Barn Security Question

Do you think if I made up grids of 1/2" rebar across the doors and windows, on the inside, centered maybe every 10" or 12" , securely anchored inside, it would prevent bolt cutters? I just have the ordinary stuff, tools, compressor, grinders, saws, etc.

1/2 rebar is not that hard to cut with bolt cutters. With the invention of cordless grinders you not real safe with any type of steel bars. Cut off wheels work on just about anything you would install.

I would use heavier bars on a closer pattern. Even then you would just be slowing them down. What has been happening around here is that they will just unscrew the steel siding to get into a building.

So I would recommend your building be well lite and if your not close around it then some type of alarm system that alerts you or someone close.

If your at the building daily then a LARGE dog inside at night works well too. Most crooks are afraid of a loud BIG dog.

It seems like the best security systems these days are video cameras. It's a lot less work than all that cutting and welding and installing.

About $400 gets you a system with 4 cameras and a dvd player that record 3 days of film on a loop. The best part is, you know who is stealing, and you can catch them. When I found out who was in my buildings when I wasn't, I was completely shocked. Knowledge is power...


Then you can use the rebar to get a confession. LOL

You will have to get better steel than rebar if you want to weld it. The high carbon content causes the attempted weld to be brittle to the point they will break as they cool down.

When rebar is used in reinforced concrete beams and columns, welding is NOT allowed except in one special case where special embedment ends are friction welded to the end of the bars by spinning them extremely fast with a special tool.

If I were to break in I would still cut the lock on the door or bash door in rather than go through the window.

What I am trying to say is if they really want in they will get in.

The more you try to secure the barn the more they try to get in thinking there is a big stash inside.

Unless you have been hit many times just insure it and hope for the best.

A lock on the door and grates on the windows may keep them out. May not.

Gary

No way to keep them out. All you can do is slow them down. Camera's, alarms, dogs,lighting etc. are a deterrence. Alarms can be set up to call your cell when triggered. That's only an option if your willing to go confront the crooks. LEO will never respond fast enough, at least around here.
Local farmer here put a cargo container inside the barn and then reinforced that. You might think about a tool room.

How about a construction site gangbox chained to a column with a cobra link lock? Rebar snaps with cutters and is made to be tie wired [ of coarse don't tell that to a million hobby weldors who make stuff from rebar]. I think your talking about alot of work to add not much prevention.

It's a really tough call.

Bars deter the smash-and-grab types, but are a signal to the organized heist types that there's something worth stealing inside.

If bars are common in your area, then by all means bar away. Think about concealing them though. Maybe on the inside?

It would be helpful if we knew what your situation was.

I have a 60x40 that is a long ways from home. It is 1/4 mile to the closest neighbor, and it is loaded with tools and equipment. It got broke into 1 time and while they did not take much, it could have been a lot more.

Since that break in I installed fake security cameras and the corresponding warning stickers on each wall. It has been 5 years now and no additional break-ins.

In my case all I am trying to do is make my barn appear higher risk, so they move on.
Link to a similar fake camera.

Thieves are lazy - you might make them move on down to your neighbor if you up the effort required to get in your building. I'm gonna make a 4 inch spaced vertical grill for my shop windows. I have pull down shades to eliminate window shoppers, and the grill won't be visible with the shade down. My goal is to make it hardER and noisier to get in.

One morning on the way to church, we noticed a piece of steel siding removed from a farmer's shop exterior. Got to church and called him so he'd know something was up. He called that evening and said that nothing was missing - the inside was sheeted also, so they got through the insulation and gave up. The screw-on metal that's used on pole buildings is easy to get off (quietly) with a little box end wrench. Also - they couldn't unbolt the full length sheet without a lot of effort and noticeable activity, so they took off the sheets under a window. Something to think about - at least sheet the inside under the windows. Bottom line - a chop saw will walk through anything, but it makes a racket.

There is absolutely no way to stop a determined thief. Dogs are not immortal...easily drugged, poisoned, or shot. Cameras can be spotted and taken out of the game while wearing a mask. Pretty much everything else can be taken out of the game with a cordless grinder...chains, bars, locks.

I probably should not say this, but the one thing that stops most criminals is paranoia. Put up signs about cameras...but no cameras. They will believe the sign and if they cannot find the cameras it will drive them nuts. They can still wear masks but will likely want to get in and out fast fearing you are watching on your cell and dialing the PD. Fear of the unknown is as old as mankind. That would be my tactic. That and good lights.

You can chop your way into almost any building with a sharp axe! I have a monitored alarm system, not really that expensive.

For sure. You can cut your way into most modern houses with a carpet knife.

Glenn F.

Paul, my concern is that vandals would shoot it out??

Grandpa had a saying "locks only keeps an honest man out"

One thing not mentioned about bars on the windows is the what if YOU are inside trying to get out as if there was a fire ?

I don't understand the fake camera thing ? if you go to the trouble to hang them just hang up real ones. At least you may get some footage of your stuff going away.

Best security set up I ever heard about was down in Houston.

Two good ol' boys had a pawn shop that kept getting broken in to. They finally bought a large aquarium and put it in the front window. They put two very real live rattle snakes in the aquarium.

They posted signs saying the rattlers were turned loose in the shop when the shop closed. The aquarium was lighted and so you could see the rattlers weren't in there at night.

