Noise is the best deterrent. Get a motion detector setup to turn on a radio
with the volume up loud enough to be heard from the outside. There are also
recordings of loud dog barking--Team up a *beware of the dog sign* and a
motion detector set to trigger if there any action from the gate or steps.
These are relatively inexpensive ideas.
MLD
"Robert E. Lewis" wrote in message
...

I act as caretaker for a family's weekend/vacation beach house. The place
is a magnet for break-ins, and I'm looking for some solutions.

The house is raised on pilings and has an exterior staircase. The stairs
along the side of the house have a high wall on the other side with a
gate - a solid wooden door - at a landing at the base of the stairs. The
door/gate has a double-key deadbolt; because it's right at the stairs, the
door swings out, and unfortunately, the landing is somewhat sheltered from
outside views - not much I can do about that. The stairs lead up to a
deck
and a wall of windows that apparently are very inviting to intruders.
There
is a motion-detector alarm inside the house, connected to a bell loud
enough
to usually get attention of neighbors.

What's happening, on average at least once a year, is that someone comes
off
the beach and puts a lot of effort into breaking down the door/gate at the
stairs. On one occasion the would-be burglar actually tore the siding off
the wall beside the stairs to gain access.

Once they get upstairs, they smash a window or (as this last time) shatter
the glass in the main door. At that point the motion-detector alarm goes
off and the intruders almost always run away at that point without even
going into the house - but the damage has been done.

What I'm looking for is ways to stop or discourage these intruders BEFORE
they break a window or door upstairs, and preferably before they tear up
the
stair-landing door.

-- I think I've finally persuaded the owners to let me install a
motion-detector floodlight to illuminate the stair landing, but more than
half of the break-ins have taken place during the day, so that's a minor
deterrent.

-- Shuttering all those inviting windows facing the beach side of the
house
would probably discourage a few break-ins, but I don't think the owners
would go along with the expense or the change to the appearance of the
house.

-- I beefed up the once-flimsy stair-landing gate, replacing it with a
proper door - and now they just tear up the entire door frame. I'm really
surprised at the amount of effort they put into breaking down the door
frame. Making it any more sturdy would probably mean going to steel, and
that's not practical at the seaside.

-- What I really think is needed is a motion-detector connected to the
alarm
aimed at that landing. There are lots of outdoor motion-detector switches
for security lights, but I haven't seen any for alarm systems - can
someone
point me to one? The location is outside, but relatively sheltered - it
won't be rained on, but will be subject to salt spray (motion detector
lights typically don't last very long around here).

Thanks.