Lexan is already harder to break than glass of the same thickness.
Lexan comes in two kinds, regular and scratch-resistant, although maybe that is only in clear, and I'm not sure how your window would get scratched anyhow.
In Baltimore, a fairly big city, there is only one store that has a good selection of plastic, but it has an excellent selection. That's the place to go.
On Thu, 09 Oct 2014 08:58:24 -0400, Rebel1 wrote in
Something like this might help.
You guys are making this far moe complex than needed. Just run strips of duct tape over the glass. You can even leave a little space to peep out of.
And don't forget the WD-40. It can be used to remove any adhesive residue when you change the festive seasonal colors.
Great solution! Doesn't change much. Accomplishes the goal. AND it's reversible! Well done!
Anyidea what food markets put all over their windows? You know the white coating you can't see through, also those empty store fronts in downtown areas? Looks like a rag was used to wipe it on with.
Cake Bon Ami
Are you sure that would violate the building codes in New Jersey for an owner-occupied single family home? I don't think so, but I am not sure. I live in New Jersey.
On the other hand, I personally would not want a double-sided keyed deadbolt lock on any exit door in my own home. But, if I were going to do that, I would hang a key on a string near the door in a location where it would not be reachable to and intruder, but also on a long enough string to reach the lock in an emergency.
Wow, I should have used that for motorcycle windshields! I wouldn't use it on a house, though. All a burglar would need to do, would be to fire a load of buckshot at point-blank range, and my window would have ugly dings. :)
I agree. I have used that before. It is a very simple solution, it works well, and it seems to last forever -- although I could always scrape it off with a single-edge razor scraper if I wanted to.
There are none. But you raise a good point about not being able to see visitors. There is another window about three feet to the right, but slightly awkward to see someone standing close to the door, and a sofa is in front of it.
I could put a peephole in the door. But as I review all the wonderful suggestions, I think the way to go is with clear polycarbonate and a mini-blind as Tony Hwang suggested. The polycarbonate gives me burglar protection while the normally closed blind could be partially opened to see someone at the door.
Thanks, everyone. I've read all your responses, even if I didn't respond to all of them.
R1
I never heard of a "Certificate for Continued Inspection". Maybe you mean a "Certificate for Continued Occupancy", but it would not be a continued occupancy. Each town in New Jersey has its own requirements for a Certificate of Occupancy when selling a home. Some just verify smoke detectors and maybe look at the exterior sidewalks etc. Others may have additional requirements. But, if anyone were to cite the double-key lock as a violation, they would need to cite the actual regulation that applied. Maybe there is one somewhere for New Jersey, and maybe someone here can find that, but I just never ran across that one.
I don't know what they use now. In the 1950s, glass was often cleaned with a liquid that would dry opaque before being wiped off. It was often left on commercial windows to block the view.
Glass Wax.
They seem to have gone the way of the Dodo, but searches for "glass wax" turn up what looks like the equivalent.
When I lived in Brooklyn, I installed a double-sided keyed deadbolt. But only the last person leaving locked it. When anyone was home it was unlocked and the slam lock was the only thing locked, sometimes not even that. FWIW, that used a different key.
I don't remember more than one time in 10 years that anyone locked me in, and most of the time I had 3 roommates. (And of course I had my key when I was locked in.).**
I should add that this lock used a round key, harder to pick, and the lock itself had 3 jaws that about a half-inch in diameter t hat lowered themselves into 3 rings in the part of the lock attached to the steel door jamb.
The one time I was locked out, I went upstairs to the people I knew, went out onto the fire escape, down to my floor, broke a window pane, and opened the window. My fire escape didn't go to the roof, but I think others did. Someone could have jumped off the roof to the fire escape on the floor below, but I never heard of anyone doing that.
** I had bought it and used it for another purpose, but in case of fire, I also kept a 100 foot cotton clothesline next to my bed. I figured the 5th floor was about 40 feet up, and that the clothesline, doubled around a bookshelf, would hold me on the way down. Is that true? How much weight can two pieces of cotton clothesline support?As an aside, if you watch TV and see the police kick in a door in NYC, well, maybe in private houses in Queens or Staten Island, or a few outer n'hoods in Brooklyn and the Bronx, but there are few kickable doors in much of the city.
Ace Hardware sells it as No Streek.
It has a little ammonia and a little isopropyl alcohol. It also has diatomaceous earth, mineral spirits, and paraffin.
I suppose the diatomaceous earth and mineral spirits would help it remove films, and the paraffin would keep the glass from getting dirty the next time it rained.
Professionals would have found water with additives quicker and cheaper most of the time. If the glass needed cleaning a week later, that was good for business. Windex ads on TV may have made glass polish unpopular, but with Windex you'd use a lot of paper towels and might have trouble with streaks and incomplete cleaning.
I haven't locked myself out in almost 40 years. But I know it could happen again. I have recently come up with a solution. This will work for anyone that has a Medeco cylinder. As observant Medeco owners know, the clerk measures the depth of the grooves and their angle. The clerk writes them down. Then he enters this into the key making machine. If you write them down, and store them in your wallet (and remember which blank type), you can walk into any key shop and have a key made.
Don.
My house, my choice of locks, however it makes some sense from a safety pov. Just watch out for when the Mattress tag inspectors come around. They may turn you in. Never bothered actually checking codes, but I have heard some codes do not permit them .
He might mean Inspected for Continuing Certification.
Ed Pawlowski posted for all of us...
I may not have read all messages.
I like this! A creative idea would be to make an American flag.
I should not have generalized to all of New Jersey. It certainly is the case in my ex-hometown of Manalapan.
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