Do you lock internal house doors at night?

kowloon

I've an (atari) jaguar locked in my basement

Wouldn't dream of it here, what if I need to get to the kitchen in a hurry for night steak? Maybe it's different for people in more dangerous areas.

D1stant

Inbox wrote: »

What do the Gardai recommend we do?

Ge how ha de veheecle

Where To

Great thread to be reading when you're in bed hearing noises downstairs

Amalgam

Inbox wrote: »

What do the Gardai recommend we do?

Our local said not to bother, it just adds to the cost of any damage after the break in, as in, they're usually kicked in..

Piste

No I don't

We lock the kitchen, so if someone breaks in through the back they're confined to that room only.

mackg

No I don't

I voted yes by accident, I meant to vote no.

kowloon

I've an (atari) jaguar locked in my basement

Of all the polls to be a public poll.

OneArt

My flat's only got the one room so there isn't really much to lock. Although I'm glad I'm not on a ground floor apartment, I'd always be afraid that someone would come in.

My parents' house doesn't have any internal locks except for the bathrooms. When we moved in my dad asked the man selling it and he goes, "There's only locks on the privacy doors." Yeah, because bedrooms aren't meant to be private?

Milk & Honey

keelanj69 wrote: »

As opposed to locked external doors? Surely the principal and process is the same?

The principal is the same but external doors should be capable of opening by way of a thumb push from the inside and only need a key from the outside. That is not the case with internal doors. They key lock from both sides. In the event of fire the key may not be to hand if someone needs to rush through.

I lock several doors so if someone breaks in via the doors or windows in those rooms they can't get into the rest of the house, at least without making a lot of noise. If they want to steal my kettle and toaster have at it and then fcuk off.

If there's a fire I won't be going near those rooms anyway.

JohnMarston

I've an (atari) jaguar locked in my basement

I was over in Durban in South Africa two years back, and the family i was staying with had prison cell type doors internally. There was a high risk of armed intruders.
They hit a button and all these doors close at once and lock. Crazy.

Plumpynutt

I've an (atari) jaguar locked in my basement

Nope, and I also never put the alarm on while I'm in the house. Never understood that one

jmayo

seven_eleven wrote: »

I set the downstairs alarm sensors on at night. So if anything like a door or window opens, or something moves downstairs then my alarms blasts and wakes everyone up.

It get set off about once a year anyway due to things like spiders or cobwebs near the sensors. I imagine its enough to deter most robbers. I know at day time when Im away its not really, but at night with somebody upstairs and alert of their presence then they would be.

It is an idea to give you warning if breakin, but sorry to tell you the best deterent is a big bad dog, especially if it could be trained to target the nads.
Or like in the states the threat of having their fooking heads blown off.

Problem here is too many eejits are pro criminal human rights. :mad:

JohnMarston wrote: »

I was over in Durban in South Africa two years back, and the family i was staying with had prison cell type doors internally. There was a high risk of armed intruders.
They hit a button and all these doors close at once and lock. Crazy.

They have to do some mad sh** to protect themselves.
By all accounts personal security in that country has gone to the dogs every since it became democratic.

JohnMarston

I've an (atari) jaguar locked in my basement

jmayo wrote: »

They have to do some mad sh** to protect themselves.
By all accounts personal security in that country has gone to the dogs every since it became democratic.

In Johannesberg, where i was picked up, they didnt stop at traffic lights if there was no one crossing in case of car jackers. There was a desert eagle in the glove compartment in the car, and a .45 under the drivers seat.

bruschi

I've an (atari) jaguar locked in my basement

think its mad the amount of people who lock internal doors, "sure if they break in, they dont have access to the rest of the house". Great logic there. They just broke in through your external doors, why would you think that an internal door is harder to get through? Internal doors will generally give with one hard shoulder, never mind even trying to pick locks or anything. Those who lock internal doors, do they have alarms in their house? Alarm would surely set off once they get through the external door.

sbsquarepants

I've an (atari) jaguar locked in my basement

None of my internal doors even have locks, but even if they did i wouldn't bother locking them anyway.

seamus

I can understand the "impeding progress" point of view so long as it makes sense. The in-laws in their old house, for example, had their kitchen and back door where it could basically be locked off from the rest of the house by locking two doors (not intentionally, just the layout of the house). The rationale was that the backdoor was uPVC and so could be easily crowbar'd. But the two locked internal doors would delay them if nothing else. When thieves want to get in and out as quickly as possible, then such obstacles can be useful.
The path from the bedrooms to the front door wasn't affected by locking these doors.

