Securing Basement Door: Prevent Break-Ins with Locks & Security Options (Budget: PLN 150-200)

Hello, at the beginning I wanted to point out that I do not know which department I can enter such a query into. If he is angry, I apologize in advance and ask for a transfer.

I have troublesome neighbors, two bums, they've already broken into the attic and I'm worried about the basement.
The door in the basement is quite thick (wooden) but there is only one metal staple and a padlock (the usual one for PLN 25)
What to do? What locks should be added to prevent unauthorized persons from entering the basement?
The budget is about PLN 150-200. I mean a lock or a good security of my own design. Photos, drawings (even in paint) are welcome.
greetings

The staple and padlock are perhaps your weakest link. The U-type block is easy to twist with a piece of a thicker rod. Put in a photo of the door, we'll think something.

saxos95 wrote:

I mean a lock or a good security of my own design.

What tools do you have at your disposal?

Angular grinder, all kinds of wrenches, screws and bolts, plates, boards, etc. I do not have a welding machine.
Tomorrow I will post a photo. The door is as if in a recess in the wall. opening to the center of the basement.

A large hole for putting your hand through the door, and a knob on the back to open the door. Above the hole on the hinge there is an ax which will cut off the thief's paw as soon as it touches the knob. For you, the hole in which you insert the rod that blocks the ax from falling (so that it does not cut you off ). And you're done.
Seriously, there is no way to secure it. If they try to break in, they'll break in. If it's a basement in blocks of flats from the '80s and 90s, then there is not much to protect. As such, the solution is to buy a padlock that has no shackle, only a pin - it's hard to wring it because there is nowhere to put the crowbar.

Second thing: if the basement door is made of slats, it is obligatory to upholster it with fibreboard; you can't see what's inside. Over the door too.

Another thing is the replacement of the metal sheet that you "fasten" with a padlock - you do not have to dangle on the staple, but it has to be cut and fitted thick steel angle fixed to the door rigidly (!) Without the possibility of tearing off (the lock bolts and nuts from the inside are countered against each other ). Only by locking such an angle with a padlock will you make it impossible to tear the padlock out of the wall. Why an angle bar and not a flat bar? Because you cannot bend an angle bar with a crowbar, and a flat bar you can.



The most important thing is not to give the thief a chance to show off (no slack, no places where you can put a crowbar, etc.).
It is also good to strengthen the hinges and screw a block to the door from the inside, which will prevent it from breaking off the hinges - they are to rest on the upper edge of the door frame.

Unfortunately, there is no method for a thief, but you have to make it as difficult as possible. If he wants to get in, he will get in and you will blow your compotes . Ev. set up an alarm that will howl in the basement and in your apartment.

saxos95 wrote:

I mean a lock or a good security of my own design.

Here is an example of a lock that will secure your cellar, a solid structure, a 20mm X 30mm bolt.

darek4168 wrote:

Here is an example of a lock that will secure your cellar, a solid structure, a 25mm X 15mm bolt.

Bullet bolt, construction - I don't know. But why do you need such a lock, if any kid will open this insert?

The bolt protects the door against a crowbar, you will not bend such a bar, you can put an insert of a different class, but you will not open it of such an average class.

Darek where can I buy such a thing?

I do not know where to buy such a lock, probably in the nearest locksmith's workshop, I made the one from the photos myself.
Reading a few related topics, I came to the conclusion that such a closure has one major drawback, the insert can be damaged (clogged), and then the owner will not enter the basement. The best solution is probably an electronically controlled electromagnet.

darek4168 wrote:

electromagnet, electronically controlled.

And if you run out of electricity, you will not enter it yourself. Not the way. The closure is to make it as difficult as possible to get into the room, at the same time giving 100% certainty for the owner that he will get there. The solutions must be simple in design, but difficult to overcome. Combining with electrical controls, etc., always gives you a few percent certainty that something will go wrong and will either rob you, or you will have trouble getting it yourself.
Well ... but everyone does as they please. I am an advocate of not complicating matters and securing in a simple but effective way.
It's like with anti-burglary doors to houses: what they sell in shops and supermarkets can be ... put in. Not the way. Such doors can be made cheaper and it is such that no stranger can handle them. As an example, I know the door of an apartment where there have been a dozen or so attempts to break into the apartment over the past few years and no one has even managed to break it. You have to do the door and security with your head, not around. The solutions are as simple as wire and 100% effective.

Trabi wrote:

And if you run out of electricity, you will not enter it yourself.

Not those times when electricity was often missing for hours, I think that is the smallest problem.

darek4168 wrote:

Trabi wrote:

And if you run out of electricity, you will not enter it yourself.

Not those times when electricity was often missing for hours, I think that is the smallest problem.

How does some prankster disconnect the power to the basement or somewhere in the basement with what he will open? how the opening to the electromagnet will do

There is some lighting in the basement, from which you can connect the power supply, and it is obvious that everyone will not boast that the electromagnet basement is closed, so that pranksters will not know about it. To confuse the "opponent", any padlock I would put on, so that it would only lock, not even with a key.

I have electricity to the basement from home, because we have a central furnace and the pump has to work.

I have always enjoyed great locks, on great doors that are embedded, for example, in a wooden frame or on poor hinges. "Police" kicks at the hinge mounting point and such doors are not a problem.
Or maybe instead of messing around with the door - it's better to think about the alarm system. A simple radio intercom is enough - to know that someone is breaking into the basement.

Why do I need an alarm, e.g. when I go shopping or go to my family? Do you think any of your neighbors will sacrifice themselves and chase the thieves away?

I put on a diode which is flashing. There were break-ins in our cellars, and they missed me.

saxos95 wrote:

Why do I need an alarm, e.g. when I go shopping or go to my family? Do you think any of your neighbors will sacrifice themselves and chase the thieves away?

A good 120 dB siren can work wonders if you don't expect it.

I was thinking about a 120db car siren connected to a 12v power supply and contact.

Two things.
The first door can be replaced with a fairly normal full wooden door, even with the so-called surplus.
Second alarm sensor wired or wireless and everything.
PS.
to alarm some gsm notification

I don't know why my yesterday's posts ended up in the trash. Undeterred by this fact, I want to repeat the topic of fighting thieves in the cellars. I have noticed a rapid increase in this practice. To the point: screw up your basements, garages with a screw !!!!! The closure is simple, quick to install, but unfortunately without any electronics or alarm. The entire lock consists of four elements, and opening it without a key - only with a square, i.e. loudly. greetings

Next, I lift, as before, put on a normal wooden door with a so-called door frame or the cheapest steel castorama, for this a decent bolt lock, install a reed switch and / or a PIR detector.
That's all you can do physically.

For the moderator
I know I repeat myself but maybe it is necessary.

TMC wrote:

the cheapest tin plates made of castorama, plus a decent lock

One thing misses the other - you will "open" the door from Castorama (you will open it!) With a can opener, cutting the lock out of the door, so why use a "decent lock" for doors that only look and do not serve?

Krzysztof Projekt4 wrote:

To the point: screw your cellars, garages with a screw !!!!!
The entire lock consists of four elements

What does it mean for a screw? I have never encountered such a closure.

Krzysztof Projekt4 wrote:

Pictures can be viewed.

Brilliant in its simplicity. I couldn't really imagine what that nut was about . But after looking at the photos, it can actually be quite a challenge. Unless a thief breaks the door off its hinges because it is known how it is all fastened in cellars.