Security

Art and antiques make great investments, but starting a collection also brings certain responsibilities.  Specifically, how do you keep them safe?  This is a common dilemma for investors in tangible investments.

On the one hand, tangible assets are a compelling way to opt out of the volatility of an unstable global financial system.  But short of the possibly questionable strategy of renting a safe deposit box at a bank, you can’t rely on the existing financial system to provide security for your tangible assets.  You must secure them yourself.

This is where the concept known as layered home security becomes important.  Layered home security is a philosophy for protecting your primary residence – whether it is a house, townhome, or condo – and everything inside.  The simplest way to envision layered home security is like an onion.

An onion has many layers.  Peel off the first layer, and another layer is right below it.  It takes a lot of time and effort to peel back all the layers to get to the center of an onion.  Likewise, layered home security doesn’t rely on any one, monolithic security measure to make your home difficult to break into, but instead relies on many smaller, interlocking security protocols.

There are three main “layers” to your home’s security.  The first is your yard or exterior space – anything from the property line to the physical walls of your house itself.  This area is more about deterrence than about physically stopping a potential burglar.

Burglars like to stay hidden whenever possible.  So a well manicured lawn, without large shrubs near windows or doors prevents a thief from easily concealing himself.  Exterior flood lights or motion-sensing lights that bathe entrances and first floor windows in light are also beneficial.

A prominently displayed “beware of dog” or “protected by XYZ security company” sign is also a great deterrent.  You don’t even have to own a dog or have a security system hooked up for these signs to be effective.  Finally, being on good terms with your neighbors is like having a few extra sets of eyes monitoring your house for strange activity.

The second layer is the shell of your house itself.  Unlike your outdoor space, this layer doesn’t focuses on deterrence, but delay.  Criminals usually enter residences the same way you or I do.  They go through a door, or barring that, a first floor or basement window.  In fact, about 40% of all burglaries are “unlawful entry” meaning the thief gained entry via an unlocked door or window.  So the most important rule of layered home security is simple; keep your doors and windows locked at all times, even in “safe” neighborhoods.

Of course, that means that over half of all burglaries consist of “forcible entry” or “attempted forcible entry” – in other words, brute force.  These types of attacks can be blunted by physically reinforcing doors and windows.  Security film, a thin plastic sheet applied to glass, is a fairly inexpensive way to retrofit existing windows or glass doors.  Security film is specially engineered to greatly improve the shatter resistance of glass.  It provides resistance to both forcible entry and extreme weather events like wind storms, hail or hurricane damage.  If you live in a high risk neighborhood, placing security bars over your windows may be an attractive option.

Doors also benefit significantly from being reinforced.  Many exterior doors can be easily kicked in by a burglar in just a few seconds.  This is especially the case when an exterior door has hollow core construction.  Replacing a hollow core door with a solid wood door (preferably hardwood) or a steel security door is a mandatory concept in layered home defense.

The door jamb and frame are additional weak points on most exterior doors.  In most instances, a door’s locking mechanism, often a dead bolt, is only secured to the wood frame by short screws about one inch long.  Luckily, many home improvement stores carry high security door jamb reinforcement kits for only $40 or $50.  And a simple, flat steel bar can be added to an existing wooden door frame easily and economically, significantly strengthening it.

The third and final zone in the layered home security concept is the inside of a house.  A burglar alarm is a common addition to this security layer.  Another popular option is a large breed of dog which can effectively harass a burglar, provided it has the right temperament.  Pepper spray, mace or a stun gun can also provide an option of last resort in case of a home invasion.  Although not for everyone, a handgun, shotgun or other firearm in the hands of a well-trained individual can be a powerful defensive tool.

There is also the possibility of augmenting a specific interior room with additional security features.  This space would function as a redoubt if you are confronted with a home invasion.  It might be something as simple as a bedroom with a solid (non hollow core) door and a reinforced lock, or as complex as a special-built, high security panic room.

In any case, if you store valuables like bullion, jewelry or antiques in your house, a home burglary safe is a good idea.  A burglary safe serves as the hardened center of your layered home security plan.  Safes come in a variety of different sizes and shapes, including mammoth gun safes, discrete wall safes, high security floor safes and traditional free-standing chest safes.  Some safes even provide protection against fire as well.  No matter your situation, there is sure to be a home burglary safe that fits your needs.

However, you must keep in mind that a safe must be properly installed and anchored in order to be effective.  A home burglary safe that is not bolted down is a just handy carrying case for a criminal, even if it weighs several hundred pounds.  And don’t be fooled by cheap, but impressive looking import safes commonly found in big box stores.  They are cheap for a reason and only provide the illusion of security.

Layered home security is the best way to protect your house against a burglary or home invasion.  Using a multitude of small, interlocking, cost-effective measures allows anyone to substantially increase the security of his house.  If you own expensive tangible investments of any type, layered home security is a wise precaution.

