I recently moved into a 3rd floor apartment in a relatively upscale, low-crime neighborhood in Boston. The only problem is that there is a fire escape that leads right up to my window. As a result, I am keeping the window locked at all times, but I am still disturbed by the fact that a person could walk up three flights of stairs, starting from the back alley, and have access to my window.
If I understand correctly, fire escapes usually dangle off at the very bottom so that someone can drop off, but no one can climb onto it. Either that, or access to the fire escape is restricted by a locked gate or something.
I recently emailed the landlord, asking if I could install one of those gratings on my window that open from the side (allowing me to use the fire escape if necessary) but prevents someone from say breaking my window from the outside), but he said that the fire escape complies with all regulations and they can't do anything about it. Am I out of luck? Should I just continue with just a locked window? I know I'm being a little paranoid, but this issues is literally kinda keeping me up at night.
Best Answer
You can do any of 5 things:
1) Install a window opening alarm half way up the window (So they have to open the window a lot before they can reach in and shut it off).
2) Get a glass break alarm (Goes well with #1). If someone shatters your window, this bad boy will kick in and wake the dead!
3) Assuming your window opens up vertically, get a stick that would go from the bottom to the top across, and rest on the top half of the window. This will prevent the window from opening without removing the stick (You can tape it or make hooks to hold it in place).
4) You can get a fake security camera and mount it nearby inside or outside, and get "security system" stickers for your windows
5) You can actually get a security system