Shop Security – Window Bars

[W650Mike]

I don’t know what has suddenly caused a bit of paranoia in my life but in the last few months I suddenly felt a strong urge to increase the security on my shop. The wife and I live in what we call “near country”. Just outside the City limits (of a very small town) but not all the way to the truly rural country.

Unfortunately, even in the middle of no-where Texas, we have a severe and worsening drug problem…complete with all of the other crimes ancillary to drug trafficking and use. The greatest of these locally is break and entry theft, with rural shops and houses being the easiest targets. Tools, jewelry, guns, televisions, electronics, copper, etc. are all quick and easy for the smash and grab daytime burglar. With tools being the easies to pawn or sell, rural shops are the single biggest targets.

The house and shop are on a monitored alarm system but I still felt the need for some burglar bars for the 7 windows. My goal was to block easy entry for the average sized male – but without a bunch of vertical bars resembling a jail cell. I sketched several designs and came up with the one in the photo; with some of the design being inspired by material I had on hand. From the inside it kind of looks like a ladder and from the outside it barely shows unless you’re looking for it. The narrow but open sides till allow for operation of the window while the inner openings are too small for a person to fit through. Attachment is currently via sheet metal screws and large pop rivets, but I’ve decided to add several small weld beads when installation is complete.

The steel man doors will also be getting key only deadbolts; the kind where the bolt is J shaped and hooks into the jamb. The roll-up door is pinned on bottom.

If anyone else has designs and ideas concerning garage / shop security please feel free to share.

 

[volvo]

..
Good heavy bars but, I would recommend that they are close enough so that a body could not slide through and also blocked larger parts/tools from being removed.
I would put one more vertical bar in the middle and extend horizontal bars to window casements with a addition straping around edge.

 

[Alchymist]

While that might deter some, and slow others down, smash window, insert bar through center square and pull- might open up enough space to get through. Just thinking out loud......

 

[Steevo]

Have you seen some of those scrawny crack-heads?
They could slide through those ladder holes no problem. That, or they stuff their welfare-ticket kid through there to go open the door for them.

 

[Stephenw]

Here are mine...

http://shopngarage.com/2010/11/burglar-bars/

 

[SuperSocket]

You could always replace your windows with glass block? It's very cheap and not only adds security, but also some efficiency.

 

[Bronson]

My steel walk doors also have a logging chain hug tightly across them from the inside.
Steel bars on windows. Security cameras. Large watch Dog. Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Magnum. Cranky Biker resident. It would be wise to pick another target.

 

[PCO6]

If that's your oxygen/acetylene torch stand in red you might want to move it a way from the window. I'd hate to see a crook smash the window cut up your new window bars!

 

[5lima30]

How about adding some expanded steel mesh and "tacking" it to the ladder bars? YMMV.

 

[chickenfarmer]

Tacking welded wire to the sides and bars also helps keep the skinny crack heads out

 

[JerryTX]

Too bad booby trapping is illegal. Otherwise I would say run an electric line to that bar. It would be like a life-size version of Operation. If the crack head can get in without touching the bars he wins what he can grab and run off with.

On serious suggestion would be to modify the bars with some type of lockable mechanism so it could be removed if needed (home inspector shows up, fire, etc). If you had a U bracket with a hole you could make it so the bar swings and then have a place to put a lock on the other side to keep it from opening.

 

[72Anthony]

Pretty slick design, kind of subtle but looks pretty effective!

Make sure they are securely fastened to the framing. Home depot sells Spax fasteners, they are grade 5, self tapping lag screws with a large, flat head...very strong and rated for both pullout and shear loads.

In addition to what others have said, I would consider motion lights, remove the emergency release from the garage door opener, driveway sensor, fake or real security cameras, keeping your garage door closed if it faces the street, avoid showing your shop to strangers or friends of friends that you don't know well.

Also check your homeowners insurance for adequate coverage and photograph all your stuff.

 

[Milton Shaw]

Get to know your neighbors and get them involved in keeping watch on the neighbor hood, my neighbors have helped catch some druggies a year or so ago that were breaking into an empty house. Lights, signage, and bars/ security system, video recorders are about all you can do. Lots of A/C units have been stripped off houses in some areas, so far not in our neighborhood.

 

[slip knot]

cool looking bars. one suggestion would be to cover the windows when your away. What de crack head cant see he cant steal.