Those looking to get the best home burglary protection possible at a reasonable price should strongly consider floor safes.  A floor safe is a safe that is installed directly into the floor of your home’s basement (or first floor, if you have slab construction).  It is surrounded by concrete and, optionally, steel rebar during the installation process, making it almost impossible to remove once in place.

However, these cost effective, high security safes are often overlooked by homeowners out of ignorance.

Floor safes have a lot going for them.  They preserve the element of concealment that is usually lost with traditional, free-standing chest safes.  A regular safe is hard to hide.  You can always bolt it down inside a closet, but it isn’t difficult or unusual for a burglar to open closets when ransacking a residence.

Floor safes, on the other hand, are usually placed in the basement, an area burglars almost never go.  Once covered with something like a rug, tool box or storage containers, a floor safe becomes invisible and nearly impossible to find.  If installed in the first floor of a house with slab construction, it is possible to craft a false-floor cover that perfectly matches the existing hardwood floor.

The second advantage of floor safes is that they are very low cost for the amount of security they provide.  In fact, they are, bar none, the most inexpensive way to get a high security safe.  Entry level models start in the $300 to $500 range while highly burglary resistant floor safes sell for $500 to $1,000.  In contrast, free-standing chest safes with similar levels of burglary protection start at around $1,000 and quickly rise to over $3,000 for the highest-end models.

Although floor safes are not officially fire-certified, they are functionally very fire resistant.  This is because they are usually installed in the lowest point of a house and are surrounded by large amounts of concrete.  Consequently, the contents of a floor safe rarely sustain significant damage from a house fire.

A floor safe’s placement also tends to create a tightly climate-controlled space.  This makes them the perfect storage space for climate sensitive antiques like vintage wristwatches or rare coins, provided you use silica gel packets or other dehumidifying agents.

However, the greatest benefit floor safes offer over traditional safes is their higher security.  When properly installed in solid concrete, a floor safe tends to channel all attacks towards its door.  This is a happy coincidence because the door is always the strongest, most over-engineered part of a safe.

In contrast, the weakest point on a freestanding, chest safe is its sides.  Floor safes completely eliminate this weak point as their sides are covered by several inches (or more) of concrete.  So when comparing a floor safe with the same burglary rating as a chest safe, the floor safe will always have greater effective burglary resistance.

Of course, floor safes do have some cons too.  For one, they require either professional installation or a significant amount of effort from a dedicated, DIY homeowner.  They also have limited storage space compared to free-standing safes, generally ranging from 0.25 to 2 cubic feet unless you opt for a more expensive, extra-wide model.

Floor safes are also susceptible to flooding and water damage.  This disadvantage can be ameliorated by wrapping your floor safe in plastic before installation and making sure it is placed in an area that does not accumulate water.

Perhaps the biggest drawback of floor safes, however, is that they are relatively inconvenient to access.  They require you to get on your hands and knees every time to want to open the safe.  This makes floor safes a poor choice for storing anything you want to access on a daily basis.

One outstanding choice in floor safes is the AMSEC Super Brute Series.  These floor safes have a recessed, 0.75 inch thick solid steel plate door which handily exceeds B-rate construction guidelines.

AMSEC Super Brute safes also have three, 1 inch diameter locking bolts and reinforced door jambs, rendering them highly resistant to pry or sledgehammer attacks.  Prices range from $500 to $800, depending on capacity.

Another fine choice is floor safes produced by the Hayman Safe Company.  These exceptional floor safes come standard with a 0.5 inch thick solid steel door.  However, if greater security is desired, it is possible to upgrade the door to 1 inch or even 1.5 inch thick steel.

They also have a heavy duty frame and collar, coupled with an innovative stainless steel flat bar locking system, for maximum protection.  Hayman also sells a polyethylene (plastic) body floor safe for use in damp environments.

Prices start at about $550, rising to around $1,000 for larger models that have been upgraded to the high security 1.5 inch thick steel door.

In my opinion though, the best floor safe is the AMSEC Star Series with its iconic, round lift-out door.  The AMSEC Star Series is, without question, the highest security floor safe currently produced for the U.S. market.

The door is forged from a 1.75 inch thick solid ingot of A36 steel that has been precision machined to perfectly fit into a heavy, 0.5 inch thick steel collar.  The unique, round design of the door renders it nearly immune to brute force attacks.

These floor safes offer real, commercial-grade protection for the residential market.  AMSEC Star floor safes come in two versions: tubular body and square body, with the latter providing more capacity.  Prices range from about $600 for the smallest model to $1,100 for the largest.  If security is your primary goal, AMSEC Star floor safes are worth every penny of their cost.

In spite of their minor flaws, floor safes are some of the best, most secure residential safes available today.  In fact, they used to dominate the U.S. residential safe market until the 1990s, when big box stores started carrying impressive looking, but cheaply-made, low-security Chinese import safes.

Don’t be fooled by a pretty $500 Chinese import Costco safe.  A quality floor safe can offer you far superior protection at a price that isn’t much higher.