ᐅ Burglar-Resistant Apartment Entrance Door

Tolentino schrieb:

It’s better to keep as few valuables as possible inside the apartment and protect them differently (GPS) if possible.

Hindsight is always 20/20. 😉

PeterB85 schrieb:

The front door definitely won’t be locked, so even a secure front door doesn’t provide real security. And someone almost always opens when the doorbell rings, based on experience...

I would reconsider that. In our condominium association, it started when a tenant lost their keys, which led to a complete replacement of the building’s locking system. During the replacement, we switched to a transponder system including a motorized lock for the front door.
That investment soon proved worthwhile. In the following years, there were three attempted break-ins at the front door, all fortunately unsuccessful. Shortly after we moved out, a camera was even installed at the entrance area as a deterrent. Ironically, it was installed just one day too late. The day before the installation, several high-end bicycles were stolen from the underground garage. Luckily, ours apparently weren’t valuable enough. I was able to pick them up the next day, just as the cameras were being installed, and bring them to our new home as planned.
My conclusion: as a condominium association, invest some money and install a secure front door with a motorized lock.

Install an obvious weak point in a single-family house and secure it especially well. For example, with a silent alarm (only effective if there is a rapid security response or a direct line to the police) or a bear trap.
I could also imagine a trapdoor leading to a septic tank.
:p

hanghaus2000 schrieb:

I have experienced something like this. I was a weekend commuter. The following Monday, the door was kicked in and valuables were gone.

Occasionally, all sorts of things happen, but basically, a modern, “proper” apartment entrance door (not an interior door) can’t simply be kicked in if it meets the RC1 standard and has a proper frame. RC2 then increases the protection against prying open to about 3 minutes, and RC3 raises that to 5 minutes with additional tools, and so on.

hanghaus2000 schrieb:

That could only have been someone from the building. Who else would know that I’m not there every weekend?

Crazy, isn’t it? In our building, they twice took a bike chained up in the hallway on the 4th floor, and twice a year they violently broke open the heavy metal doors in the basement to steal some junk worth at most 5% of the damage caused; in this case, it was heavy drinkers from the neighboring community garden shed after their evening drinking binge, as was later discovered. You could install RC25 against those blockheads, but with brute force eventually everything breaks. The “typical” home or apartment burglar doesn’t usually act that violently, and that is what you can more effectively protect against.
If someone comes with a crowbar, drill, angle grinder, etc., that’s a totally different type of burglar with different objectives. In my opinion, the key is always to know exactly what you want to protect against. Implementing every possible standard doesn’t always help; it’s always advisable to consider each case individually.

hanghaus2000 schrieb:

That unpleasant feeling lasts a long time.

Yes. That is probably the worst part of this issue. The feeling that a stranger has been freely moving around in my private space is usually the hardest thing to deal with. I know people who could no longer live in their homes afterward and either moved out or even sold the property.

PeterB85 schrieb:

But a locked door is no use if it can be pried open in a minute with a screwdriver...

That’s why RC2 or a similar standard is recommended. Then it takes around 3 minutes and makes a lot of noise, which most burglars want to avoid. Most of them, at least...
Ultimately, there is no perfect solution here; I think you shouldn’t be driven too much by fear or sold everything possible, because it’s easier to sell something to a fearful client, even if it doesn’t actually help as much as expected. Still, I would consider what makes me feel safest, because what good is a purely logical and technical decision if you still feel insecure? Somewhere in between is probably where you find your personal all-round solution.

If I remember correctly, the only difference between RC2 and RC3 is the glass, right? Multi-point locking should already be standard with RC2.

We have an RC3 door, and the only difference was the glass in the sidelight.

In our previous townhouse neighborhood, very few neighbors were spared from burglaries or attempted break-ins. Almost all occurred during the day. One neighbor was robbed while he was sleeping on the couch. A convenient escape route, proximity to the highway, and closeness to the Dutch border made the area a hotspot statistically. We were spared, possibly because the large dog deterred burglars and they preferred to target other neighbors. Burglars don’t like noise. If you want to feel more secure with burglary protection, buy whatever makes you feel safest—and add a loud alarm system. It doesn’t cost much, but in an attic apartment it might be less appreciated from outside. Most burglars leave very quickly when it gets noisy, keeping the damage minimal. Even an “alarm protected” sticker helps, though it won’t deter everyone. Most burglars are looking for a quick success. There are plenty of apartments available. Usually, it’s enough to make your home more inconvenient and risky to break into than many others.