Thread: Security System in the shed

I think I would take your grandfathers's irreplaceable tools & leave them with a mate for safe keeping while you are away overseas. If you are already paying insurance premiums, why spend so much on alarms to protect a lot of gear which can be replaced? A good strong door & locks should be enough to deter the normal low life mongrels... but if someone is really determined to get in, they will.

Enjoy your trip, Col.

Mick

..........

Thank you all this is what I have decided to do

1 Get a house sitter in, the person is known to us

2 I am in the process of putting locks on all the windows

3 deadlocks on back door and shed

4 install security lights around shed

5 Put in dummy security systems Dick Smiths $24.00 includes stickers plus smoke alarm REAL

6 Take grandfathers tools out of shed and put in safe place with family

7 Go on holidays and not worry about anything including the Shed

I have gathered all of the above from all you fine people. Will be in contact as I travel about Australia maybe I might meet some of you great people in a men’s shed somewhere.
Colbra

You are more than welcome to call in here.

We might even give you a cuppa.

1 sugar and milk please !

Originally Posted by colbra

Thank you all this is what I have decided to do

1 Get a house sitter in, the person is known to us

2 I am in the process of putting locks on all the windows

3 deadlocks on back door and shed

4 install security lights around shed

5 Put in dummy security systems Dick Smiths $24.00 includes stickers plus smoke alarm REAL

6 Take grandfathers tools out of shed and put in safe place with family

7 Go on holidays and not worry about anything including the Shed

I have gathered all of the above from all you fine people. Will be in contact as I travel about Australia maybe I might meet some of you great people in a men’s shed somewhere.
Colbra

Enjoy your worry free sojourn............live, life is too short

My comments are just general as I am a current law enforcement officer with 30 years experience. I find that though my experience on average - properties are broken into about once in every 30 years and if you are in a neighbourhood watch area - that blows out to once in every 76 years. Most Break ins, the value of property taken is less then $2000 - mostly in cash and good quality jewelery. A lot of the time, thieves do not take power tools, mobile phones, tvs etc anymore as the serial numbers are traced through pawn brokers for ever and a day.

BUT - houses that get broken into usually get broken into all the time. Because they are between housing estates and pubs or railway stations, new estates are tasty areas for thieves, or they are in low economic areas. Lack of security, lack of dogs in the neighbourhood, lack of neighbours etc can all be contributing factors.

IF your house has not been broken into in the last 10 years - chances are it will never be broken into but basic security is still a must. Back to base alarms are a waste of money unless you have a big business with an instant response under 10 minutes. Most monitored alarms just ring though to a monitoring office that rings the police communications centre and 2 hours later, a police patrol attends. Most breakins are over in less then 8 minutes.

But nothing beats the basic common sense approach.

Pay your insurance (#1 tip here) and make sure you are 100% insured for the full replacement value of all your goodies/replacement value of your house & sheds
Install locks on your house/shed and use them if you are not home
Let neighbours know what is happening and get them to check regularly
Leave a key with a key holder - all police services have a way of recording this
If you need an alarm - make it a very loud audible alarm
Alarms can be motion sensor, glass break, infra red heat sensor etc
Put a blue flashing light out or a security camera - whether it works or not - it is a deterrent
Signs indicating security and that serial numbers are recorded.
Strong steel bars across any accessable windows and window locks or even a piece of dowel in the track of a sliding window
Cash and jewelery should be in a safe or a bank. Safes are cheap but make sure they are bolted down
Don't advertize there are valuables inside and limit view through windows
Fences and Dogs (even small dogs) are good security - Trees, bushes, hedges and hiding areas are the opposite unless they are Bouganvillia or prickly vines
Security is only as good as the weakest link - you can lock all the doors/windows etc but if someone really wants to get in and has the time to do so - they will get in. How many times I see crimesafe across windows that open and thieves smash the fixed window.

BUT worse then crime itself is the "fear of crime". There is a huge industry in security, products, alarms etc who are constantly in the media trying to convince you that crime is rampant - it is not. Most break and enters are open or unlocked houses/sheds, poor security premises or business premises. Rarely break ins occur when prople are home and when they do, they are usually sneak breaks. trying to steal wallets and handbags

Make an assessment of your security needs before you go and spend big $ on security. Often people spend to much on security without addressing the basics.

Cheers

Lawriet

Originally Posted by Lawriet

My comments are just general as I am a current law enforcement officer with 30 years experience. I find that though my experience on average - properties are broken into about once in every 30 years and if you are in a neighbourhood watch area - that blows out to once in every 76 years. Most Break ins, the value of property taken is less then $2000 - mostly in cash and good quality jewelery. A lot of the time, thieves do not take power tools, mobile phones, tvs etc anymore as the serial numbers are traced through pawn brokers for ever and a day.

BUT - houses that get broken into usually get broken into all the time. Because they are between housing estates and pubs or railway stations, new estates are tasty areas for thieves, or they are in low economic areas. Lack of security, lack of dogs in the neighbourhood, lack of neighbours etc can all be contributing factors.

IF your house has not been broken into in the last 10 years - chances are it will never be broken into but basic security is still a must. Back to base alarms are a waste of money unless you have a big business with an instant response under 10 minutes. Most monitored alarms just ring though to a monitoring office that rings the police communications centre and 2 hours later, a police patrol attends. Most breakins are over in less then 8 minutes.

