Angie's List Tips: Protect against scrap metal theft Home Inspections.
An upsurge in the market price for aluminum and copper is driving an unusual crime wave in neighborhoods across America. Scrap metal thieves are stripping aluminum siding and gutters from houses and even copper coils from air conditioning units.
Thieves can “earn” more than $100 for the coils they take from your air conditioner. But it can cost you thousands of dollars to fix the damage. In a 2007 Angie's Listpoll, more than a quarter of Angies List members reported that thieves had made off with their gutters.
Angie’s List Tips on How to Thwart Scrap Metal Thieves: • Lock it down: Secure the a/c unit with a padlock and chain so thieves can’t reach the valuable metal. • Ring the bell: Add an alarm unit with sensors to your a/c unit or a video surveillance system. • Write it down: Record your unit’s serial number in the case of theft – it won’t prevent the crime, but it could help solve it. • Light it up: Install motion sensors on your outdoor lighting. This is an inexpensive way to deter burglars – when the lights come on, they will think someone is coming. Make sure your lights are pointed toward the ground – a spotlight into the sky won’t help anyone see what’s happening on the ground. • Lock it up: Lock your garage and sheds that contain tools and ladders that thieves can use to steal your stuff. • Trim is in: Keep plants around your gutters and downspouts trimmed. That way, passersby will be able to spot the thieves at work. • Protect your car: Scrap metal thieves are also yanking catalytic converters out of cars. Park your car in a garage or well-lit area.
3 comments:
Angie’s List is a win-win scenario. I’ve had so not-so-good experiences with companies I’ve hired on the list but the positive far out way the negatives. And, the best thing about Angie’s List is that I can write about that negative experience to warn others
A little over a year ago, I was a victim of the scrap metal thieves. My old house was up for sale, and I had been mostly moved out of it for a week or so. (I still had a few items to come back for, but 90% of it was empty.)
I came back to discover someone had pried open one of the storm windows in the basement, crawled through, and cut out the section of copper pipe from where it entered the home to the water heater. They even took the water meter itself! The basement floor was flooded from the dripping water.
When I filed a police report, I was told that this was going on "all over town", typically with homes that were left unoccupied for at least a few days in a row.
The total value of the scrap pipe was probably no more than $20-45, but the people doing this were generally drug addicts just looking for something they knew they could turn in for cash quickly and easily.
Therefore, I'd advise people to treat even an empty, unoccupied house the same way you would a fully furnished one. EG. Don't neglect to arm an alarm system, just because you think there's "nothing of value inside anymore, anyway".
You should call A/C Cages at 407-446-9259. They are in Florida where the crimes are terrible. They ship nation wide and are the ONLY company out there who has a guarentee on their products let alone they are the only licensed and insured company too. We had 5 units stolen from our warehouse and in less then a week, A/C Cages had installed their cages over the units. We also installed cameras that same week only to catch 4 thieves that very week they installed the cages. We caught all 4 theives getting beyond pissed off because they coulndt break into the cages. lol Go to www.ProtectYourAC.com to save your a/c units too.
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