I have a shed!! yay!!!! finally!! lol! after oooooh 6m dreaming about it after having got the plot (Cant believe its been that long already!) we now have a shed and its up and everything!
it came with a lock and the oh and his dad insisted i use it as they fear itll turn into a shelter for drunks and junkies (stupid enough to jump the fence) but im thinking theyll destroy the shed trying 2 break in if its locked, my big tools have remained hidden in the compost bin the past 6m so ill probably continue doing that its more for shelter for me n the kids from the sun wind and rain to enable us to spend more time there (them watching me get soaked blown apart and burnt while playing in the "house" i suspect!!!) and was just wandering what other ppl think? im sure most on my plot dont bother locking it and im going to ask around as i know we have had ppl looting the sheds and smashing greenhouses in the short time ive been there, but i thought id ask what other people thought? any advice appreciated, the shed may be old but its ours :) and id like to keep it that way!
Hmmm,In view of what you have said about past vandalism I would continue to hide the tools and leave it unlocked. :)
I'm about to order a shed, which I hope we'll get up by the end of September. I'm of the mind not to keep valuables in it, just a few tools, and leave it unlocked, because the vandals will do more damage breaking the lock, and still get into the shed.
a cheap hasp and lock will deter, not stop anyone who's determined. don't use big screws to attach the lock/hasp. That way the shed doesn't get destroyed if anyone does break in.
The shed on the plot next to mine has been unlocked all year. Just has a big flower pot holding the door shut. The chap left all his tools in there and they all seem to still be there- don't think that he's been there more than once this year.
The intruders have a look in it every now and then- I keep putting the flower pot back to stop the door banging in the wind after they've been in, but nothing seems to be taken.
I know that they recently broke one shed and had a bit of a party in there, but that one is a fairly big and clean one with plenty of room in side.
I think that the best bet might be to leave it unlocked ('cos they'll just break the lock off anyway) and fill it with plenty of non-valuable stuff so that they'd have to go to a little effort to move stuff out the way before they could take up residence for the night.
On my own plot I used to leave some tools out in the open and others under my pallets- never had anything pinched although a few things seems to majically move around the plot over night. I now put my stuff, apart from my bent fork, in the big container by the gates that has an expensive FO lock on it: £1 a year for serious security seems a good deal to me.
all that seems a pretty comprehensive reply, Loops, with special reference to your particular site? Spect Shirl will be along whenever to tell you what she and Tone have found the best, as well.
I take a similar approach to my car in a lock-up garage.....doors to garage get locked but car always unlocked...nothing of value left in there to steal :-\
Well Tone and I keep our tools ion our portable shed (As you will have seen when you pass the sooty van) Lou. Our Bunjy has a shed but to be quite honest we take our life in our hands everytime we go to get something out of there. I think she must have the answer to the vandalism problem cos she just chucks everything in at the end of the day, Kids toys mixed up with stainless fork and spade netting and whatever else she uses and just shuts the door. She has only ever found the wheelbarrow outside once and I think perhaps they got frit at what they might find in there. Just don't leave it too tidy that would be my opinion and certainly do not put a lock on it.
Our site has a good spiky fence, so a thief would have to be pretty determined to get in. I started off locking my shed but it was pointed out that it alerted people that there were things to steal inside, and the shed would get trashed in the process.
Have got a few hand tools that would be expensive to replace new but arent worth much second-hand, and if I ever get any power tools they will live in the boot of my car as I dont have space in my flat!
we dont lock our sheds..but get a lot of dossers looking for a nights kip...must admit we dont have a spiky fence
I'm getting a bit worried about this. Am hoping to get my shed in the next few weeks. Security on our site seems to be quite good as there is a high fence all the way around with barbed wire on top of that. Unfortunately (for security purposes anyway) it's at the end of a tiny lane opposite a nature reserve, beautiful but isolated. I was putting up my rabbit fencing at yesterday when one of the other plot holders advised me to be aware of the two legged intruders. Apparently they cut through the perimeter fencing to get in. One of the other plot holders went to look at a rotivator advertised in the local paper as his had been stolen, when he got there he realised it was his rotivator being advertised! This makes me so angry >:( I am not going to be keeping anything of any monitory value in the shed but I have been given a few tools that belonged to me grandad to get me started. I would be heartbroken if these 'walked'. I really don't know what to do now, I don't drive so am unable to take the tools to the lottie when I go up there. I did strap my mattock to the bike once but I wouldn't recommend it ;D Think I'll carry on reading everyone else's comments and make a decision from there. Such a shame that a few people can ruin it for everybody.
I used to lock my shed, but the large hasp, staple and padlock were destroyed a couple of times. Nothing was ever taken, so now I don't lock it, and nobody goes in!
Sounds like your perimeter fence could do with some very spiky plants alongside the rabbit fencing!
