Site Security

krissovo

Hey All,

My build is getting close to completion and last night around midnight someone tried to gain access. Luckily a friend was in area (going home from pub) and warned me so I drive over and chased the people away. Some other undesirables have also started to dump their bulk rubbish on site so it would be nice to prevent further incidents.

Has anyone got any ideas for security? There is no power on site yet so I am considering solar PIR lights. I am also thinking of rigging up some form CCTV, possibly a web cam and laptop powered by a car battery. Anyone have any other ideas?

gman2k

krissovo wrote: »

Hey All,

My build is getting close to completion and last night around midnight someone tried to gain access. Luckily a friend was in area (going home from pub) and warned me so I drive over and chased the people away. Some other undesirables have also started to dump their bulk rubbish on site so it would be nice to prevent further incidents.

Has anyone got any ideas for security? There is no power on site yet so I am considering solar PIR lights. I am also thinking of rigging up some form CCTV, possibly a web cam and laptop powered by a car battery. Anyone have any other ideas?

Get a camp bed and move in!
That's what I did.

mendel

Get a guard......or borrow one??

mendel

that was meant to be guard DOG!!!

muffler

mendel wrote: »

that was meant to be guard DOG!!!

The missus


Seriously though a dog would be the ideal solution or if you wanted to spend a bit of money then there are loads of security firms out there who will keep an eye on it.

goat2

krissovo wrote: »

Hey All,

My build is getting close to completion and last night around midnight someone tried to gain access. Luckily a friend was in area (going home from pub) and warned me so I drive over and chased the people away. Some other undesirables have also started to dump their bulk rubbish on site so it would be nice to prevent further incidents.

Has anyone got any ideas for security? There is no power on site yet so I am considering solar PIR lights. I am also thinking of rigging up some form CCTV, possibly a web cam and laptop powered by a car battery. Anyone have any other ideas?

what distance is it from your present address

westisbest

We're having similar problems at the moment krissovo, like you we have no power at the moment but are looking to get alarm fitted asap so once we have power it will be the first thing to go in.

I don't really know what else we can do, we're on a pretty busy road with padlocked entrance to the site and other family houses next door but we've still had supplies taken and another attempted break-in. Some of the items taken from our site were large/heavy items so either they took the time to pass large amounts of stuff over the gate (lock was not tampered with) or they did it in broad daylight when tradesmen were supposedly on site.

I don't know what answers there are to it to be honest, if you find any then please let us know, these type of people are likely to find a way no matter what. One thing though when you get your kitchen electrical items delivered try to stay on site that night or get them delievered at last possible moment.

krissovo

goat2 wrote: »

what distance is it from your present address

Its about half a mile away, I am renting in a village and the site is out in the sticks.

I have talked to a security patrol but they only guarantee one visit every 4 hours so its a expensive option with zero fall back if the home is broken into.

I may decide to "Move In" for a few nights a week to show a presence and add a few deterrents like a dog alarm or a light that looks like a TV switched on. That along with PIR solar lights should help.

goat2

krissovo wrote: »

Its about half a mile away, I am renting in a village and the site is out in the sticks.

I have talked to a security patrol but they only guarantee one visit every 4 hours so its a expensive option with zero fall back if the home is broken into.

I may decide to "Move In" for a few nights a week to show a presence and add a few deterrents like a dog alarm or a light that looks like a TV switched on. That along with PIR solar lights should help.

could you put up dummy alarm system that they see, once the garda know, maybe they would go down that road now and then, just be seen around

Wally Runs

We had a break in during the final phase of our build. All the bathroom fittings taken. On investigation it looked as if they had visited a few times before to get the lie of the land. Gardai while understanding could not help.

The best advice we got (after the event) was to make sure all tools, ladders and anything that could be used to gain entry were secure, check the property at night, leave nothing of value without it being fixed down. Get the alarm in ASAP (and power too).

The Gardai also told us we were lucky that the place was not trashed to boot out of pure meaness.

Best of luck.

gman2k

I know of a local guy doing a self build, and he was plagued initially with thefts from his site - including theft of most of his scaffolding.
He was greatly suspicious of his very near neighbour, as there was bad blood there due to the build.
He installed a battery powered (via solar I think) CCTV remote monitored system, and (most importantly) proper signs indicating the use of the CCTV.
Since then, his theft problems have gone away.

mfceiling

I recently drylined a large new build house for a garda.
Went in 2 days into the job to find 2 pallets of insulated plasterboard gone!!
I hoped he wouldn't think it was me or one of my lads but the large tyre tracks down the front "lawn" gave it away.
He only lives a minute walk from the new build and had driven past it at 3.30 that morning in the squad car.