But nothing beats the basic common sense approach.

Pay your insurance (#1 tip here) and make sure you are 100% insured for the full replacement value of all your goodies/replacement value of your house & sheds
Install locks on your house/shed and use them if you are not home
Let neighbours know what is happening and get them to check regularly
Leave a key with a key holder - all police services have a way of recording this
If you need an alarm - make it a very loud audible alarm
Alarms can be motion sensor, glass break, infra red heat sensor etc
Put a blue flashing light out or a security camera - whether it works or not - it is a deterrent
Signs indicating security and that serial numbers are recorded.
Strong steel bars across any accessable windows and window locks or even a piece of dowel in the track of a sliding window
Cash and jewelery should be in a safe or a bank. Safes are cheap but make sure they are bolted down
Don't advertize there are valuables inside and limit view through windows
Fences and Dogs (even small dogs) are good security - Trees, bushes, hedges and hiding areas are the opposite unless they are Bouganvillia or prickly vines
Security is only as good as the weakest link - you can lock all the doors/windows etc but if someone really wants to get in and has the time to do so - they will get in. How many times I see crimesafe across windows that open and thieves smash the fixed window.

BUT worse then crime itself is the "fear of crime". There is a huge industry in security, products, alarms etc who are constantly in the media trying to convince you that crime is rampant - it is not. Most break and enters are open or unlocked houses/sheds, poor security premises or business premises. Rarely break ins occur when prople are home and when they do, they are usually sneak breaks. trying to steal wallets and handbags

Make an assessment of your security needs before you go and spend big $ on security. Often people spend to much on security without addressing the basics.

Cheers

Lawriet

All of the above is good advice from the LEO.

At the end of the day, most sheds are desinged as lightweight steel structures, not impregnable bunkers. Anything you do not want stolen needs to be locked inside the shed in it's own self contained lockable area.

Anything you can do to make the entry harder is advisable, windows should have security grilles. Blinds covering windows to stop opportunistic people looking in is a must.

Many theives will simply take the sheets off a shed with a tek gun or screwdriver and tek bit, so lining the shed internally not only makes it look better, it gives some extra insurance if it is hardwood/corry. (Practice this speech before going up against the wife with this logic.)

Simple things like hasps/staples/padlocks can be enough to deter people.

Insurance- you should, with every renewal of insurance (home and contents) be providing a comprehensive record of unique/valuable contents via pictures to your insurer. Got a chisel worth $200, take a picture if you don't want a $6.50 replacement from Bunnings in your insurance payout.

As mentioned most theives are not master criminals, so simple precautions can drastically reduce the chance of theft.

Originally Posted by Lawriet

...If you need an alarm - make it a very loud audible alarm

I would also suggest the siren be inside the shed. Unless you know your neighbours well, and they know you're not at home, most people will ignore an alarm. But not many people can stand being inside an enclosed space with a 135dB siren.

Originally Posted by Lawriet

Don't advertize there are valuables inside and limit view through windows...

...Security is only as good as the weakest link - you can lock all the doors/windows etc but if someone really wants to get in and has the time to do so - they will get in. How many times I see crimesafe across windows that open and thieves smash the fixed window.

Bugger natural light. I specifically did not put windows in my shed for this particular reason. If they can't see it, they're not going to just break in for the sake of it.

Definately take pictures , and do the same in the house as well then store a copy of the disk with a friend/relo

If you have an alarm on the shed and house remember you will have to switch off the alarm before going ito the shed, if this is also where you park your car then when its raining you need a delay and a pad in the shed. The pads cost $'s

After instillation back to base is about $1 per day

If you are going to install a system think about a camera set up with the recorder well hidden , at least then you have pictures of the baddies to show the cops Dick smith have DIY set ups for $500-600 with infra red cameras and the last 5 or so weeks recorded .

Anything external , signs, alarm boxes etc all help keep the pros away

While you are away get a friend/neighbor to collect mail papers each day and to put your bins out on the right night. Baddies check where bins arn't out ( people are away- House empty ) or where bins are out till late afternoon ( both working- House empty)

Thank you all for your letters on the security situation I am going ahead with my 7 point plan although we go away quite often, this will be the longest we have been away 3 months.
In my immediate area I think there were four or five houses on the water front broken into over the last ten years, and my house has never been broken into but as Lawriet said The fear of crime is worse.
So I will stick to the seven point plan and get on with things.
Colbra

As someone with a business that has a lot of expensive tools, we can't afford not to have a good security system that is monitored and cameras that can record up to a month of data. You would be surprised how many opportunistic people will try and take stuff from your shed while you are just inside the house, if you are lucky enough to confront them " oh, isn't this where Kevin works?", or, " I just found this saw outside and was bringing it back to see if You had lost it"
Sounds farfetched but I have heard both these stories from businesses near mine.
Our digital recorder is hooked up to our internet connection. At any time I can look on my iPhone to see what is happening on any camera, which is great if an alarm goes off and I want to see if it is a false alarm. The only cost is the phone app, which was abut $5.00
Problem is the cameras have to be in an inaccessible location, we were broken into and two cameras were stolen!

Originally Posted by quercus

Problem is the cameras have to be in an inaccessible location, we were broken into and two cameras were stolen!

Ba$tards , You also have to have the hard drive recorder in a secure place