I’ve got several projects (all inner city locations) that I’ve done over the past 10 years that I can’t keep the copper downspouts on. They get stolen almost as soon as they’re replaced. The solutions I’ve tried so far are: 1)having a break-away joint about 8′-10′ above the ground so only the bottom part gets stolen and the gutter doesn’t get damaged 2)Adding extra straps (which probably slowed them down, but just gave ’em more salvage weight) 3)replacing the bottom 6′ or so with pvc painted to match (hideous) and 4)using galvanized downspout painted at a body shop to look like copper (looked authentic enough that they got stolen, too).
Any suggestions will be appreciated.
gl
Work hard, play hard, sleep hard, wear glasses if you need ’em.
Replies
Well... let's see... copper=good electrical conductor. But I'm not suggesting anything by that. ;-)
Yeah -already thought of that, but the electricity doesn't differentiate between the good guys and the bad guys.
gl
Work hard, play hard, sleep hard, wear glasses if you need 'em.
Yeah... I know... Too bad those electrons don't know any better.
Though it would be fun if you only knew when the theft would occur... It would be great to sit there inside the house looking out and flip the switch as the a--holes were dismantling your work. Of course you'd have to make the electrical contact with the downspouts look "accidental" just in case the thieves got a little too "overdone"...
My (all too obvious) suggestion would be not use copper at all. It's too valuable at the junkyards. Unless you are required to use certain materials/designs by neighborhood associations/etc. Can something be painted to look copper?
Look at my orginal post - I tried that and the galvanized looked so good it got stolen. The thief just didn't get much at the recycler.
gl
Work hard, play hard, sleep hard, wear glasses if you need 'em.
Edited 4/25/2002 6:36:30 PM ET by grantlogan
Pass on projects in inner city locations.
-- J.S.
John - I get paid everytime I have to replace them. I'd just like to work on a new project for a change. Also, downtown's where the cool old buildings are.
gl
Work hard, play hard, sleep hard, wear glasses if you need 'em.
Edited 4/25/2002 6:35:54 PM ET by grantlogan
Try getting some name plate made up with "stolen from xxxx adr" and rivet them to the downspounts. Or even better get some metal stamps and mark them.
Then notify the recyclers.
Good idea - I forgot that I tried that, too. I engraved "STOLEN FROM ..........." on the back. When the thieves smashed the spouts up, they folded them so you couldn't see the engraving. The recyclers are less than helpful. They never can remember what the guy looked like that brought the scrap in. One building owner had his employees spread out and go to all the recyclers and wait for someone to come in with copper downspout (he arrived for work one morning to find his downspouts missing). The guy came in, the police were called, but it couldn't be proven those were the actual downspouts although everyone present knew they were. The thief sold the downspots for less than $5 and went on his way. In this case the engraving would have worked, but you can't depend on the recyclers to turn anyone in. They probably pay for a lower grade if they suspect its stolen goods.
gl
Work hard, play hard, sleep hard, wear glasses if you need 'em.
epoxy
I don't understand.
gl
Work hard, play hard, sleep hard, wear glasses if you need 'em.
Rig the alarm system to them . Or, maybe you could set up some C4 to go off upon movement.
Sometimes the recyling yards will turn someone in, at least in Oakland, CA. I was working in the environmental division of a shipping company. We got a call from a recycler located a few blocks away under the elevated interstate. They wanted to know if we were missing a 6-foot diameter brass propellor because a couple of guys had just pushed one (on a dolly) up to their scales. So, on the bright side, at least they are only stealing downsprouts!
Electrons don't necessarily stop the theives as there have been cases of thousands of feet of transmission line being taken off the towers. Presumably, those were the more technicially compentent theives.
David Thomas Overlooking Cook Inlet in Kenai, Alaska
CCTV
Try eliminating the downspouts with those gutter fans that are designed just for eliminating down spouts.
I grew up in the property management business in Pgh. Pa. and we dealt with this kind of thing all the time. Some of the neighborhoods went downhill really fast after the mills closed in the early 80s. "Midnight Plumbing Inc." once shut off the water main to a building in the middle of the night and quietly removed all the copper plumbing in the sub basement. This was a building with 30 units. Found out when the phone started ringing at 4:30 a.m. and tenants had no water. Cut the lines right at where they entered the floors. We ended up replacing them in plastic.
Once had somebody enter a vacant unit over a drug store. He cut a hole in the floor and ceiling with a sawzall and dropped down into the pharmacy. Overdosed and expired inside. He must of needed a fix real bad.
I've a friend who's a truckdriver and he told me a story where he was making a meat delivery in NYC. Real slow moving stop and go traffic. A guy with a battery saw climbs under the trailer and cuts a hole in it and was dropping the meat down on the pavement where his buddy in a car was picking it up. Absolutely amazing.
Yup, but there's an up side. You never need a dumpster when working in NY. Just box up the crap, tape the boxes shut, and put them in the back of a pickup truck. By the time you get back upstairs, they'll be gone.
-- J.S.
A small cattle fence charger, painful but not lethal, attached to the downspouts closest to the road. Warn everyone who lives there and leave them hooked up for a week or so. One good grab should cure the offender for life.
This is how I'm leaning. I don't know about the legalities or moralities.
around here they'll even snip the ground wire if they can find it
I live in the inner city and have expected to lose a downspout or two...lucky so far. I believe my luck is related to the fact that word has got around about the one person who did try to burglarize our house. I believe that he is eligible for parole about a year from now. He looked very humble through the sight on my pistol....looked even more humble while the cops snickered at him as they slapped the cuffs on.
It's a self help kind of world....but keep it with in the law...the downspouts are cheaper than a criminal defense attorney.
A popular but proverbial southern solution is to chain a pit bull to the downspout and prominently display the sign: " PIT BULL HAS AIDS ". It also helps if the dog is dosed with crystal meth and foams at the mouth.
If a pit bull is not available you might try a lawyer. The only problem being that you might be accused of cruelty to the thief. Some things are just beyond the pale.
I knew of a guy once who had a good sized pistol collection in his garage, all well locked up. Scumbags kept trying to get in. So, he wired up a shotgun with a blank charge to one of those light sensor thingies that shops have in their doorways. The shotty went of quite a few times, then dropped to zero. I imagine for a dirtbag doing the ninja routine up the drive it woulda scared 10 years outa him.
Wood Hoon
Or the cruelest of all tricks...a lawyer with a pistol....that's me.
Bravo. Lawyer with a pistol. Now thats a picture.
OK, so this bozo repeatedly takes the bottom section of downspout. Given that there's more downspout and even gutters to be had above, he's probably too lazy to do anything that requires climbing. Perhaps some sort of fancy wrought iron guard around the downspout, like the ones you sometimes see around parkway trees, would help. It just has to make getting the bottom section of copper at least as hard as getting the rest of it. Good lighting all night long is also a deterrent.
-- J.S.