Good article here http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2001/dec/15/weekend7.weekend6
Pyracantha looks like a good option - perhaps you could club together for a CCTV and have a laugh at the attempts to break in..
I would love a shed but our site has suffered with so much vandalisim I couldn't stand the strain of it, so we built a compost bin, well the same as my compost bins out of pallets, and made a top for it, lined the inside and I keep my fork, spade and odds and ends in that, luckily never been touched.
I do advise anyone getting a shed not to lock it as over the years have found they have all got broken into where the ones without padlocks have had their things thrown over the plots but never any damage done to the actual shed.
sounds like i was right and the fil and oh wrong ;D har har love u guys!!!
definately will leave the shed unlocked (if they havent already bust in) theres lots of windows were worried about anyways so im hoping if they can get in and find 2 spades which were free with the plot (one left by the muck thief) and a few pots n kids um, crap, no other word for it really then i should be ok, my tools havent weathered by being stored in my odd place, lol, nor been moved so i guess if it aint broke dont fix, that said the decent spade was freecycle and the fork 5.49 in wilkies so not exactly valuable, i was more concerned that they may be used for other things, (so maybe i shoud still hide the others or would that look odd too??
texas my fork and spades are stored in the inside part of a pallet which makes up the outside of the compost bin, ive got kids so i bung everything else in bags and strap it to the puschair but i think you can get more grown up wheeled trug type things if youre on foot/public transport? or maybe o as i do, hide the big heavy stuff and just bring the hand tools and seeds n stuff down with you?
shirl id love a motorised mobile shed but the double buggy just isnt the same, lol, n sooty van :) tee hee!
and si, why didnt i get told its only £1 for the yr??? damnit, lol, typical, right by the gate aswell, siiigh, perhaps its because im a girl??? im now thinking elodie and her pink fetish is spot on, less likely 2 get pinched!!!
anyways thanx again everyone think ive got my answer just need a spot of decent weather on tuesday to nip down and carry on sorting it all out :), you see now we need a patio and flower beds round it and guttering and a water but and it needs painting and re enforcing and...im begining to think the shed more work than the waist high grass!!!! argh!! lol!!
Quote from: lewic on August 31, 2008, 19:15:01
I started off locking my shed but it was pointed out that it alerted people that there were things to steal inside,
Yes, it's like people having burglar alarms, it gives the villains the idea that there's something worth stealing. Don't make too much show, it may impress the neighbours but it attracts the villains.
SIMPLE..DONT LEAVE ANYTHING YOU DONT WANT TO WALK we have good fencing but if they want to get in they will as for locking mine can be tipped over if you realy want to get in
Quote from: tonybloke on August 31, 2008, 08:54:26
a cheap hasp and lock will deter, not stop anyone who's determined. don't use big screws to attach the lock/hasp. That way the shed doesn't get destroyed if anyone does break in.
As I'm about to get a shed (well in October) this has been a useful thread. I know some people on my site don't bother locking but the tip on not using long screws etc makes real sense. I also like the idea of hiding stuff in a "compost bin" Thanks people!
Pillocks don't like noise or light. Rig up a few high piercing mini alarms and a battery lamp. Easy to do. Alarms are magnetic strip controlled and battery lamps can be easily wired to a door.
Failing that, sit out one night with shot-gun or a Rottie!
what about one of these ??? ???
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SHED-ALARM-BATTERY-POWERED-GARAGE-SUMMER-HOUSE_W0QQitemZ280260975573QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item280260975573&_trkparms=72%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SHED-ALARM-BATTERY-POWERED-GARAGE-SUMMER-HOUSE_W0QQitemZ280260975573QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item280260975573&_trkparms=72%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14)
I have to say i don,t worry to much about being broke into. You are between the devil and the deep blue sea. If you put a lock on and some one wants to get in they will cause as much damage as possible to do it. If you don,t put a lock on cos there is nothing to steal they will still cause damage by wrecking the shed.
There is also another factor called our Steve who got broke into by one of the local thieves and had a petrol chainsaw stolen. He heard of one being sold in one of the villages by the thief so went over and found it was his. The gardens in our ally have never been broke into again. I think it may have had something to do with the thief being held by the throat with the left hand and a running chainsaw in the right hand and a threat of if you break into any of our garden again
Never been broke into since, strange that is.
That shed alarm looks great. I wonder if my rat (or whatever it was that nibbled a fist sized hole in the shed floor) would set it off though?!
i have a shed alarm on mine and i don't lock it but i have got anti climbing paint all over the top of my fence if its going to cost me when they pay a visit to nick my stuff i find some satisfaction in thinking its going to cost them has well. our site is forever getting robbed and vandalised but i have only had it happen to me once then on went the paint it seems to have done wot it says on the tin