Local news found out about it and did a story on the pawn shop. Last scene they showed was one of the owners opening the shop. As he unlocked the door, the reporter asked him how he went about opening the shop in the morning. The owner said "very carefully".

According to the story, the pawn shop never had a break in after the got the snakes.

Of course that was a long time ago. Today someone would break in, get tagged and sue.

I bought a Q-See system at Home Depot on sale for $300. Came with 4 infrared cameras with motion sensors and all the stuff to hook them up. System will handle up to 8 cameras. DVD will take 2300 hrs before overwriting. It can also hooked up to watch on a remote computer or smart/iphone. Not bad for the price.

When I lived in the inner city, I spent a great deal of time and effort in keeping the natives off of my stuff, especially after I observed on several occasions just how bold and audacious they could be. I built a small workshop over miy garage, accessible only by outside stairs. The windows had burglar bars, and the door I built myself out of cross-braced 2x6s. The deadbolt recessed into a steel pipe hammered into a 4x6 that framed the door opening. Long story short, early one morning it took a brother only about 15 minutes to hack out my deadbolt with a tire iron he had FOUND in MY garage. He was a bit hopped-up, so he got a little too careless and loud. He was coming down the stairs with a box load of my tools when the cops caught him.

Lesson: do whatever you can, but it probably won't be enough.

You are never going to stop the smart thieves, fortunatley most of them are not too bright.
If they were they would get a real job and make something of themselves.
At my parent's place for the shop windows I cut pieces of expanded metal and placed them on the inside of the windows with nothing more than gravity holding them in place.
If someone is going to smash out the window to see how well the metal is secured then likley they have come prepared to cut the metal as well.
It has been that way for over 30 years with no problems.
About 5 years ago the police were out at their place after an attempted break in at the house, walking around the officer commented on how well secured the shop was, visually from the outside there was no way to know the expanded metal was held in place with nothing.
In my shop there is a trip wire on the door, if you walk in without shutting it off first it triggers a switch that sends 12 volts from a battery to open an air solenoid which sends 120 psi from my 80 gallon compressor tank to a 3 foot long air horn from a highway truck.
The horn is mounted 6 feet up on the wall and is pointed at the door, when it goes off it makes your flesh vibrate
[It is loud enough at the door that sudden unexpected release of bodily fluids would be in order]
Once triggered closing the door will not turn it off and it is not dependant on the utility power being on.
The horn can be heard clearly in the house with all the windows shut, as well as in the neighbor's yard haf a mile away.

As far as car alarms go most of these snot nosed little bas...ds have a buddy that works at a stereo shop that installs alarms and knows how to defeat them.
Our vehicles all have a simple toggle switch that must be turned on in addition to the ignition in order for the engine to be started, real simple two wire switch hooked up to open power to ign, computer or fuel pump.
If you want to get fancy you can wire in a relay so the engine will not crank unless you step on the brake, turn on the radio, dome lght, power window switch etc the options are endless but the main thing is you are creating a hurdle that can not be quickly overcome even by a knowledgeable individual.

Best we can do is make it harder for them, beyond that we buy insurance.
Tools and equipment don't come cheap but they can all be replaced.

Yep a big dog that barks at strangers is better than any security system.At least one outside and one inside the building.

I have motion lights all sides, and dogs, all that stuff. I might get some video cams. If the really want it, they are going to get it. Thus, insurance.

I'd probably hide any real valuable tools and leave the door unlocked. Putting bars on the windows is only going to advertise you have valuables in there, maybe guns.

Mr. Determined has it right with the large loud siren to scare the crap right out of them. I suggest a camera, real or fake, a large dog that stays inside the barn 24/7 with a doggie door to go out in the grass and go poo. What I have done on my home is to have wooden dowels jammed in between the windows so that they cannot open unless you break the glass, even then my alarm would go off and call the cops. The more deterrents the better. I went full out 2 years ago and bought a big safe, got the home alarm, the window barrcade thing. My safe has a large padlock on it in addition to the dial combo lock. If some moron breaks in to crack open the safe the home alarm will be wailing away too.....He will not have much time.
One sign I saw once: on this sign you are looking down the barrel of a revolver the sign says, "forget about the dog, beware of owner"

I have a monitored system with motion detectors.
Cost about 20 bucks a month,but it's a deductible expense.

More like they would get tagged and be dead!!!

I've never had a problem. I just have regular old door knob locks. if you just have common tools and stuff in your building. i would think it would cost more than the tools are worth.

I thought that this was going to be security against spread of animal diseases.

Don't forget the little dog to wake up the Big dog.

I have the little dog in the house that wakes me up and I have Great Pyrenees that stay up all night and sleep in the daytime.

In my opinion, the trouble with a pole barn is, no matter how secure the entrances are, if you want in, you can go through the siding in minutes. If a good door nob and lock don't keep the "honest" people out, nothing probably will.

As stated, motion sensing lights inside & out, along with a radio to come on loud, are very good deterrents. Decals visible to say 'Alarm System'.
I believe most 'burglars' do a check of your place ahead of time. They want to get in & out quick. do not like to set off lights & alarms, unless it un-inhibited property. IMOP
CKain

You pointed out the obvious .....

I unscrewed 6 or 8 screws to loosen the end of a steel sheet so I could fish wire for a security camera.

Then it dawned on me - in 2 minutes with a cordless driver I could remove a whole panel and crawl into my shop.