Since most of us will not win the lottery or buy Microsoft stock on the first day it was available and hang onto it, most will be buying an older place and fixing it up. For me at least paying top dollar for a new open concept 4000 sq foot house with 20 foot ceilings in the great room and walls of glass on a 1.0001 acre lot does not seem like a good idea. Add that it is impossible to heat or cool without massive amounts of energy and is poorly built of the cheapest materials that will meet code and it is not only impossible to live in, defend, or grow a survival garden, it will probably have a home owners association to protect the values of the houses around you that will specify the mail box design and color. We will be buying an older home in a more remote area with a few acres of land and to keep the price down, a "fixer up" that hasn't fallen in yet. Got looking at repair thoughts for those who have had all that flood damage and came to the conclusion that there is a lot of good advice out there for repairing and disaster proofing a house after a major disaster. The same improvements that will make your house more resistant to a hurricane, shutters, reinforced walls, removing items that could blow over onto house or blow into it would also be good factors in not only long term survival, but short term defense. Smaller windows with shutters and good insulation decrease amount of heating and cooling needed and also make it much harder for someone to shoot you. A metal roof is fire resistant, lasts a long time, and is more resistant to wind damage. A smaller foot print with 8 foot ceilings and usable rooms, storage, craft areas, work shop, and in a controlled conditions are very useful in preparing for a SHTF situation, living a good life until it comes, and surviving it if it does. Never have needed my preps for long term, worked well in short term, and have been the best investments I have made in my life. Bugout location has been excellent home for 45 years, greenhouse been major toy for 20, garage and wood shed for 30 now. Here is one small resource on hardening historic homes in disaster areas that not only gives you some good ideas in fixing the place up, but what to look for. It isn't really a good bug out location if it washes or blows away. https://ahc.alabama.gov/DisasterResources PDF/Resilient-Heritage-GOHSEP.pdf Another thing worth considering in that fixer upper, what is the true costs going to be. Again information from actual cases gives you more of an idea of the true cost of that bug out location. That water stain on the ceiling may not only mean a new roof, but roof sheathing, rafter repair, insulation replacement, treating for mildow, staying someplace while it is being done, buying the materials and taking a much longer time if you do it rather than contracting it. But consider the problems doing during or after TSTF. https://esg.wharton.upenn.edu/wp-co...enge-of-Financial-Recovery-from-Disasters.pdf This is only a few feet down the rabbit hole. If you use the data and materials to both evaluate that bug out location and repair it, the disaster recovery information is extensive and very appropriate.
I have given much thought to what I could to improve making my home more defensive but...it's impossible, a waste of money to be truthful because the house is a sieve. It was built as a nice home in its original construct with light and comfort given the highest priority. What I wanted to do was build a home from scratch with defense a priority. I came to the conclusion that the concrete home (monolithic home) is where to start but I was out voted...by a large margin. Basically, she called it an 'alien house' and said flatly, 'No.' Frankly, I still regret not forcing the issue but...we live and learn, or we don't live long so and living with an unhappy wife and not taking into consideration her opinions - well - not conducive to happy or long life. Also, I don't have a bug out location, I live in my bug out. LOL! However, I truly wish I would have built that monolithic house put some metal shutters on the windows, underground storage... The company I was talking with actually tested their homes by shooting it with a 30.06 and it handled it very well.
Kind of liked the idea of not making it a bug out house, just more resistant to "natural disasters". Kind of like the school teacher's union and "it's for the good of the children you know." Lot easier to slip something past the wife's radar if it is a FEMA publication than Survivalmonkey post on the size of windows, shutters or thickness of walls.
Exactly! But, like I said, we live and learn. LOL! And, believe you me, I tried everything to convince her, showed her stats on heat and cold, earthquakes, fire, wind but nothing would change her mind. So, I finally accepted it, did save a lot of money though... Nevertheless, it would be nice to close those shutters at night and know we're tucked in safe and sound behind concrete walls and steel doors and shutters, ready for the Zombie apocalypse. LOL!
It's a house, not a fort! Few, if any houses, are bullet-proof. A bullet will pass completely through a frame house, unless it hits something or someone, and most brick homes are just frame houses with brick siding. You could have steel shutters made up that can be installed after SHTF, also replace wooden doors with steel doors and re-enforced door frames, and sandbags full of dirt can be filled and used to protect family from gunfire. These things, and others, need to be acquired now and stored for use after SHTF, just like many other preps. However, you will need to re-enforce door frames and floors before anything happens., but those are little things, and you could do it without upsetting the wife...too much...maybe when she goes to visit her sister or something...what she doesn't know won't hurt you.
I bought a brick home with exterior steel doors. The front door received a 36x78x3/8 sheet of AR500 painted to match inside. Looks like a crappy door now but is passable as normal enough for the wife. Added a steel interior door to the bedroom with a deadbolt. Hopefully this adds some time. Made the back door open outward (that cost more than armoring the front door as the jamb had to be changed) and bought a nice deadbolt for it. This all cost me around $1000 in 2001, never regretted it except for the heaviness of the front door. I never have gotten around to windows or anything else. There is a lot that can be done for not a whole lot of money to buy yourself some time. Not gonna keep out a determined force, but having a few extra minutes to grab your gear and formulate a defense in the middle of the night may make the difference.
Hope that you re-enforced the door frames and jambs, maybe replace the wood with metal and anchored into a couple of wall studs (about 36"), otherwise that heavy door is just gonna fall in the floor after a couple of blows. In the event that SHTF you could add some brackets to the wall and have a crossbar or two to strengthen the door. Much of this stuff isn't for daily home security, but for honest to GOD SHTF situations. Got to practice situational awareness.