The one time they were broken in though, the guy came in through the front door. D'oh!

None of our internal doors have locks and I wouldn't fit them tbh. Though a locksmith neighbour explained to us how easily the lock on our door could be broken (along the lines of the video above :eek: ) and has been broken on a number of houses in our estate, so we had him fit an anti-theft barrel as well as a latch on the front door.

TwoShedsJackson

starfish90 wrote: »

Ah crap that was a good point. I do have a good tough patch of grass outside my bedroom window though for a softish landing if it does occur.

Lock your internal doors to deter burglars and just leave a ladder outside your bedroom window so you won't have to jump.

ronan45

I've an (atari) jaguar locked in my basement

My parents used to lock every single internal door in the house if they were going on holidays. They were your standard crappy internal doors. During one holiday when they came home they discovered the place had been broken into and every single door had been kicked in.
Doors Frames Handles, ALL had to be replaced cost them a bomb.
If I was in the house and some thief got in I would prefer to hear him banging at my bedroom door then standing over me. At least then i can get a few precious minutes to hide in my under pants hamper:rolleyes:

I've an (atari) jaguar locked in my basement

Never heard such nonsense as locking internal doors. My house mate locks his door when he is in bed and doesn't even close his door during the day. HE then has to lock and unlock the door several times a night to go to the toilet, get a drink etc pure stupid.

The door of my room stays closed at all times even during the day and I do lock it when I head home for the weekend but that's to stop friends of house mates sleeping in my bed if they stay over at the weekend.

Never had an alarm in a house either.

pickarooney

I just activate the Punji stick traps.

Teyla Emmagan

I've an (atari) jaguar locked in my basement

I don't even put on the alarm before going to bed. I have a chubb, two bolts and a key lock on the front door though, there is no way anyone could get through it without waking me. The back door can only be reached by scaling a 12 foot wall and none of the downstairs windows are accessible. And I can hit the panic button thing from bed.

I know it would be horrific to be broken into, but I don't want to live a life of terror in my own home either. So I am relaxed-ish about it.

bruschi

bruschi wrote: »

Great logic there. They just broke in through your external doors, why would you think that an internal door is harder to get through?

We're talking about breaking in at night. In this case burglars want to get in and out quickly and quietly.

Your back door often has several major weaknesses that allow someone to get in without making a sound. Some without tripping the alarm.

Ironically your internal doors with a basic chubb-type lock doesnt have these weaknesses. If you want to open it you'll be using the brute force approach, and depending on the direction it opens it can be quite awkward. A burglar who doesnt want to wake you up is just going to go on to the next house.

Yeah if you're not in the house its a different story.

Queen-Mise

seamus wrote: »

None of our internal doors have locks and I wouldn't fit them tbh. Though a locksmith neighbour explained to us how easily the lock on our door could be broken (along the lines of the video above :eek: ) and has been broken on a number of houses in our estate, so we had him fit an anti-theft barrel as well as a latch on the front door.

What is this? Did you think it is an actually would be a deterrent or a hindrance to entering a house?


EDIT: I never lock the internal doors - none of them have locks even if I wanted too. Sometimes I don't even lock the external doors either, doh... I live in the middle of a slightly dodgy estate, so you think I would know better. Although I think the biggest deterrent to burglars where I am are my neighbours - they are a dodgier version of the Dingles from Emmerdale - but they have installed cameras everywhere, nobody can come anywhere down around the bottom of the street without being recorded & watched. The cameras pan across the front & more importantly the side of our house. Nobody can get behind our house without being on camera at the moment. So I suppose they are benefits to living opposite the Dingles

Cryogen

only when leaving the house

Boombastic

I've an (atari) jaguar locked in my basement

Thursday afternoon is the most likely time you will be robbed.

bruschi

I've an (atari) jaguar locked in my basement

Deleted User wrote: »

We're talking about breaking in at night. In this case burglars want to get in and out quickly and quietly.

