[Closed] do you feel less safe in a bungalow?

Everyone knows house windows or crowbar proof and bungalow windows aren't, so yuor wife is right.

Sounds like your missus wants a house on stilts, accessed by a lift.

doesn't sound like she'd be bright enough to work out stairs TBH.

and burgulars are scared of heights

she's worried about being murdered in her bed
reassure her that, statistically, it'd probably be you that does it anyway

ha ha , that would work...
are you saying shes paranoid?? 😆

I don't need a stair lift in my bungalow.

I live in a groundfloor flat. I don't like it as I feel like all my stuff is on display when I'm not home and easy to just walk around and see in (though most of my stuff would be in a house anyway, it's illogical). But at night I don't think I'm more vulnerable, but it is unpleasant when you wake up and have to be careful your neighbour doesn't see you wandering about from bathroom to bedroom etc. Wouldn't actually bother me but the neighbour has an 8 year old daughter and seeing the bloke downstairs naked would probably be a cause for some anger. Or when you're finding clothes in the drier, wandering about in the buff, and the milkman/postman walks across your garden and looks in.

Is your wife comparing living in a bungalow with living in a non ground floor flat? All the houses I've ever lived in have had a ground level floor, to most this isn't a surprise, with windows which could be 'crowbarred'. I believe this is fairly similar to a bungalow.

Does your wife think that because a non-bungalow type house also has an upstairs, thus making it different to a bungalow, this makes the downstairs access points more secure?

I can see her point - sleeping at ground level just feels that bit more insecure I suppose.

Flats is a bit different, since in a block of say ten flats yours is really the only one likely to get burgled... Two storey houses are easily accessible from the ground floor just like bungalows.

One other point though - you can have a burglar alarm set up to protect just the ground floor of a house, thereby alerting you in advance if anyone breaks in - difficult in a bungalow. On the other hand, if in a bungalow you could lock interior doors to give some measure of protection from intruders also.

she's worried about being murdered in her bed
reassure her that, statistically, it'd probably be you that does it anyway

I too echo her thoughts, fundamentally most burglars just want your DVD and telly with no fuss. If you're asleep upstairs they'll sneak in grab it and get out. If you sleep downstairs and they comes through your bedroom (accidently or whatever) there is that extra frisson of fear that you could be confronted or find yourslef in a violent situation.

Although that said statistically you're more likely to get done over whilst you're at work during the day, that way they can ransack upstairs and down - anyone thinking of rushing home for lunch now?

Bungalows are for old people aren't they? I mean they benefit from the lack of stairs but pay for that as the house uses more land which is usually more expensive here. Bungalows make more sense in low land price areas like parts of the US.

its not about the groundfloor of a regular house its more when she sleeps i guess, as she feels safer on the first floor.
good point about people seeing you in the buff tho..hadnt thought of that.
its mainly a nightime worry rather than day.

Buy the bungalow and get a loft conversion - sorted.

bungalows are safer in the case of house fires.

also, burglars are less likely to break into a bungalow at night precisely because of there being more chance of being disturbed.

you're safer from low flying aircraft in a bungalow.

But when you are showing the good lady wife a really good time it would always be nagging away at you - is there someone at the window sharing your pleasure...

Some bungalows aren't too bad...;-)

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So hard to find that no burglars know where it is...

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like apes, always feels more normal to climb upstairs (tree in their case) to go to bed.. sleeping on the ground floor feels wrong (unless camping of course)

I've lived in both. My bungalow certainly has more of a sense of space rather than a two storey house with the same floor area.
If people have nothing better to do than strain to look in to see me 'romping in the buff' from the bog to the bedroom, then good luck to em.
I find a curtain helps, or a towel, which covers more than my swimming trunks TBH.
As for security, no one comes near the place since I inherited a chocolate labrador cross thingy. Even the postie has resorted to using a piece of drainpipe in the front hedge as a post tube, rather than popping up the driveway.
Happy days.

A few minutes with a sledgehammer and you can be in any house...

How would you feel in the summer, sleeping with the bedroom window open?

A few minutes with a sledgehammer

We sleep with windows open all year round. Black labrador = alarm if needed, 1 in 3 100 yard long driveway and no other access points other than by helicopter = secure as it can possibly be.

Are we detecting an element of smugness from surf-mat?

😉

I mostly sleep with the window open at night too. I expect the vast majority of burglers would want to actually get into the building before waking up everyone, assuming the dog hasn't got his teeth into his testicles by then. So I guess you'd stay away from the bedroom windows anyway.
No much better to not attract attention by stealthly creating your own entrance with the sledgehammer. (Sorry just couldn't resist), destined to attract attention day or night.

MF - from a security point of view - yes. From a "looking like a big scout hut with faded wooden bits and a scabby plastic roofed garage" PoV - no 😉

Make sure you are not in a flood area, or you will drown in your sleep.

Lived in both, never really found the living on one floor thing an issue, our's even had a full floor to ceiling lounge window, was excellent for letting light in, and never really caused me any undue worry security wise.

Oh, and we just had a Hamster and Three goldfish for burglar protection... not a sniff of trouble in the 2 years I lived there.

you're safer from low flying aircraft in a bungalow.

Yes, but houses are closer to the sun and so need to be heated less.

Provided it has newish windows they'll be crowbar proof anyway. Friend had burglars try a crowbar on ground floor window the other week. Frames were destroyed but windows remained secure.

you're safer from low flying aircraft in a bungalow.

Unless you live in my house which is on a hill, is single storey and overlooks the airport ! We use a zoned alarm and zone the front door, lounge, bike store, garage etc off at night. Although to be fair we don;t live in a high crime area 🙂 And i did enter the house via the bedroom window on Monday at 3am as i forgot my keys and the wife barely stirred !

"i did enter the house via the bedroom window on Monday at 3am as i forgot my keys and the wife barely stirred !"

trying to rekindle the excitment in the marriage perhaps? did you wear a mask and have a sack with swag on it?? 😆

I would not fancy a bungalow due to the total lack of privacy. There are no rooms out of sight to anyone (visitor, friend, work-person,intruder)who walks around the outside of your house. All the contents, tidiness, lifestyle is totally visible.

What if the only way of seeing your house is from an aircraft? Bungalows aren't always surrounded by other houses.

Even an urban/suburban bungalow can have a fence/hedge/garden for privacy.
Do "normal" houses have one way windows on the ground floor to stop friends etc looking in?

It depends entirely on where the bungalow is.

Nice area, rural location, no worries. Inner city slum, no thanks.

Someone attempted to break in when I lived on the 18th floor of a tower block (admittedly not through the window)

If she ain't happy, you won't be though

astounded that there hasnt been a "kicking her back door in" reference yet! 😯

Quietly explain that regardless of what style of house you live in YOU are the most likely to murder her than a stranger.

as someone who's had a break in recently, practicalMatt is right. middle of the afternoon and they come through the front door (or door with the least amount of visibility to neighbours/passers by) with a crowbar.

burglar alarm, good quality doors and windows, strong hinges and multiple locks on doors, nosy neighbours are the best security devices. make sure they have no reason to know about stuff in your house, if you have scallys hanging around don't let them see you going in and out with expensive stuff like bikes (easier said than done)

don't leave jewellery in one place

dogs are no good, they get drugged (meat/food/treats with sedatives) or their mouths taped up (disgusting I know but then again people who break into houses aren't nice people)

my parents have lived in proper upstairs downstairs houses all of their lives, never thought twice about security. Moved into a bungalow last year and spent fortune on a top end intruder alarm.. I asked them why the chage of attitude and they said 'because it is a bungalow.' 😕