help! need home security ideas

[ksm]

Our girls bedrooms are on the 2nd floor, outside 3 of the windows is the roof to the family room. We have learned that the girls are taking the screen out of the bathroom window and going out on the roof. So far, they have not tried to get down from the roof, but boys have been known to come to our yard in the middle of the night and one or both of the teen girls go out on the roof to talk to them.

Our house is an older house and we recently put in double hung vinyl replacement windows - and the screen is one extra piece Ibut has little prongs that you can pull out to remove it. We live in an area where the nights are cool and comfortable now, and it is common to open the windows part way for fresh air. Soon, they will be closed up tight for the winter.

Are there some kind of alarms we can add to the windows without the cost of a security system? I am afraid that most alarms that people would put on temporarily would be easy to dismantle from the inside. I have seen things that don't have to be wired in. Some are made for when you are traveling and staying at hotels. But, I assume it would be easy to just turn those kind off from the inside.

Does anybody have any affordable ideas? Just for my own curiosity, I have added two pieces of clear scotch tape so I will be able to tell if the screen has been removed. I doubt that they would notice it... KSM

 

[ksm]

Just spent some time on google, then walmart.com and found a system for $30. It comes with three window alarms and one door alarm. Plus it is a remote type thing that lets us put in a 4 digit code to activate/deactivate it. So it works to keep people out... and keep children in... I thought the cheaper kind would only work if someone raised the window from the outside. So this might be perfect! Has anyone else used something similar? KSM

 

[BusynMember]

We didn't use an alarm when my daughter used to take off her window at night and climb out of it and go running around town, but we did put bars on her window that she couldn't remove. Of course, sitting on the roof, unless your girls are really careless and could fall, is not as dangerous as running around town alone in the dark, as a female. She had been assaulted once, but it didn't stop her thus the severity of what we felt we had to do to keep her in and safe.

 

[ksm]

shoot... I don't think the window alarms will work... I guess they have an on off switch on them. But the door one in the pkg would work well... I guess I need to keep looking. More help please?? KSM

 

[DaisyFace]

We put locks on the windows (actually drilled them into the sides of the window) at a height that would allow the window to open a crack for the breeze, but not enough to get out. Yes, it's dangerous in the event of a fire - but statistically speaking, she was far more likely to get hurt sneaking out and doing something dangerous.

 

[InsaneCdn]

we recently put in double hung vinyl replacement windows

"double hung"... easiest window in the world to break in through, easiest to escape out of, and hardest to secure.
But you've already replaced them, so you're not going to get replacements for new windows.

Is there something you could put on the roof outside their windows, that can send a signal if it gets stepped on?

 

[wishididnthavetobehere]

My daughter, now 15, started going through windows at 14. I have a security system throughout the house and even that is not tamper proof. (so even if money weren't a factor....) There was an old fashioned roll out window that wasn't part of the system, only opened about 7" and she was able to get through. That window is now nailed shut. The other window in her room doesn't have a lower level roof as an in between jump off point, I don't think she would jump straight down without an intermediary roof. She was jumping from the middle roof. I think the air condition unit was a stepping stone. She also dismantled the very small cat door but couldn't get through. She has used magnets to offset the alarm.....but that set if off when she came back in once.
I have duct taped the screens from the outside, nailed her room windows, checked all windows for magnets right before I go to sleep, slept on the floor outside of her bedroom. As far as I know she hasn't been out in a few months. I won't take credit for that though, thinking it's just because the boy is off to college now.
I am sorry you have to deal with this too. It's scary for them to be out and about at night.

 

[Calamity Jane]

We have double hung vinyl replacement windows and we had a professional install wireless window alarms. I was very honest with him, and I was clear that I wanted a system that was effective in keeping difficult child IN, in addition to keeping burglars OUT. difficult child was not able to mess with the alarms. We had them put chimes on all the exit doors, and motion sensors as well. Perhaps you could get some weatherproof motion sensors and/or motion lights on the roof to deter her activity?