My shop was broken into over the weekend. So now I'm looking into some sort of security system. My shop is pretty small, six doors and windows total. I'd just like a system that can call my cell and tell me something is up, I live less than a mile away. Anyone have any pointers for a DIY system? Is it really worth it?

I may just board up the windows as that will be pretty cheap, maybe some expanded metal.

<rant>

I don't understand people. This is what they stole:
3 aluminum motorcycle rims
1 laptop for RS232 coms (read old POS)
Some cash I had in a desk drawer.
A bag of Life Savers mints (we found it in the street a block over, I guess they didn't like the flavor)
1 trash can full of aluminum cans.

I mean what the hell. The biggest PITA is putting together another PC for RS232 coms oh and making a new cable (that will probably take the longest, have to look that up again.) I'm glad that my losses are minimal. My biggest loss was probably my lost production over the weekend after dealing with the cops and working on a new PC. It just really pisses me the F* off.

</rant>

Tim

The Al cans is the dead giveaway, it was a vagrant, likely looking for stuff to buy drugs. Anything they could scrap or pawn for a few bucks is all they cared. Where's the next $20 fix coming from? I can assure you they weren't looking for food money.

Security is only as good as the monitoring. If you aren't at your house, then when you "get the call" who's going to answer it? Save yourself the headache and get a subsidized alarm system with monitoring, thay way the cops show up and take care of it.

Don't know what to tell you about a security system. Have one now that calls the cops if anything is amiss. Occasional disgruntled cops when alarm detects a bird or something that came in and hid out till after closing. Course we still get called and have to come out and let them in to determine of it is a bird, so we get rousted too. The main thing about a system like this is the police's attitude about responding to it, and that will be affected a lot by these "error" calls, and a lot by the officers inherent attitude regarding alarms and what his job is. Sorry I can't predict any better but there are just too many variables.

Worked in a shop once that was broken into. They took a couple of "girlie" mags out of the bosses desk, and a little change from the desk. That was it! I guess they couldn't find the light switch and had better sense than go wandering around in there in the dark. Talk about a minefield! Break your leg and lay there till sun came up, and this shop had NO windows. NONE! Dark as a tomb at night. Couldv'e cleaned up on three well stocked tool boxes, but they didn't touch em. Unbelievable.

Tim, a buddy of mine bought a do-it-yourself alarm for his house off of ebay for relatively cheap. It's a pretty nice unit, and even has a key fob like a car alarm, so you don't even have to enter the code when you come and go.

I have a security system at my shop, since this industrial area has had a rash of smash and go burglaries of late. I asked the monitoring company how long it the alarm goes off before they notify me and the cops, and they said FOUR MINUTES, then it takes another 1-5 hours for the cops to actually show! In four minutes, they could smash in the front door, steal 5 shop computers, hop on the forklift, and cruise off on their merry way.

That is where the do it yourself system beats the expensive "professional" system. You can set it up to call your cell phone the INSTANT the alarm is triggered. I only live 3 miles from my shop, and I could probably get here in about 2 minutes at 4am if I really needed to.

I'd like to find a simple buzzer or alarm to tell me if a door has been opened in my shop. My shop is 100 ft behind my house. I know this won't work if I'm not at home, but sadly I never leave home (too busy in the shop). I would just like a little security when my head hits the pillow at night. It will give my enough time to let out the dog and grab and load the shotgun.

I know about the PITA factor. We had a trailer broken into...thankfully the thief left all the things in the bomb proof crates I built, but took extension cords, the bottle jack for the trailer and some other small stuff....The trailer is now empty and unlocked... But i guess that's a little hard to do at a shop.

Tim - sorry to hear about the break-in. If you need a new POS DOS laptop with serial port, let me know.

How about a shop dog?

If you show up with a robber inside the building, what are you going to do? Can you hold him at gun-point until the cops show up?

I keep a couple of loaded guns in my house. If I'm there, and there is trouble, I'll go and confront it. But otherwise, I would just as soon find my shop or my house broken into, after the fact, when I am awake and my heart isn't pumping 200 beats per minute. I make better decisions then.

-Jim

After my business was broken into twice in two weeks I got some hints from both tha alarm company and the cops; some of them may not apply to small one man shops.

Cover all the windows with the plastic film that prevents them being smashed open.

Lock all intervening doors between offices and workshops.

Have a hidden main switch for lights; bad guys don't like stumbling around in the dark.

Have keylocks on the inside of all exit doors so they cannot be opened from the inside. Often the first thing a guy does after breaking in is open two or three exit routes, if they can only get out the way they came in the are likely to give up. (Remember to unlock all the doors during work hours for fire safety.)

we built a custom alarm at my brothers shop after we were broken into and suffered a major loss. the alarm did several things. it called my brothers pager, it turned off all the lighting circuits in the shop via a contactor, it turned on a buzzer in the building the same kind that they use in high schools for basket ball games an such. it was surplus and very loud. the control panel for the alarm was put in a high location which was only reachable via a ladder or man lift to prevent disabling of the alarm. the panel was given its own phone line that was routed directly from the pole to the high part of the shop where the panel was located to prevent cutting of the phone line. we used special at the time high end motions that were all weather capable and had long ranges.