Your back door often has several major weaknesses that allow someone to get in without making a sound. Some without tripping the alarm.

Ironically your internal doors with a basic chubb-type lock doesnt have these weaknesses. If you want to open it you'll be using the brute force approach, and depending on the direction it opens it can be quite awkward. A burglar who doesnt want to wake you up is just going to go on to the next house.

Yeah if you're not in the house its a different story.

my locked back door would be far more secure than my locked internal door, and it can not be opened without the alarm going off if it is set. locking internal doors is just paranoia that could cause trouble in a fire.

seamus

Queen-Mise wrote: »

What is this? Did you think it is an actually would be a deterrent or a hindrance to entering a house?

Deterrent, no. Hindrance, yes.

As the video above shows, it's a fairly simple process to bypass the barrel locks. They have a weak point in the centre, so a good bang with a hammer and the barrel snaps in half. Then you remove the barrel and use the screwdriver to turn the locking mechanism. 15 seconds and you're in.

The anti-theft barrel has a weak point intentionally built in off-centre. If they use this attack, the weak point snaps off the lock, but the rest of the barrel remains inside the door, where it's immune to this attack. The burglar then has to try some other attack which is likely to be noisier and longer.

http://www.abs-secure.co.uk/snap1.asp

harr

No I don't

I lock the down stairs internal doors and have an alarm on at night and when leaving the house,we did get broken into before and the internal door stopped them getting any where else in the house they did give the door a few kicks but were unable to get through.
I do have a neighbour who has no alarm and he was broken into before and they tore down all the internal doors.
So locking them with alarm on will slow them down but no point with no alarm on.

ultra_other

I've an (atari) jaguar locked in my basement

Never lock them, only time in my parents house the internal door was locked was on Christmas eve, so Santa could deliver his presents in peace , opened again on Christmas morning.

Discostuy

Nope. I have 2 big ass Akitas who sleep downstairs, so they wouldn't be letting anyone by in a hurry. They can also open doors themselves, so I'd send them in first if something needs investigating haha!

OnTheCounter

Yes but only because I live with a nutcase and when he eventually goes for me I want to be awake and on my feet.

JustAThought

I've an (atari) jaguar locked in my basement

My parents always do: drove me mad; particularly the phobia about the back door .
Two months ago sitting in a deckchair in my back garden - terraced house - looked up to see a burglar squatting on the roof of my shed behind the tree. I ran into the house and locked him out in the garden. Went upstairs to get a Phone , ring the gaurds & take a photo & by the time I had gone upstairs the ****** had crawled off down the fence out of sight or jumped into someone elses garden. Now I always lock the back door; never did before.

bTW when I rang the gaurds they refused to send a car: at the time the guy was still sitting on the roof of my shed trying to look inconspicuous . UN-f'ing believable.

I used to close my internal doors downstairs ( but not lock) - my neighbours house was destroyed in a fire : fireguys said that had the doors been closed she would have still had most of her house : she nearly died having to almost jump from a third floor inferno. Now with the police not arsed to show up WHILE an intruder is on the house, I leave the interior downstairs doors open : so the dog can devour them before they get a chance to Get upstairs & bash my brains in with a hammer/golfclubs/tools of choice.

I do close the upstairs doors . I now like the idea of locking the upstairs doors to keep the burglars out; but what if they come in the window; then I'd be locked IN with them :0
Better to keep them guessing to which room is being used & have a chance with the firemen being able to get to rescue me!!!!

Officially; I think fireguys like the doors shut but not locked, gaurds want the doors locked & the keys hid; and the burglars want the doors left open or unlocked.

Aaaaah. And to think we used to go on holidays & leave all out stuff in a tent & sleep alongside strangers in a field!!!

Dockington

I've an (atari) jaguar locked in my basement

No i dont...but i have set up an intricate system that, once activated by an intruder, blasts me with piss; waking me while leaving me angry and refreshed enough to tackle the intruder.