Can You Break Into Your Own House?

Well, considering we have dogs and leave the back door open. I am very risk tolerant and we do not lock any doors, etc. So yes, we could easily get in.

But we rent the house, it is falling apart, doors, don't close right, etc. We are trying to buy a home now, and when we do that, we will be securing it by adding storm doors with a doggie door, alarm, electric locks, cameras, etc.

Yeah, shameful, but I do have cameras at the office!

Yes, I can. 

There's one janky door that's nearly impossible to open by normal means but just kind of pops open if you hit it in the right spot. I keep meaning to fix it. 

Three dogs in the house = the back door usually is unlocked.  I do lock the front door at night and the garage door (garage being a loose term, more like attached storage shed) is locked until my wife deposits more crap in it and conveniently forgets to mention it to me.  My biggest domestic complaint:  my wife parks her car in the driveway and never locks the car.  I thought I'd mess with her and removed the umbrella in the driver side door and loose coins in the center console.  She asked me about the umbrella the next time it rained, but never about the coins.  She still doesn't lock the car doors.  So now it has become my job to check and lock her car whenever I walk by it...pissed her off one time when it was snowing out and her car keys were not easy to retrieve from her purse with gloves!  The cold, wet, "you suck" look I got was totally worth it.

Not sure I could break into my current house easily. Others I could, but like your case, it is the result of application-specific and detailed knowledge. Just because YOU can break into your house, does not mean the average criminal will be able to as well (though I'd rate pet doors as creating a pretty big risk in general).

Your wife's concern may be unfounded, but I'm not sure that pointing her to a bunch of comments on an internet forum is really going to do you any good in the end.

I used to keep the kitchen window unlocked for this reason.  We had a few break-ins near our neighborhood, so I wised up.  We still have a pet door, which is difficult, but possible.

We chose to evacuate to the in-laws for a hurricane about 10 years ago, just after Katrina hit NOLA.  We drink bottled water at home, and we left behind about 40 gallons of bottled water in the garage.  I also drove a very capable Jeep at that time.  With images of New Orleans in mind, I sent an email to all my coworkers and friends with instructions on how to break in to my house while doing the least damage.  I told them which window to break out so they could reach the window lock, but also be able to close the window and not make it obvious.  "If you need water, it's in the garage.  If you need to leave town, the gas tank is full.  If you need to boil water, we have a gas range, and the gas rarely goes out. Etc." 

I've put some attention to making my house tough to get in to.  It is hardly impossible, but under normal conditions it would take some time, create noise, and the person would be highly visible.

Like many mention, pet doors are a major weakness.  So are kickable doors. We actually covered a reinforcing kit here: The $90 'Failproof' Door Kit

Glass windows are a typical weakness for smashing to gain entry.  There are a variety of window films on the market that claim to offer ballistic reinforcement.  I have something similar on my windows and glass doors:

The frames need to be strengthened too.  But the process and engineering involved there is much more individual per opening.

Locks.  Check

Alarm.  Check

Cameras.  Check

Dogs.  Check

Insurance.  Check

I don't plan on doing anything else.  One of my dogs, will probably bother the intruder for attention.  The other has a nickname "The Raptor" since she has short legs and BIG teeth.  She has the taste of human memorized from an inadvertent neighbor, so I pity the person who lets themselves into the house.

Easy to get into, if you aren't deterred. And then, it will be highly probable you will be immediately detected. 

I've always been intrigued by "old school" solutions.  I wonder - for a home invasion while someone is home, which group has a better end?  Let's broadly define "better" as "The bad guy is no longer a risk to the resident, and the resident is safe".

Group one: Monitored home security with cameras, sensors, all the electronic bells and whistles.

Group two: Simple locked doors and windows, a noisy and visibly intimidating dog, a resident who can quickly access and competently use a firearm.

Not trying to start a 2A discussion, just trying to evaluate possible outcomes.

I'd rather break into my neighbors house and have them try mine.

I live in a 1 bedroom apartment behind 2 EAC doors on the ground floor.

I leave the back door open in case we lock ourselves out then I jump the fence.

I locked myself out too many times and decided to do something about it.  I bought a combo lock box at a local hardware store.  This particular lock box mounts on the surface of the exterior wall and you can set the combination to open it to access a spare key.  I mounted this lock box next to my front door, using 2 1/2 " wood screws.

Now, many will think this is insecure because someone could pry it from the wall, use a cordless grinder to open it and get to the key.  But....I thought of this too.

I installed a remote magnetic contact switch on the inside of the box, so when you open the box it activates the switch.

Then, I marked a spot on the exterior wall, aligning with a hole in the back of the lock box, and  mounted the lock box to the wall feeding the wire of the magnetic contact switch into the home.

Inside the home, I place a Honeywell 5816 wireless sensor, using the sensor's terminals to attach the lock box switch.  I programmed this as a Trouble by Day / Alarm by Night, Zone Type 5.

So, if the box is opened, or pried from the wall, it triggers.  If I lock myself out and need to access this box, and I have my mobile phone, I can disarm the alarm remotely.  I can call the central station and tell them to disregard the forth coming tamper signal.  If I don't have my mobile phone, then it triggers the alarm and I deal with it once inside.

I've installed a few of these "monitored lock boxes" for my customers and it works like a charm.

Sounds like some of you could really use an alarm and z wave locks.

I have been in the physical security industry for almost two decades - and I have never installed a home alarm nor hung a single camera in any of my residences.  ever.

Reasons:

1.  I do not perceive any value whatsoever to having a monitored alarm - unless you guarantee a physical response in under 5 minutes. (note that 5 minutes is me trying to accommodate reality.  I'd prefer 3 minutes, but recognize the logistics - and costs - of what this would entail if available). If you can't catch the perp then why am I paying ~$30/mo to be alerted that I've lost my stuff a few hours before I would have noticed this anyway?

2.  Cameras installed on the exterior of my residence would invite my neighbors and those that walk around my subdivision for exercise to ask me stupid questions about why I have them there.  And since my neighborhood is a pretty safe place, I'd rather lose a few Santa blow-ups in the winter than invite my neighbors to engage me in dumb conversations about why I have cameras looking at their property. 

I had this tested recently.  I was locked out.  I ended up calling my wife to bring her keys as I was not able to find a means in.  Afterwards I replaced all the exterior door locks with August smart locks.  Now all I need to worry about is the inevitable hacks coming down the road in the near future.  Darn convenient for now though!

With that said, if I was not worried about property damage it would be very easy.  I have no cameras... outside my budget for quality product.  No alarm system other than two Beagles that howl at everything that moves.

Granted the traditional business model of monitored alarms is broken, relying on public law enforcement.

But now you have video verification, home automation, smart rules etc. Surely that is worth a monthly fee.

I have a Z-Wave lock on my detached workshop and it works well.  It's a Yale and works with my Honeywell alarm system.  Also, I have a Z-wave module on my garage door, a lamp module and a thermostat module.  The problem is, the door lock is consuming batteries every month, indicating a problem with the lock and/or possibly another z-wave module interacting with it.  So, Z-Wave is fine as long as it works. 

The reason I installed a Honeywell 5816 with switch for my front door lock box, is that there was no Z-wave lock set available for my front door.  And, the existing lockset was expensive.  Also, some of my customers don't want to buy a new Z-wave lockset or Z-Wave controller  when installing an alarm system.

Yes, I have the codes and a key. My neighbor also has a key, so I would go there and get it if necessary.