Vandals!!!

fastfredracing · 06-07-2008, 04:47 PM

Hey , what in the hell is this world coming to . Me and my buddy sold off a bunch of our extra porsche parts last year , and bought another renatl property. We having been working our asses off for the last 7 months, (nights and weekends , we both operate our own buisness during the day) . The house is a about a month from completion, and is starting to look kind of sweet, but when I unlock the door at 6 am this morning to go in and start working, I am greeted with gang graffiti everywhere. The little hot dogs even spray painted the carpet. They took a 5 gallon bucket of paint, and threw it against the wall, all over the floor. I guess we are lucky, though , it could have been much worse, as burning vacant buildings has become a favorite pastime in the area as well.
I can guarantee that I can outpaint any punk gangster , and we covered most of the damage in a couple of hours. Except for the carpet. I swear , no matter how hard you try to get ahead in life, there is always a little surprise waiting around the corner. I just hope that they dont come back , we now have secured the place like fort knox until there are tenants in there. The poor neighbor got his white corsica spary painted as well, poor guy. We are pretty decent people, cause no trouble and keep to ourselves. I dont think this was aimed at us though, I dont know anybody in the area, probably just a random act of vandalism. Oh well, thanks for listening

Zeke · 06-07-2008, 05:49 PM

That sucks. How about a lipstick camera in the ceiling? Did you leave a night light on that is not switchable? Motion lights outside? My house looks like a shopping center all night long, every night.

Paul K · Paul K's Garage

They must have left fingerprints?

fastfredracing · 06-07-2008, 06:11 PM

Yeah, We always leave a light on , and rotate which light as well, I think that once they figure out that the place is vacant, you are a sitting duck. This time , they will need power tools to get in, and I am sure they will break a sweat trying.

fastfredracing · 06-07-2008, 06:12 PM

Its funny, too about the finger prints, they must have mistaken a can of spray adhesive for paint, and there were glue finger prints all over our kitchen counter.

legion · 07:33 PM

That's too bad.

You should have called the police and gotten some pictures taken before you fixed it.

You might also have considered filing a claim with your insurer. You probably could have at least gotten the carpeting replaced. It's probably too late now that you have repaired most of the damage.

Instead of leaving one light on, leave several on timers that turn on and off at random times. Change the timings every time you are in the house.

Edit: Oh, and consider throwing a radio on one of those timers...

HardDrive · 06-07-2008, 07:29 PM

Nuthin like a Rottweiler to say, "Move along kid".

LakeCleElum · 06-07-2008, 09:19 PM

As former landlord, I really feel your pain.......Hopefully, someday your hard work pays off and you can move to a quiet, tranquil area and reap your reward!

Dantilla · 06-07-2008, 10:04 PM

I've had a few fixer-uppers.

The first thing I do is put a couple lights on timers, and put a boom box inside so anybody prowling around will hear noise from inside. Different lights left on every night. So far, I've never had a problem.

I would NOT file an insurance claim for something small like this. Insurers do not like covering vacant properties because of incidents like this. You will most likely get your insurance cancelled as soon as you get a check for the carpet. Not worth it.

Capt. Crunch · 06-07-2008, 10:34 PM

A friend of mine had a similar issue and he rigged a flood light and a car alarm inside a vacant building in Oakland. He also put up a sign letting the criminals know they were being recorded. That was the end of that problem..

Capt. Crunch

livi · 06-08-2008, 12:12 AM

That really sucks. Vandalism makes me absolutely furious. So meaningless. Such lack of moral. It should be punished severely.

And yes, once they have scouted the place is empty certain times a day, you are fried. Except maybe for a big dog, rigged traps or mines.

fastfredracing · 06-08-2008, 06:48 AM

I have learned that insurance companies and the courts are useless. File a claim or two and you will certianly be dropped. And the court system just takes some money,files some paper work, and makes me miss a few days of work. You have to strap on a set and suck it up in this buisness. Not for the faint of heart. I think I will install motion detector lights, and I like the idea of the car alarm. I was ready to rig up some 2x4 nail traps, but I would probably end up getting sued by the little bast#$%, that stepped on it. I do live in a quiet tranquil area. I have to travel 30 miles to the rental houses. I hate the city.

competentone · 06-08-2008, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

Hey , what in the hell is this world coming to .

Quote:

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

I have learned that insurance companies and the courts are useless. File a claim or two and you will certianly be dropped. And the court system just takes some money,files some paper work, and makes me miss a few days of work. You have to strap on a set and suck it up in this buisness.

I would agree that filing a claim with your insurance company on a relatively small item like this would not be a good idea, but I don't understand your not even bothering to get a police report filed about the incident? (Unless this building is in some cesspool of a city where the police don't even bother responding to incidents of vandalism.)

If no one is willing to take the proper steps to potentially catch the vandals, then they are taught the lesson that there really are no consequences for their actions -- which would help explain "what in hell the world is coming to"....

fastfredracing · 06-08-2008, 10:16 AM

I did file a police report, they came out, and were real helpful. They have a graffiti task force, and were taking pictures of the artists handiwork. They recognized the work. I dont believe this will be of any help to me however. Even if they were caught, bottom line is , I still have to paint, and replace carpet,( brand new carpet to boot) just the nature of the beast. The house is acutally not in that bad of an area, just in the city your are always only a couple blocks from the ghetto. There is a nice middle class family that lives right next door, and most houses on the street are well cared for etc...We are not slumlords, we try to get in working class type people, that wont destroy the place in a years time. I would live in any one of the places we have, except that I hate the city .

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

Motion lights are nice, you can get solar flood lights too, charge up during the day and run when it is dark, little bastards are liable to steal them.

Posting that there is video surveillance is almost as good as posting it and actually setting up cameras for discouraging bad behavior.

competentone · 06-08-2008, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

I did file a police report, they came out, and were real helpful. They have a graffiti task force, and were taking pictures of the artists handiwork. They recognized the work. I dont believe this will be of any help to me however.

I misunderstood from the original thread. It's good to hear you did take the step of contacting the police.

Even if the vandals are caught, as you note, it won't likely be of any help to you. There is a slight chance, if the perps are caught, you could end up being paid a few dollars in court-ordered restitution. The best thing though, if they are caught, is that it may put a damper on any growing feeling they may have about their "invincibility" -- and that could go a long way in making us all a lot safer.