Sitting on the couch at 1 AM, wife and kids asleep already, when the alarm panel announced "Basement Window Open". Uh oh. I hadn't heard anything, but I'm one floor up and a good distance from some of the basement windows. My closest accessible firearm was my .38 J-frame, so I grabbed that and a flashlight and tiptoed downstairs. I've thought about clearing a house before, but I'd never practiced it in this home and I've never had any training. Some things I learned in the heat of the moment:

- Have a firearm handy. This seems obvious, but I was happy I didn't have to waste time digging around. I'm not one of those "gun in every bookcase and drawer" guys, but I did have almost immediate access to a gun. The J-frame is less capable than almost all of my other handguns, but the accessible gun is better than the gun still in the range bag that you forgot to move back into the bedside safe. DOH!
- Have a flashlight handy, but CHECK THE BATTERIES REGULARLY. I have a Surefire light that I love and keep in a basket by the front door. The problem is, my kids love it too. It is the go-to flashlight for late night dog walks, camping, movie nights in the dark, you name it. Turns out, the batteries were dead and nobody had told me, nor had I thought to check it. I have other lights, but they required a little digging and I was already downstairs when I found out the batteries were toast. I didn't want to take the time to go find another light.
- Hallways stink. The basement stairs are at one end of the house. At the bottom is a long, narrow hallway for about half the length of the home that then opens up into a large room. There are rooms off the hallway, but you have to cover a good bit of distance before you get to the first doorway. I felt very exposed moving down that corridor. I initially turned on the hall light, but I didn't want to be walking in the light while someone watched me from the dark, so I turned it off and proceeded in dark.
- Gun position. When you watch the movies, they're always moving through houses with the gun out in front of them. This immediately struck me as a bad idea when I approached the first doorway. Protecting the gun in the moment became a high priority. The last thing I wanted was somebody grabbing the gun as I entered a room. I ended up holding it close to my side in a "just drawn" position where I could protect it and create space with my body and other arm if needed.
- Proceed slowly. I took quite a while to clear everything, stopping to listen as I went and slowly working sight lines into each room. Once I had cleared the main areas of each room in the dark, I went back and turned lights on in each room and checked again. My son's bedroom is in the basement off of the hallway, but he is away at college. If he had been home, I would have moved more expeditiously.

As you've probably surmised, there was no intruder in the house. The culprit was a glued-on window sensor that had decided its adhesive life was through. It fell, breaking contact and making the system think the window was open. A fun adventure for the evening, and a good reminder for me to make sure my gear is in order. I was really missing that flashlight as I moved through the basement, and my more capable guns weren't doing me much good still sitting in my range bag in the basement safe.

Kindly do yourself and your family a favor, jaaron11.

Next time call 911.

And then get a dog. There's a reason they are referred to as Advance Warning Systems.

Best,

Yeah those sensors falling off suck. Especially when it's 3am and the sensor showing the fault is the downstairs sliding glass door. At least you learned lessons.

Gather the family, a firearm, and call 911. That’s my plan. Everything in my house without a pulse can be replaced. I wouldn’t mind replacing my front door anyway.

Clearing your own home is to be avoided, but sometimes there is no other option.

One time we came back home after the Olympic torch came through town. It was arriving that day for the opening ceremonies in SLC. Every single LEO from most of the state was on duty along the parade route. This was barely 4 months after 9/11, so security was heavy, tight, and paranoid.

The clue was one of the dogs sitting calmly on the front lawn as we drove up. This was the German Shepard / Husky mix, and she was protective. The front door was open halfway.

No cop was going to show up at our house, so I went in and cleared it.

I figured chances were as close to zero as could be that anyone was inside. And, nobody was.

But I'll tell you another story that others here have probably experienced. One night at about 2 am the dog woke me up. I could hear someone downstairs. All the bedrooms were upstairs. I grabbed the P229 and flashlight, and went to the top of the stairs (flashlight off), and yelled down something like "Who's there?".

It was my teen daughter sneaking in well after curfew. And there I was with my Sig pointed down the stairs.

After that, I always, and I do mean always, snoozed on the couch until she came home when she went out after dark. I discussed with her exactly why, too. She was not an easy teen.

I highly recommend taking a good training class first on basic pistol, then on defensive use of your pistol. You'll learn how to clear corners, move through a house, and use cover. IDPA or similar are actually quite good practice. I suggest though not playing for speed, rather concentrate on tactics and accuracy. Think of the scenarios as being real, with your kids as the "hostage" etc.

Bullets seem to hug walls, so if you have to go down the long hallway stay away from walls.

Think about what kinds of simple and inexpensive things you can do to improve your home's security. e.g. motion detector lights outside, or even places like the basement so you don't have to approach a darkened room where an intruder might be.

Also consider what the family plan is when there is a suspected intruder. Do you gather everyone in one location? Do you set up a defensive position to defend the bedrooms? Do you arm your wife? Who dials 911?

In a lot of places the police are happy to respond in your kind of situation where there may be an intruder. It's your safest option if available.

