break in

To everyone at the Mirador we was broken into late wednesday night through our front door we have had most off our goods stolen tv,dvd,e t c even down to our cutlery,Sue is going out today with her friend and kids.we are now going to have a steel gate/door put up ASAP.I would like everyone to be very vigilante at all times locking all doors after you e t c,i dont want anyone else to have the upset we have had ,kind regards to you all Andy Sue xxx

Hi Sue thats terrible news best of luck when you go over,l thought the front doors were quite secure,you are right everyone there should make sure the outer doors are always shut.l also think the community should look at changing the garage entry system as the builder had hundreds of keys to enter the garage and once in there they can get to any floor/apartment etc.if you find a good secure steel gate/door let me know. once again sorry to here your bad news Regards Pat.

Hi Sue,

Sorry to hear about your break in, did they use a key or was the door smashed in?  We left our apartment on Thursday morning and other than hearing the lifts in our section (E) going up and down, there didn't seem to be any different activity going on, we didn't hear or see anthing suspitious. My daughter is going out tomorrow for a week.

I know a few days ago, we were told by our neighbour that there is a group of men over by the derelict house, opposite the garage, who are there late in the night and the police were called out to them and they were taken away, however I noticed they were back  a few days later.

Hope you get things sorted out.

Jill and Chris

 

Hi Sue

Sorry to hear about the break in, it must have been very upsetting. The point about entry from the garage is one that has crossed my mind as well. For those of us who are on the ground floor it is particularly worrying because of the very poor arrangement for the kitchen door. I think most of us have grills now and I would recomend anyone who have not had them fitted to do so. Also I notice that the door at the top of the stairs to the basement have a lock as well as the one at the bottom in the basement but I've not got any keys to them and wonder if anyone else has either. If we had keys and took the trouble to lock the doors we would be helping to protect each other. I'm out on the 30th July for four weeks and I will talk to Rob about keys.

I hope it will all be resolved for you soon Sue and thank you for the warning.

Ken

Hi everyone

 

Just to try to make things clear, we don't know how the thieves got into the complex. We all agree that the garage is vulnerable but we have no idea how we are going to get around this.  We (#Rob and myself) have been to the administrator to see if the locks on the doors at the bottom of the stair wells which lead to the garage could be changed to some system whereby you need a key to enter from the garage but can open it without a key from inside.  We have been informed however, that these doors are firedoors and should not be locked. If there was a fire in the garage area and someone was trapped the community would be liable and could be taken to court or sued.

At the moment we're trying to think of something which will get around this problem. If anyone has any ideas please let us know.

There were actually 3 break ins last week and goods were stolen from all 3 properties. We're getting estimates at the moment for wrought iron grills (sold ones not the concertinas) for the apartment front doors as this is how the thieves entered the flats. Let me know if you want an estimate because obviously the more we get the cheaper the doors will be.

regards

Doreen

Hi everyone,

The garage entry problems are a serious issue and in my opinion we probably need a professional risk assessment undertaken to ensure that the solution is the right one.

The inability to deny access to the apartments from the garage is by far and away the most serious aspect of this and I think we should have the locks on the doors in the garage - key to get in only - after all there is no other access elsewhere where you do not use a key - anyone in the garage would therefore know they must have a key.

Yes - there is a fire risk in the garage but surely it is minimal - it would require an inferno to close off both vehicle in/out doors and anyone needing rapid access to the stairs will of course have a key with them if they were about legitimate business.

Come on lets get this sorted once and for all.

Regards, Malcom & Linda

Hi

Whilst everyone is in agreement that the garage is the vulnerable point of entry into the apartments. If we lock off the entry doors to the stair wells the insurance is nul and void and therefore we can't possible do this regardless of how minimal the risk of anyone being trapped in the garage is.

regards

Doreen

 

Hi Doreen and all Mirador members if they are getting into the garage through the main car entry doors  (As when l went to get my garage key off the builder he had a bag with hundreds of the garage keys in) then the entry system will have to be changed.Regards Pat.

Hi,

There must be a solution to the real problem (security) which accomodates the fire risk - hence my original comment regarding a proper risk assessment.

Can a respite from fire not be created between the existing doors and the stairwell and lift access. Immediate security followed by access only by those duly authorised to enter the apartment blocks?