 

[theoldwizard1]

You could always replace your windows with glass block? It's very cheap and not only adds security, but also some efficiency.

Great suggestion.

Most man-doors these days are steel skin with some type of core (foam?). They are reasonable. The weak part is the the thin wood frame. Install a reinforced strike plate with at least 3" screws. Also replace the screws on the hinges with at least 3" screws.

If you have a garage door opener that is not used daily, disconnect the J hook rod that goes from the track to the door.

Given time, they will always get in. The trick is to make it difficult enough that if they try, they will give up and look for a softer target.

 

[darkk]

All the security I need...135lbs.....

 

[jhelrey]

I keep plastic or a blanket over each window when the garage is not in use... Out of sight, out of mind.

 

[Zeke]

On serious suggestion would be to modify the bars with some type of lockable mechanism so it could be removed if needed (home inspector shows up, fire, etc). If you had a U bracket with a hole you could make it so the bar swings and then have a place to put a lock on the other side to keep it from opening.

No need for window egress in a shop. Read the title. Only sleeping rooms. I know, I'm the window guy.

Great suggestion.

Most man-doors these days are steel skin with some type of core (foam?). They are reasonable. The weak part is the the thin wood frame. Install a reinforced strike plate with at least 3" screws. Also replace the screws on the hinges with at least 3" screws.

If you have a garage door opener that is not used daily, disconnect the J hook rod that goes from the track to the door.

Given time, they will always get in. The trick is to make it difficult enough that if they try, they will give up and look for a softer target.

There aren't many doors that can't pried or jimmied. Steel frame is a big step up.

 

[Ign]

My windows are so pitted from sparks combined w random hazing and yellowing from smoke

plus the fact that I have no desire to ever clean them (it's a shop!!)

I wasn't worried about it looking like a "jail."

Function over form for something like this.

 

[Agent1320]

I suggest rethinking that burglar bar setup. Any theif could lunge himself through that window and into the bars and rip the fasteners right out of the wood, or they could hook a chain to the bars and to a truck and rip it right out of the window frame.

Use an 2"x2" angle iron perimeter frame fully welded together. Using several long screws or lag bolts to anchor the perimeter to the wood frame from both the inside and the wall side. Then use a handful of steel vertical bars no more than 6" apart with a horizontal bar through the middle to prevent them from being bent open. Anything can be used for the vertical bars like, solid bar, tubing, rebar, etc. Again, all fully welded. Now, use expanded metal and weld it to the outside (between glass and burglar bar in your case) of the frame & perimeter bars so that there is no access to cut or pry the vertical bars open and no way to hook the bars with anything to pull it out.

I only have one window in my shop. I built burglar bars the same way as I described above. Maybe it's overkill, but I wouldn't want to go through the trouble of making burglars bars that didn't work. Since I don't want ANY peering eyes, I also covered the inside of the bars with a sheet of painted plywood. So I don't see the bars from inside the shop, but the outside world can see them clear as day and can't see inside my shop.

 

[RBailey]

Here are mine...

http://shopngarage.com/2010/11/burglar-bars/

I like the comment somebody made on your page about not using solid bar but use a welded tube with a loose round bar inside ! Very hard to cut.
But your serious / frustrated thief will get in no matter what

 

[W650Mike]

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the constructive criticism, thoughts, and ideas. I think I’ll be modifying my design to decrease the opening size but maintain the general approach. Although covering or eliminating the windows would be the ultimate defense, window-wise, I’m not ready to go that step. I spend a lot of time in there and I just don’t want to feel imprisoned. And although I know Jerry was kidding – I’ll have to admit that a number of booby trapping designs had come to mind.

Just to add a few details; the framework around the windows is steel purlin so adding a few welds to supplement the screws is easily accomplished. The double cylinder deadbolt (into a steel framed steel door) was chosen to reduce the likelihood of getting a child in to open the door. (Actually this method of entry is quite common as I understand.) The steel door jamb was also reinforced to prevent easily prying it away from the bolt. The Oxy/Ac set is stored away from the windows for other reasons but keeping it away for security purposes is a great suggestion. (The red cart is the Lincoln Tombstone AC/DC). Increasing the security on the back side windows (not visible from the house or neighbors) is probably worth further consideration. Loose rod in a tube is a great idea.