I am not going second guess what you did. Sounds like you did well under the circumstances. Yes a flashlight for that dedicated purpose is a must. I have a faulty Surefire I need to send back to them for service.
I understand not everyone can have or wants a dog. Mine are certainly an asset in the event of something like this.
Glad it was a false alarm.

There are light switches now that have remote controls. The main switch is installed where the regular switch is now. You use it just like any regular light switch. Then there is a second (or third or fourth) switch that looks like a regular switch but it is battery powered and not connected to wiring. You can put it anywhere.

Thus you can have remote switches in your bedroom for example, to turn on the lights elsewhere in the house. If you suspect an intruder, light up the basement and first floor while you're all upstairs. Chances are the intruders will leave, and meanwhile you're hidden in the dark while they're brightly exposed.

I wrote a very similar lessons learned, "bump in the night" thread about 15 years ago.

I lived in the upstairs unit of a duplex and my downstairs neighbor was a quiet keep to herself, mid 20s female. We were friendly and regularly hung out in the backyard with our dogs after work.

I woke up in the middle of the night and heard male voices in my driveway which had never happened before. I couldn't find a flashlight but knew exactly where the Sig was and walked out onto my 2nd floor balcony in my boxers to see what was going on. I didn't feel like I was in immediate danger being on the 2nd floor, but I did have a pistol in my hand which could not be seen behind the balcony wall. I was trying to figure out who it was, when the 2 cops noticed me and lit me up with their flashlights.

That night wasn't a false alarm, someone had broken Emily's bedroom window and she and her dog woke up and scared them off.

I had a similar takeaway as OP, you need a working flashlight by the bed. Weapon mounted lights aren't enough, you still need a hand held working flashlight.

One night I heard a sound like a door closing. So I grabbed the USP and set a position at the bedroom door. The only truly precious possession in the home is Mrs. mr kablammo. She was behind me, asleep. I took a knee and just LISTENED for a good while. The floor is tiled so sound will carry. Also, there is a nightlight in the hall. So I was looking for shadow or the light being blocked. Nothing. So I quietly went to an ambush position in the hall and LISTENED for a good while, on a knee. Nothing.

Time is on your side. Be patient. It's your house. No need for you to give up a defensive advantage. If someone is in, he will expose himself.

Still in dark, I checked the front door by touch. Locked. After listening outside of the rooms for the office, bathroom, and guest bedroom I scanned each. Next I checked the garage entrance, locked. Finally deciding that nobody was in the house I turned on the lights from the hall ambush and waited again. After this then I checked each room carefully, under bed, behind shower curtain, closets, windows, cabinets.

In retrospect, I could have woken Mrs. mr kablammo and had her down on the floor ready to dial 911. She will not touch a gun.

For your house, is there a door that closes on the basement stairs? Does it lock? You can close the door and lock it or put an obstacle in front of it. After that, wait it out for the police or daylight. Maybe you can install a light with a motion detector on the stairs or in the basement. If the light goes on then you know from a distance and can isolate the threat. A dog is a good suggestion.

The thought of a BTK type scares the hell of me and there will be no warning shots.

There is no better alarm system than a dog. My dogs become alert and start whining and staring out the front window when my wife arrives home and unlocks the front gate to the property--about a quarter mile away from the house. You can adjust the sensitivity of the alarm by selecting the breed. Don't get a Yorkie unless you want to be woken up with frantic barking every time a mouse passes gas in your vicinity. As a bonus, nothing tells a burglar "go someplace else" like a barking dog inside the house.

I've been chastised before here on my opinions on this. If I hear a bump in the night, I'm grabbing my flashlight and 1911 and investigating every inch of my home.
If I thought I heard a window breaking in one of my childrens bedrooms you couldn't stop me.
When I had my 75lb Boxer she was my first alarm.
If I thought I had an intruder in my home, I'm not going to cower inside my bedroom and call 911 especially if I have children in the home.
One of my main duties as a husband and father is to protect my family!

I should have included it in the OP, but we do indeed have a dog. He did not alert at all, and, like I said, I'd heard nothing. My suspicion was a faulty alarm from the get-go. If the dog was barking or I'd heard any noise, I would have stationed myself at the top of the stairs and called 911. I should also mention that the bottom of our basement windows are 8+ feet off the ground, and anybody trying to access them would have to climb up our deck or prop something against the house. Either of those actions would almost certainly have alerted the dog. I treated the situation as if someone had tried to enter, but I also knew that was the less likely scenario.

Last time my alarm went off, it was a weekend night and I had been asleep 30 to 45 minutes so not in a real deep sleep. It's a bit unsettling to be awakened to it going off, and kind of annoying when you're trying to get the brain fired up.

I'm behind cover and got my trusty P229 pointed at the door with phone inches away displaying camera views. Alarm company calls and says my common area glass break sensor is what triggered. I didn't hear any glass break, and I'm looking at the two common area cameras not seeing any broken windows or people. I suspect faulty sensor so I say don't call the police.