Regards, Malcolm & Linda 

Hi

We don't know what the answer to the problem will be at the moment, it's still being looked at. However, the keys to the garage aren't the problem. Remember there are almost 200 flats anyway so there are always going to be a lot of keys arounds. We've asked for the delay on the door closures to be shortened and in the meantime when someone comes in/out with their car we're asking that that wait to see that the door is closed behind them before parking/leaving. At least that way we can see that no-one is coming in and out that shouldn't be.

regards

Doreen

 

Hi everyone

We were one of the unlucky ones who were broken into. Luckily (for want of a better word) we arrived in Spain on Friday 20th July, two days or so after it happened. They had got in via the front door by 'jemmying' the lock. When we had a new lock put in, the fitter noticed that we had a vital bit of the door lock missing. It is the bit that the actual lock goes into and it is a simple metal box that sits in the door frame. This would have made it very difficult for the thieves to ;jemmy' the wood as it is a solid piece of metal. Please everyone check your door locks and make sure that you have this piece fitted. I know that Sue who was also broken into did not have this piece either? I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but it would be interesting to know if there is a any link between all those who were broken into. If it turns out that all had this piece of equipment missing, how did the thieves know who to target?

Thankfully, after 10 days of not being able to sleep properly, we finally had a grill put on the front door and I have to say it looks rather nice and I slept a whole lot better after that. Thanks to Rob and his friend Malcolm for helping us out (as usual Rob!!) we really wouldn't have known where to begin to get things sorted.

Although this was quite upsetting and did not make for a good start to our holiday, we still managed to have a lovely time and the Almoradi festival was amazing - definately worth seeing.

Best wishes

Sandra

 

 

 

 

Hi everyone

We're now aware that no-one has these steel boxes fitted. They all should have been fitted when the doors were put on.  We obviously don't know why the particular flats were targeted apart from the fact that they are all at the ends which are not overlooking the pool.

Glad you still enjoyed your holiday Sandra.

regards

Doreen

Hi all yes very interesting that the bullders never fitted that very important part of the lock,similar with the kitchen doors there should be 2 centre parts fitted so that when you shut the door the centre movement is engaged.the doors would not be easily pushed in the middle.just another example of the builders making it easy for his mates to get in.(Whoops what am l trying to say) Regards Pat.

You have to be really careful Pat, you can't accuse without proof unfortunately.

regards

Doreen

Hi All,

The metal plate that has been mentioned costs 3euros (probably gone up by now with the demand) and Les from apartment G3B (tel 0034966194211) fitted ours and I would highly recommend him for his workmanship in all areas. He’s now done most of the snagging for us that the Builders should have done had they not done a complete disappearing act and all at very reasonable rates and excellent results.

 In addition to this plate some people have fitted an additional lock on the front door with a very strong bolt attachment. This I believe will make it very difficult for anyone to break in and is also visible enough to act as a deterrent. The cost of the lock is, I believe, 14 euros plus the cost of fitting. Much better than spending 320 euros for a security grill that I for one would imagine that en-mass would  make the complex resemble a prison.

With regard to waiting for the garage door to completely close behind you, I don’t know whether anyone else has noticed but this seems to take an awfully long time. I’m sure that as owners we would be conscientious and have the patience to wait but I’m doubtful whether all visitors would. The same applies to the main doors to the street where the present mechanism allows the doors to stay open at about halfway to two thirds, consequently the doors were forever being left open. It was discussed at the meeting that this mechanism should be disabled and the timer adjusted on the garage door, however a week and a half after the break-ins and a week after the meeting the situation was still the same. Does anyone know whether this has now been fixed.

 

Regards, Helen

Hi Helen

As with everything in Spain, things take time to be done and nothing is done immediately. Everything is in hand with the new administrator but because of the amount of jobs that need doing it will take time. With regard to the garage doors and the timer, yes the owners will be vigilant, however I would suggest that visitors don't have access to the garage. There's plenty of parking space around the building for visitors cars.

As regards to the metal grills on the doors they actually look quite smart and certainly not like being in a prison. If you look at any of the villas throughout Spain you'll see that they all have metal grills on the doors.

Please also be aware that it's not permitted to tout for business on this site.

regards

Doreen

 

Hi Doreen,
I had heard that some cars parked outside the building  have had damage done to their tyres therefore because of this i would always reccommend my visitors to use the garage.
Also my intention was not  to "tout" for business but to reccommend to others someone who in my opinion did a  great job  and didn't rip me off. I sincerely hope others will do the same.

Regards, Helen.

I quite agree, nothing worse than being ripped off, but it's possible to recommend someone without giving their prices for the work done.

As far as people having tyres damaged, we've not heard anything about that.

regards

Doreen

Hi Doreen,
I think if you read my posting again you will realise the prices mentioned are costs for the parts only, not the cost of the work involved to fit them. Sorry if i have mislead anyone.

Helen.

No problem

regards

Doreen