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I’m an owner and working with our builders on a cost-plus mid-size one-off house in the ‘burbs near DC. Or masonary crew has been seeing an increasing amount of theft: cinder-blocks, mortar, and last night a wheel-barrow. They’ve removed a wheel from their concrete mixer to keep that from disappearing but the escalation is alarming.
Worse is that as construction progresses, the cost of the materials will only increase: split-block, glass-block, fixtures, … Losses slow the crew and end up costing everyone a lot of money.
I’m looking for suggestions on how to deter this.
The lot’s small, and close to well-lighted commercial space. There are neighbors near by but it’s not their job to police the site. There’s no electricity to the site yet so electric/electronic options would have to be — uh — creative. I’ve seen some rechargable proximity sensors with built-in alarms but don’t have any first-hand experience. Thoughts?
I’m planning on talking with the neighbors, calling the local home owners association, and the local police alerting them to this. Any other suggestions?
Thanks!
Replies
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Chris,
Rent a storage bin made from a cargo container. Lock it up with tubular-tumbler locks. Set the bin so that the doors open facing the house.
This last point because I just had some tools stolen from a storage bin that was at the front of the lot, facing away from the house. There were a couple of guys on site, at the back of the house, and some thief bagged a few Skilsaws and bosch cordless drills...fortunately, the city police nabbed the scumbag on a traffic stop with the back seat full of tools marked with the company name on 'em.
Good luck.
*I'd suggest Claymores but I'm sure that would only end up with you explaining to the neighbors and police why there are body parts strewn about the lot.
*a good cyclone fence on cinder blocks, with a stout padlock and chain is helpful. fact is, if someone really wants your stuff, they are probably going to get it. If you have a lot of expensive material, maybe you could see your way into investing in a monitored alarm with motion detectors, or even a security guard. Notify the local police of the prowling, and ask them to patrol the site.
*sounds like you're headed the right direction with taking to the neighbors. a quick around the ares may even show up where your missing stuff may be. Side note: i also work in DC surrounding area and have had my share of trouble. My pet grib is folks who clean out there garges and fill up your dumpster. Why pay bucks to get that stuff hauled away when you can just dump in that dumpster down the street?
*There are three spec builders in our area that have tried to deal with this problem. I was talking to one of the leads on a job and he told me that they average about $300 in lost material per job at least. These aren't high-end homes, and they are in a nice golf course neighborhood. Anyway, apart from locking stuff up, they have a program going in the area where a homeowner that calls in what they think is theft gets some reward if the police catch them. According to this lead it has helped in the first 3 months of its implementation. They use money and or gift certificates for the reward. They let every new homeowner know about it at final walk through.
*I've had problems at chain-link fenced toxic waste sites until I upgraded to razor/concertina wire on top. Couldn't find a suburban supplier who'd sell it to me ("You must be a professional fencer" "You need a license", "It is illegal" etc). Called a place in Oakland and it was "$43.25 a roll, how much you want?"Just had a new one last week. Someone stole 65 yards of dirt overnight. There were loader and dumptruck tracks the next morning. And it was contaminated soil! The state is making us try to track it down, although no one expects success. So this is how low/cheap people have have gotten - to steal dirt that sells for 2.6 cents per pound! -David
*I know?
*I had like 30 square of Elk shingles walk off a big commercial job overnight once and about two weeks later about 20 square evaporated. I think the job super was trying to imply that I may be trying to pull something which only added to my aggravation. The police were decent about it and my insurance company quickly and nicely took care of me.Guess it is just part of the business. Of course I still can't imagine how the hell they made off with so many shingles so fast. Didn't see any homes with nice new shingle and siding on them in the immediate area.Pete Draganic
*They call em C-containers or ground level storage containers around here. They come in 8x20 and 8x40' sizes and rent for starting at $60± a month.My insurance guy wants me to have a "No Tresspassing" sign on site too.
*My .02 Worth:Security dog and an invisible fence system? At least no real fence would have to be built and I'm hoping the dog would stay withing his boundaries. It sure would deter me from going on his turf.
*The problem with those types of fences is they don't work on stray dogs that can come and go with impunity past the wire since they aren't wearing a receiver. Also pretty easy to kill a dog, and it would be easy for a burglar to back over the wire fast, unlike a chain-link fence. Also, some dogs don't seem to mind the pain as much as others, and will bolt past the wire--probably not a good idea to have a guard dog at large.But i've seen them work really well on Yorkies... ;-)
*If it's a large job, and there's some money available for it, you can get a camera and view the jobsite any time off the internet.http://www.nuspectra.com/sitecam/index.htm We do this on campus for our larger construction efforts.On the budget model, check this outhttp://margosupplies.com/alarmfences.htmThe Critter Gitter at the bottom of the page might be the best bang for the buck, but personally I like the electric fence options (your insurance agent might have a different opinion thought).There are also motion activated flood lights that are powered by their own little solar panel too. Like $75 a pop I think.Good luck.
*I was robbed on a job site in the boonies a few years back so after everyone left I set up a defensive position and waited every night until they came back for more. When the three guys came back a couple of days later I was waiting on them. They backed in about two in the morning and got out of the car, I came out of hiding and stood on a dirt pile with the moon to my back and drew a bead on them never saying a word. They dropped their bowels and scattered for the car and were gone for good. I wouldn't reccommend that sort of action though as the law is on the bad guys side these days, two roaming female junk yard dogs will scare practically anyone away.
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I'm an owner and working with our builders on a cost-plus mid-size one-off house in the 'burbs near DC. Or masonary crew has been seeing an increasing amount of theft: cinder-blocks, mortar, and last night a wheel-barrow. They've removed a wheel from their concrete mixer to keep that from disappearing but the escalation is alarming.
Worse is that as construction progresses, the cost of the materials will only increase: split-block, glass-block, fixtures, ... Losses slow the crew and end up costing everyone a lot of money.
I'm looking for suggestions on how to deter this.
The lot's small, and close to well-lighted commercial space. There are neighbors near by but it's not their job to police the site. There's no electricity to the site yet so electric/electronic options would have to be -- uh -- creative. I've seen some rechargable proximity sensors with built-in alarms but don't have any first-hand experience. Thoughts?
I'm planning on talking with the neighbors, calling the local home owners association, and the local police alerting them to this. Any other suggestions?
Thanks!