No security is perfect but I want to make my stuff harder to grab than the shop down the road – sorry Down the Road Guy.

Put this round on my tab!

 

[PurdueSD]

Hate to even mention it... But if you are out in the country far enough, whats to prevent some crack head from backing the truck up to the broken window and throwing a chain around your bars and pulling them out... That would be way quicker/ easier/ quieter than cutting them.

 

[Stephenw]

Hate to even mention it... But if you are out in the country far enough, whats to prevent some crack head from backing the truck up to the broken window and throwing a chain around your bars and pulling them out... That would be way quicker/ easier/ quieter than cutting them.

Build a moat around the garage.

It's not about making your garage into a bank vault. Bars are a bit more secure than just a pane of glass. It's about making it a little more secure so the thief moves on to easier pickings.

 

[Steevo]

No security is perfect but I want to make my stuff harder to grab than the shop down the road – sorry Down the Road Guy.

That's the ticket. Kinda like escaping an angry bear. You don't have to be the fastest runner, just a little faster than the slowest runner.

 

[PurdueSD]

exactly... my point was just that! If someone wants in and there isn't anyone around they will get in. Most likely by backing into the overhead door.

 

[Raze]

Build a moat around the garage.

You must be trying to keep the Black Knight at bay...

 

[W650Mike]

It's Texas. Even if I built a moat - there's no water to fill it!

Good ideas guys - thanks again.

 

[1930artdeco]

Shame you can't electrify the bars.....oh wait your in Texas you can. We can't here in Cali they would sue you and your last four generations of family and everyone they can think of.

Mike

 

[Agent1320]

Another option, which can be more costly, would be roll up window shutters. Don't know how much they cost, but I bet they aren't cheap. I thought of a friends workshop/business, he made his own variation of window shutters with regular old stuff. His are mounted on the inside of the glass as well, so not like your typical shutters. He made a steel U-channel frame, but I think it was just rectangle steel tubing with one end opened up with a grinder. This was welded into his steel perlin window frames on his Mueller building. Then he uses a section of maybe 1/8" or 3/16" thick sheet metal that slides up and down in the U-channel, this is the whole covering. On the inside, he welded some very simple bracing to the sheetmetal to strengthen it further. A simple handle on the top of the sheet to slide it up and down manually. A section of angle iron is ran across the center of the frame with a hole on the bottom (flat) section on each end. Another section of angle iron is welded to the sheetmetal panel again with a hole in each side, corrosponding with the upper holes. When it's in the up (secure) position, he just puts a padlock through one or both of the holes and it's done. Very simple setup. He builds his products in his shop and has alot of money ******* in his equipment. He spends alot of time out of town for his business, so he made these simple sliding window panels with minimal materials. When he's working in the shop, he removes the padlock, and lowers the panel down, and slides it back up and inserts the lock when he's done. Below is a drawing he sent me when I was thinking about doing mine the same way, but I just rent my shop, so I made my regular burglar bar removable.

 

[SuperSocket]

Shame you can't electrify the bars.....oh wait your in Texas you can. We can't here in Cali they would sue you and your last four generations of family and everyone they can think of.

Mike

You could always buy a dairy cow and then you're allowed to electrify everything for keeping the livestock at bay

Plus you get delicious fresh milk and your lawn gets mowed.

 

[1991Syclone]

How many windows do you have? Try installing PGT WinGuard windows. Very difficult to break, not impossible, but having bars on the windows makes someone wonder what you have in there that's so valuable you need to keep people out. Especially if you aren't in the bad part of town.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Steel frame is a big step up.

I agree !

HD and Lowes don't stock them. Special order only and boy are they EXPENSIVE !

 

[mdbeck1]

I don't have windows in my shop but my garage door has some small ones. I picked up a can of that "frosting paint" for bathroom windows (for the bathroom). I used the rest of the can on my windows on the garage doors. You can't see in/out but the light gets in.

...oh, and my widows are 5 ft off the ground and WAY too small for anyone to get through. Including a five year old.

 

[-Brent-]

One thing to add is some clear safety laminate to the windows. This is just one extra little step that'll add time to a break in. That way when they throw the rock/brick or swing a hammer at it, it doesn't shatter the glass. It'll take a half-dozen extra swings to get the glass out. And even then, if the glass is set well, it'll just make an annoying hole to mess with.