Thread: How would you prevent this?

Hmm ... this takes some thought
If it's an old house I'd be putting up a sign near the trap door warning people to wear protective gear as the house has previously been sprayed with DDT insecticide or has asbestos insulation.
If it's a new house a few rat traps in the first few metres of the trap door should slow the progress down especially if the second and third ones are just under a layer of "dust"

Originally Posted by Tiger

The current door is made of wood and did have a padbolt and padlock but it clearly wasn't much protection. I suspect that there isn't an easy way to build such a door but I am determined that this doesn't happen again.

The cheap'n'easy way out is to replace the padlock with one that has "wings" up the sides... specifically designed to foil bolt-cutters.

If the bolt itself was cut, it should be a basic metal-work exercise to make a latch that bolts on the inside face of the door, with the handle protruding thru a cutout so it can be used/locked. You'd probably have to add another stretcher or two across the back of the existing door to beef it up for such a mod, but that's nothing compared to the price of building a whole new one from scratch.

How about bricking up the entrance, and have a trap door in the floor inside the home.


To Eddie Jones, I dont think your suggestion of confiscation would be a good idea, the little darlings would go out and replace their lost possessions.

rat traps! .... naw - try possum traps - better still - bear traps

This setup makes it a pita to access with bolt cutters. Thats why it's not in place.... lost keys so had to remove it from the inside.

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I'm sure someone with a criminal mind could still gain access, but would make lots of noise doing so.

The pics make it look huge. but in reality it's hard to even get the key inside for opening.... great for doors that are not used often.

HJ0 - One day it will go back on.

Why not put it back together with a puny little lock on it.
And a concealed delay alarm setup.

So that the crims are right under the house when a really loud alarm goes off. (a webcam would be an interesting option)

It would probably end up being a sore head escape as they rush outa there

And an audio recording

"Put the dogs in"

Just on the Adel news tonight, they took copper pipe from a heating system for a very large chook shed... every bird is dead from exposure!

make it out of steel and use padlock with a 7 rating and hidden shaft to minimise cutting of lock. get some of those little alarms fitted as well that should slow the barsteds down:mad:

If you have a way to get into the crawlspace from inside the house, cut a 2x4 that will fit from side-to-side of the opening. Close the door, drill 2 holes for carriage bolts through the door and 2x4 and bolt them together. Unless the cut the door or drill out the boltheads, it won't open.

2d idea would be to dig out a little right inside the door, put down some thin plywood and put the dirt right back on. In that, mix some broken glass and rusty nails and wait for an intruder. The reason for the ply is so you can remove it easily in the future.

Crappy dealing with thieves. Too bad they couldn't have happen to them like a thief here a while back. Stealing wire and hit a hot one: electicuted himself.

Paul

We have trouble with thieves going into electricity substations and stealing the safety earthing cable sets. These cables are about twice the thickness of good quality industrial welding leads and quite a few metres in length. The dic*heads enter into the sub surround by voltage which will literally blow your arms and legs off to steal this stuff. If only a few of them would end up black and crispy it might slow some of them down. I also suspect that many occassions are actually committed by electrical workers :mad: :mad: :mad: These days we are now surrounding the substation with razor wire to reduce the number of unauthorised entries.

I have also seen photos of theives in europe hanging from high voltage poles all black and crispy when trying to steal wire from the pole itself whilst still live. They use rubber gloves to steal low voltage (415v) cables which the gloves are OK for. They then progress to maybe a higher voltage say 3kv where the gloves might still work due to factor of safety. Lastly they think they will get away with any wire and the high voltage is the biggest lump of copper around. Oh Well RIP

Electricity takes no prisoners

Thanks, guys for your thoughts, you've given me some ideas which I'm going to put into place very soon.

Bunnies sell a padlock that is rated at a security level of 7. That is their strongest padlock, might go with that, although if I can find the "Skew" model with the wings that would be better.

I really hope that this doesn't happen to any of you. Imagine coming home to find water gushing out from under the house, then having to turn the mains off and not being able to use the toilet etc until a plumber can get there and then handing you a bill for $1000 because it will take a day to do the job. It's also disconcerting knowing that these bastards will probably be coming back.

Originally Posted by jow104

How about bricking up the entrance, and have a trap door in the floor inside the home.


To Eddie Jones, I dont think your suggestion of confiscation would be a good idea, the little darlings would go out and replace their lost possessions.

I think not. Not if the second offence brought mandatory 2 years in the big house.

To Eddie Jones,

Things must be different down there. In the UK prisons are so full they are having to release prisoners earlier again:mad: and trying not to put any more in unless they beg for it.

Perhaps we should return to the old system