I cleared the common area which was low risk due to pre-clearing with the aforementioned cameras. No broken windows, nothing had fallen off a counter, etc. I tried to set my alarm but it won't set due to the faulty glass break sensor so I put it in bypass mode for the sensor and went back to bed. A few days later, the technician arrived and swapped out the faulty sensor.

I've practiced this drill for real one time in 21 years, 3-story house with bedrooms on the top floor. False alarm, in the wee hours, but.... My system, with motion detectors, calls the local police after a minute or two and sounds a loud, non-stop alarm that can be heard outside. My P229 is bedside full up with .357 SIG, with a S&W M39 and a full mag of hollow-point 9s downstairs locked in my desk. The SIG has a SureFire laser/light combo permanently attached. The experience was...interesting (about 4AM)...like the Chinese curse "may you live in interesting times." Get the wife and pups to a safe spot, out of any line of fire (dog's are already going nuts). Alarm company calls to confirm and I have a hard time remembering the phone password (note to self, engrave this in your memory) - cops are inbound because I paused too long. And because I say it might be real but unknown. Listen to all the wonderful advice of "stay where you are," and I say yes, indeedy, and mention I'm armed. Consternation on the other end, but they get over it and stay on the line. Check the panel for zones (basement) and turn off alarm. Nothing registers on any of the cameras. Click the gun light to laser-only, lock the door and get behind heavy furniture, in the dark. Five or ten minutes or so later lights and sirens out front and doorbell rings. I go downstairs, in the dark, gun in hand listening for goblins. Thankfully remembering to put the gun on the desk before I open the door.

Hilarity ensues for a couple of hours with filing reports, cops all over the house looking under beds and in closets, checking my gun and CCW, and determine with the alarm company a basement door fault, everything locked up. Coffee and handshakes all around, with I have to say an amazing group of very professional LEOs. Thank the gods it was a company-generated false alarm, because I expect that visit would be only slightly less expensive than booking a cruise on the Queen Mary 2 in the Queen Suite if it was self-generated. Mulling it over later, my very last choice would be to wander through my own house, in the dark, with a loaded gun even on DA. No one else here but me and spouse, but to say you are on hign alert would be - how shall I say - an understatement. I could easily have shot my refrigerator if it beeped or clicked, although I like to think I would have cautiously lit it up first. Maybe. I'm now more acutely aware of security, and what I need to do in reality versus what I might have to do if on my own, but I can say that any day of the week I would let somebody else do housecleaning given the option. Considering the time and paperwork for a bogus call, having to shoot someone in your home even in self-defense would be a legal nightmare even if successful, and even if that was the only outcome. Better than being carried by six, and I wouldn't hesitate to protect my family, but to be avoided at all costs except direct threat to life.

Seems like a job for the German Shepherd.

I cleared my house a few times due to noises, and then I changed to a self-installed alarm with cameras. I determined that walking down a 'fatal funnel' stairway directly in line with the front door was not prudent. So, cameras and the app allow me to see if the police are needed.

Two houses ago in Oregon, my alarm went off in the middle of the night. This was probably 12 years ago and alarm systems weren't as fancy as they are today. It was a small 2-story duplex, so not much floorspace to cover.

I grabbed my G17 with my SureFire X-300 and checked the upstairs bedrooms first. All good. Then went downstairs lighting my path withe the press-button on my SureFire. I turned it on just quick enough to see if there was someone there and moved down to the ground level, listening for movement. Nobody downstairs either.

Opened the door to the garage and discovered that my garage door was open. For some reason, it opened in the middle of the night. Don't know how.

Silenced the alarm, closed the garage door and reset the alarm. I also unplugged the garage door opener in case someone was outside with a clickers that had a similar code or intercepted my clicker signal.

After that, I always make a point to unplug my garage door opener when I travel for extended days, or on a long distance trip. My old opener was made in the 1990's.

It's probably unnecessary today. My current home has WiFi garage door openers (MyQ).

Tony.

quote:

Opened the door to the garage and discovered that my garage door was open. For some reason, it opened in the middle of the night. Don't know how.

Quite possibly because of this. If you have this or a similar type of garage door opener -
https://imgs.search.brave.com/...mYv/cy1sMTIwMC53ZWJw

- take note that when operating it, an edge can get stuck, barely noticeable, usually the top edge. Then if your house has a power fluctuation, it could spring it into action.

Don't ask me how I know.

I realize many here are anti Siri HomePod and Amazon Echo. While I understand the concern and I am not intending judgement of that choice, I have researched the technology and decided that the Echo is ok for me. An added benefit of this functionality, paired with ubiquitous use of smart bulbs, is that I can fire up almost every light in the house with a single voice command. While nothing is assured in these scenarios, my suspicion is that all of the lights coming on would send the bad actor scurrying away for an easier target.

I agree with assuring a good flashlight is handy for a backup, and of course for power outages. I prefer a VERY bright, but slightly lower reach (less directional) light for inside -- I don't need quite the reach, but I want to light the whole room broadly. I chose the NITECORE TM9K.

Thank you and the others for these valuable insights.