couch in front of the sliding glass door, about 3 feet away so we can use the deck and have some decorations, accent tables over on that corner of the room.

12 gauge kept under bed, loaded with no. 8 shot target loads. The building is all drywall and wood. Yes we have a smoke detector and a fire extinguisher.

No pets allowed.

Any other suggestions for the place? I don't plan on living here much longer than another 10 months. Anything that we do to the house has to be easily reversible, cheap and not clash with our current decor (so no razor wire sitting in front of the glass door)...

 

[JamisJockey]

IMHO, alot of the stories we hear are about badguys being let in when an occupant opens the door to 'see whos there'. I didn't see mention of a peephole...every external door should have a peephole. If you have any blindspots, mount a small mirror where its visibile from the peephole or a window and covers the blindspot.
Do you have a swingbar? This allows you to slightly open the door to view ID without letting the visitor in. Chains are worthless, as they can be broken with a simple shove (although the swingbar is only a little tougher)

Remove the screws that hold the hinges and deadbolt strikeplate in place and replace with longer screws.
Wireless window alarm for the sliding window.
Safety tips:
Never allow anyone you don't know in without (such as service people) in without an appointment and/or verifying ID. Ask to see company ID.
Never trust a "plainclothes" police officer (call 911 and verify that they are there on official duty, and ask for a uniformed officer to be sent)
Immediately replace burnt out porchlights.

Wood window dowel/board tip:
Hammer a large nail at each end, sticking up from the dowel (not into the end itself, but into the long section). This makes removing or installing them in a hurry or in the dark easier.

On a somewhat related note, do you have aneascape Ladder?
Thiers are a bit pricey...IIRC I paid $30 or so for mine when I lived in a twostory, from WalMart I think.

 

[Wedge]

Yes, I have a peephole in my door. Door is metal. Kinda forgot to mention it, but I use it all the time. Building has an external "secure door" (it is just glass) and an intercom/switch to let people into the building (that I also use). I have a chain that I put on the door with the deadbolt. Mostly just because it is there. I figure a little extra noise would be a good thing if someone was busting down my front door.

The livingroom (deck is off the living room) and dining room both face the courtyard where the building entrance is so you can generally see who is coming and go to the building.

I recognize all of the service people for the complex.

That is a great idea for the door bars. Also about replacing the hinge and strikeplate screws. I think I have found myself a project for the day.

I may be on the second floor but my windows are only about 8 feet up so my wife and I figured we would just jump out if we had to. All soft grass below our window beroom window.

 

[Wedge]

Just replaced front door screws. Man were the stock ones ever little. I hope 1 5/8" drywall screws are okay, that is what I had. The screws I pulled out were little...3/4"

 

[Ktulu]

My biggest concern when I lived in an apartment complex was when going from the car to the building's outer door and from the outer door to my apartment door and vice versa. The apartment itself was fairly secure.

Someone could easily lay in wait inside the door to the building or in the bushes. Even though the outer door was locked it sometimes wouldn't latch or you could easily get someone to let you in.

Awareness was my greatest weapon.

 

[Wedge]

I mostly fear B&E and burglary. Both of which are very uncommon where I live. Generally the worst thing that goes down is petty larcency because someone left a purse in the car.

We have a pretty good line of sight from the parking lot to the apartment building and from the front building to our door. Not a lot of spots to hide, and those spots that are good to hide are not good for trying to attack someone.

Ktulu, I agree wholeheartedly that coming and going is the most dangerous time though. When I lived in Lynn, MA I tried to come and go only during the day and park as close to my building (a triple decker of course) as I could.

 

[JamisJockey]

Size does matter!

I hope 1 5/8" drywall screws are okay, that is what I had. The screws I pulled out were little...3/4"

Which could easily offer a kick or two more difference when someone is trying to take the door down. those longer screws are probably through the weak frame and into the supporting 2x4's...which are pretty damn sturdy.

 

[Diggler]

Drywall screws are BRITTLE.

I would use something tougher.

 

[Wedge]

To the hardware store today then...

 

[Diggler]

Yeah, the person who installed the door between my garage and house used drywall screws and after a while, slamming the door broke the screws.

 

[Wedge]

Diggler, on your suggestion I replaced the drywall screws with #12 screws, 2.5" in length. They are pretty beefy.

 

[Diggler]

That oughta' do it.

:banghead:

Nope, didn't break.



I was kind of suprised when I found out how fragile drywall screws are. It's too bad, because they're the easiest ones to screw in without a pilot hole!

 

[Wedge]

Yes they are. Fortunately there were already holes from the previous screws there. I wanted to make sure I went bigger all around so that the screws would have something to bite into. I was glad I had a big drill they weren't exactly easy to go in.

I could have probably done a nicer job by making the hinges able to accept the larger screw better and everything but since this is an apartment I really don't care. Heck, I am probably going to take my screws with me when I move! OK maybe not. At least if a college girl moves in here after me the place will be a little safer with the dowels and screws...

 

[raz-0]

You mentioned having a baord in the sliding glass door, but nothing about having it pinned.

The board is only minor help, because even in place you can lift the door out of it's tracks. You should be able to dig up a pin kit at the locak hardware store. It's just a drilled hole with a chained on pin that you can pop in and out of the door.

My complex sounds fairly similar to yours in neighborhood. Not really bad, but not terribly good either. Pretty much every robbery we have had has been from one of two reasons (in order of popularity)

1) not pinning the sliding door

2) not using the deadbolt.

other basics that seem to help are keeping your private space private. don't advertise what you have. When you put out packing boxes for recycling or garbage, make sure they are cut up and have identifying information removed. Preferably bundle them with product identifying marks not visible.

Know your neighbors, but don't go inviting folks into your house before you ahve a good idea what habits they have (like recreational drug use, gambling, etc). Most of the crime will be property crime, and most of it seems to revolve around giving people with the above problems some degree of access to your home and onformation about it.

 

[Wedge]

Raz-0. The door isn't pinned, I have never heard of a pin kit. However, the door cannot be lifted out of its tracks. I just use a couple of screws in the top track and you can't lift it out. First thing I did when I moved in and pretty much forgot about it...

other basics that seem to help are keeping your private space private

I think that this is the hardest part about living in an apartment complex. My wife and I are slowly wearing out our shredder. I throw out boxes of expensive things on garbage day so they won't sit around and try to do it when no one is around.

Having people around 24/7 is the main reason I got a handgun. I hated trying to hide a shotgun or rifle going in and out of the building. With the handgun no one has any clue and I don't need to worry about everyone and their brother knowing that the guy in apartment 123 has a weapons cache (okay it is a pretty lame cache of 4 guns but I am proud of it).

 

[bogie]

I'd consider adding some film to the windows. It won't make things bulletproof, but it _can_ slow down someone trying to brick their way through.

Window boxes with cactus/roses tends to make folks look for easier targets.