Another house i was recently putting in a suspended ceiling and i noticed a blue hi-ace going past rather slowly a few times. The next day the girl who owned the house told me all the plumbers copper was taken plus an old copper tank from a derelict house at the bottom of her site!!

If it's not screwed down take it home with you or at least hide it if possible.

cork2

the one ive seen alot lately is heating oil being stolen from new builds. alot of the bulk tanks are plastic. all they do is drill a hole in the base of a tank and drain it into drums.

tred

krissovo wrote: »

Hey All,

My build is getting close to completion and last night around midnight someone tried to gain access. Luckily a friend was in area (going home from pub) and warned me so I drive over and chased the people away. Some other undesirables have also started to dump their bulk rubbish on site so it would be nice to prevent further incidents.

Has anyone got any ideas for security? There is no power on site yet so I am considering solar PIR lights. I am also thinking of rigging up some form CCTV, possibly a web cam and laptop powered by a car battery. Anyone have any other ideas?

Have you any security fencing around front of site ??. Yeah it wont stop them breaking in, but it makes things trickier....

muffler

How about an electric fence - same type as the farmers use - battery operated..

Leadership

The site is not fenced off as such but there is only once access from the road. The road side is a 100+ year old wall that is over grown with thick brambles with a access driveway and then typical farm fence. The remaining three sides is just "stock proof" fence.

I will look into tempoary fencing and see how much it will cost for 5 weeks or so.

ninjaBob

Our house was vandalised during the course of the build and we had plenty of materials go missing (and tradesmen ). Now that we have skips onsite we have people dumping their rubbish into them as well as having a harmless nose around.

We put up a wall & gate and electric fences around our site boundary.

Put CCTV cameras high up and in visible locations you could also put up signs. I also put them in less visible locations. They are connected into a laptop which is tucked away nicely inside the house and stores everything on HD's. I can remote into the laptop and monitor whats going on.

I have connected another motion sensor to the laptop which sends me an email if it gets triggered (pain in the ass during the day but great for when I know nobody should be there).

I make it my business to drive by there at random hours of the day, family members also help with this.


Other ideas that I have toyed with

1. Park the second car outside the house at night (alternate the cars from time to time and move it's position as well)
2. Hook up 2 timers to the sockets inside
3. Have lights connected and come on / off during the night.

Finally watch Burn Notice for spy tips

Leadership

I thought about parking my spar car onsite but I could just end up getting that stolen as well. :-(

Love the idea with the laptop, I may do something similar using a car battery to charge it.

gman2k

muffler wrote: »

How about an electric fence - same type as the farmers use - battery operated..

But you would need to be able to get in yourself - wait, thieves use the same way to get in - FAIL;)

liveandnetural

go the cctv route you can run it off solar panel or a large truck battery witch you charge up every week or two.if you get your phone line in and broadband connected you can have they site remote monitred from a central station its the system used on garge fourcourts at night.i put in when i was building because my house is remote of the main road and it stoped two break inns living in the house now but travel away good bit still pay the 7 euro a week for monitering

4 cameras and dvr in maplin 800
amp speakers and mic 350
cabling and instlation 250
broadband 150 plus line rental and 7euro a week monitering


if all else fails buy a dog a big dog and tie him up on a big chain so he can get all around the site best value at about 200euro aldi dog food 40cent a can:)

gman2k

liveandnetural wrote: »

if all else fails buy a dog a big dog and tie him up on a big chain so he can get all around the site best value at about 200euro aldi dog food 40cent a can:)

Those that steal a lot - i.e. it's all they do for a living - are not afraid of dogs, and will either steal a dog or just whack it over the head with a nailbar, which they will then use to break into your abode.
Besides, it's cruel to chain up a dog.

I know it's been said before, but there would be a lot less robberies from sites/houses if people would stop buying stuff from these vermin. So next time someone arrives unannounced onto your site offering to sell you used tools, please refer them back to the main road. same applies to used tools at many of the car boot sales.