all the man doors interior and exterior were outfitted with high end pad locks and various bars to prevent them from being opened in the case that they made it in. your never going to stop some one that really knows their stuff or wants to break in. all the measures are to slow them down and limit losses. the locks on all the doors are to make it hard for them to get the stuff out the door easily. it was a bit of a chore to open up the shop every time you came in but it was much easier than dealing with the insurance company, and repurchasing all the tools and equipment.

we had help selecting the alarm components as my friend had worked for one of the large local alarm companies. it is doable but you need to do your research and it might help to find a person that knows the alarm stuff to consult with you on the side. we knew better than to bother getting monitoring. everyone in the alarm business and most of the savy people around here know that monitoring is a joke. the alarm goes off for some time then they try to call to make sure it is not a false alarm, then they call the cops. that is the fast part of the equation and takes 10-15 minutes. then there are the cops depending on the cop and the city, but in general they rather write a report after the thief has left than encounter said thief.

all the good thieves know the time line and make sure they are in and out in a short amount of time. in our case they drove though the overhead door with a truck, loaded up the tool boxes, some computers, and were gone. i would guess they were done in 10 minutes or less. this driving though the door is why you see all those cool ram bars and gates in the cities the other option is to back your spare truck against the door at night. either make sure it is a real beater or carry collision on it.

My situation is similar, my house is less than 1/2mile from the store.
I have set my alarm to call my home and cell, I'm less than 2 minutes
away even in the middle of the night from a sound sleep.
The drive way is gated and part way up we have a magnetic detector
buried that trips the dialer only and then some lights ( on delay ) I get called before
they ever get to the building. The building alarm will also call ( different message
so I know what got triggered).
Besides the dialer I believe in NOISE and lights...did I mention NOISE!!!
Have multiple sirens and the latest addition is a Federal Signal air horn
tied into the shop air lines. Triggered with a solinoid valve from the alarm
panel.
They may break in, but they won't stay long. The sound is painfull, it
actually hurts....kinda like stepping into a sonic Hell. Makes my ears
hurt just thinking about it.
Been hit 5 times in about 10 years, caught em twice, two got away with
nothing and one time they snatched 2 small items. Saw em driving out with
no lights.
Dave P.

The other way of going about it is to make your place LOOK too hard to try and get in to.

IME External steel shutters on windows and doors etc etc. will have them looking for easier pickings.

Alarms have their place, but I can't see the wisdom of waiting until the bastards have got in before letting you know.

That said, if the f*****s want to get in, they will, no matter what you do.

I posted a thread about shop security a while back when we first moved into this shop. Had somebody try and come through the front door and a few days later had somebody jump the fence.

The advice I took was to try and make it look like somebody is always here, and there is 3-4 nights a week. We have extra vehicles that we move around and drive on different days, different lights on, radio always going. Haven't had a problem since. Well, except for the kid next to the shop, who after watching me leave one Saturday came through a busted part of the fence and tried starting a non-running dirt bike, his sister called the sheriff, and the parents came over and apologized profusely.

I honestly think the best thief deterrent would be just to leave the bay doors open, gate closed, lights on and have a random noise generator, compressor for a few minutes, belt sander, a few tool changes, maybe some hammer action and a cussing machine.

Radio Shack had a cheap unit that worked from a magnetic proximity switch. An alarm sounded and it would call 2 or 3 phone numbers if the door was opened. (Should fit the bill with you nearby). I beleive under a hundred bucks. Horizonal aluminum bars inside even if held with duct tape give a 'secure' impression.

My feeling has always been 'if they want to get in', they will. (and another use for duct tape)

The kewl thing would be to have security system activated automatic drop down bar gates for all the windows & doors. That way, while they *can* get in, they *can't* get out until someone lets em out......Just open up the door & gate and let em walk to the squad car.
It'll only take once and word will get around the street....don't mess with that building.....

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...ee-192277.html

agree alarms are good, but if the alarm goes off it means they are already in, and 9 out of 10 times will be gone within 5 mins, before any cops can show up.

I think the best method is bars on windows and gates on the doors. It will make them look at the building next door before trying yours.

Also dont forget about the role up doors as mentioned above. A few years ago in my area everyone had fancy alarms, but were forgetting how easy it is to just back a truck up through a sheet metal role up door. Now everyone has big metal poles that they have infront of the doors so you can't just drive a truck through. Might as well put the poles on the outside so they see them, otherwise if on the inside they will back a truck into it and won't get in, but then Monday morning you are stuck buying a new door.

We used to keep a Rottweiler in the shop. His name was Bear. Anyway, my Pop locked himself out, and he new a little way to break in. Problem was, Pop's arm was too big to reach through and let himself in. A solution came to him to get my petite stepmother to reach in and unlatch a latch. They had forgotten the dog entirely. Pop said her face turned as white as a ghost when her hand got licked by that 90 pound dog, upon reaching into the building!

Richard

Shop Dog/s

We were broken into, two guys came in the "old" side of the building.

As they went to open the door into the working part of the shop, the girls
(German Shepherds) met them at the door, smiling profusely

That's the story, they were caught a few days later down the road and confessed about our shop and why nothing was taken.

Dog treats were given as reward

Andy

You need to hit the near scrap sale places and look for the alum rims. Here you can't sell scrap without a drivers licence or ID.

I can visualize and overflow with empathy at the thought of a dripping 4 inch wide, 8 inch long tongue suddenly wiping my forearm from an uninvited guard dog.