Structural Member Wood:
Structural member wood is commonly found in 2×4, 4×4, 4×8, 6×8 lengths, as well as a few others. You should
always have a few million of these in various sizes lying around for general-purpose home repair, as well as Zed outbreaks. They are cheap, fairly strong, and no hardware store would be complete without A LOT of them.
They are easy to work with, and anyone who took a woodworking class in high school should be able to very well with these. While these won't stop the advance of the undead forever, they are a good start. They are also highly useful in reinforcing specific points of the home, such as reinforcing and backing window barricades and doors.
Plywood:
Same as above, but you trade off strength for area. However, higher-quality plywood doesn’t trade off as much strength, and indeed some plywood is actually
stronger than structural member wood. Like structural member wood, you should always have a large quantity of this material lying around anyway for general home maintenance.
Probably best for blocking off your upstairs windows and not letting light out. Again, higher-quality materials should be selected whenever possible; Poor-quality plywood can be broken with a good kick - taking the time to get high-quality materials can mean the difference between life and death.Do not confuse plywood with particle board; Particle board will serve you in every bad way, and should NEVER be used in an exterior application, or anywhere where moisture will be present.
Sandbags:
There is a reason that armies all over the world rely on these. If they can stop a bullet, then they can stop zombies. These are great because you can fairly easily set them up and they are available at most hardware stores for flood protection. They can also be used to make existing walls higher. The only problems I can see is that YOU can construct an unstable wall. Nothing worse than having your fortress wall pinning you in so that the undead can get at your yummy insides without a fight.However, the sandbags can be partly stabilized by good construction planning and by placing them inside a fence line on both sides to prop them up. Instead of these, you could also use dog food bags, fertilizer, or even corpses. They are also useful during flooding (such as a hurricane or broken water line).
Cinder Blocks:
Same as above but these are for your more permanent home. Why barricade when you can make your very own wall? These can be reinforced into the ground using cement and re-bar. These would make a decent standalone wall. One downside is that they're heavy, so carrying a large enough number of them to your fortress may be difficult.
Bricks: 
One of mankind’s oldest building materials, bricks are essentially artificially formed rocks. With proper construction, a brick wall is just that- Brick. Practically impenetrable to all but the most determined adversaries. However, brick walls take time to erect, and in the process those doing so will be exposed. Also, it requires a degree of skill not possessed by the average person; A proper bricklayer should at least supervise the process.One of the great advantages is that, circumstances permitting, survivors can make their own bricks, with quality and quantity reflecting tools, materials and skill level. Master brick makers with perfect materials and state-of-the-art kilns can make perfect bricks, while average citizens can still make at least low-quality baked adobe (still better than pure adobe, which is far better than nothing).
This material is fairly sturdy and also fairly easy to find. It can be used to cover windows, reinforce doors, and serve many other functions.
Concrete:
Reinforced concrete (concrete with rebar in the middle, a grid of iron, stops it snapping), while being quite heavy, is very cheap and takes 24-48 hours to dry. At more than 3 feet thick, it can stop .50 caliber bullets, hand grenades, and cars (which are likely to be your only threats behind said wall). It is also very cheap, which makes it ideal to build your gargantuan fortress out of. Cheap, fast, strong. What's not to like?
Dressers, Desks And Tables:
Not a bad idea if you wake up to the screams of your neighbors being devoured to throw some furniture in front of your most obvious entrance, but I'd go with raw construction materials over a dresser or plywood office furniture any day.
Chain-Link Fences:
Chain-link fencing (also called Cyclone fencing) can be used to stop hostile survivors from taking apart your sandbags and zombies from getting in, provided it is properly built and maintained. Plus, it looks pretty intimidating with razor wire on top. Chain-link fences can be found around your neighborhood and used to reinforce your windows. Along with steel poles, you'll be able to fashion your home into a well hardened target! ALTERANATIVE APPLICATIONS: If you run an electrical wire through it, it can serve as an electric fence. Chain link (the material not fence) can also be wielded to car windows, house window with metal frames or other objects or frames made of metal. And finally, you can shoot through it!
Abandoned Vehicles:
There will be a great number of these around following Z-day. Obviously they would only be suitable for perimeter defense. The downside is you can't really stack them on top of one another, unless know how to operate the crane (especially the electromagnet) without a great deal of effort.
You can also stack cars with any medium or larger forklift. You can hook a tow-cable up to one, and with proper ramps hand-crank/winch them in stacks several cars high. That said, they’re not of much use oriented in the normal alignment: There’s plenty of space underneath to crawl under unless you dismount the wheels (and even then, it’s certaintly NOT guaranteed to keep an enemy out), and they can still get through the interior (I.E. climb in the driver’s side window, out the passenger’s window) if you just stack them. Ideally you should be placing them on their sides or their ends side-by-side. That’s a lot of work, and you won’t be winching them into place (because there’s no rolling tires); You will, almost gartenteed, require heavy lifting equipment; A crane would be useful (even without an electromagenet). (Manhandling will most liely be prohibitively diffiuclut over a large area.)
Pallets:
T
hese are made to withstand tremendous amounts of weight, and are great for windows. pallets can make excellent strong backs (see below), and most pallets can be torn apart for materials.
They are also very useful as temporary barricades and partitions; Stack them up or nail to some sort of framework and you have a wall.
Note the pallets to the left are form-fabricated; That is, plastic or wood dust/epoxy is injected into a mold. This makes it much stronger, but it can not be disassembled to be re-used in other applications as easily. The pallets at right are traditional nailed wood (probably reinforced with glue). These aren’t as strong, but can be torn apart for other applications (such as strongback and other barricading features).
Trenches:
Trenches should NEVER be used as a final defensive line (where you actually stand as the zombies close in); The zombies will simply get in, kill you, and there won’t be much you can do about it except commit suicide.
As a primary defensive line feature, however, it can be highly useful as an obstacle to zombies, raiders, and even common animals (everything except rats and snakes, and sometimes the latter). As an added defensive feature, fill it with sharpened poles, razor or barbed wire, broken farming equipment (both hand and industrial), and every sort of razor-edged junk known unto man, and, if possible, allow it to flood. While the sharps probably won’t kill the zombies outright, they can serve as highly effective entanglements, preventing the vast majority from moving out and allowing you to kill them at leisure, perhaps even with a mallet or other bludgeon, thus saving ammo. (If you're a particularly evil, cruel, or disturbed sort, let them die without your help, and listen to the beautiful music of their cries and moans of PAIN.)
Trenches will have little, if any, effect on human problems, as the kind of human inclined to breach this perimeter will likely get in no matter what you do, using anything from simple bridging vehicles to vertical insertion- Or even human sacrifice (throwing hundreds of people into the trenchworks until a pile of bodies big enough in and of itself to serve as a bridge is formed).
Things to consider:
A WWI-style tiny trench (such as the one depicted) is of very little good to you; Dig a wide trench, with a sloping inside wall allowing you to bring weaps to bear if necessary with maximum ease. Also, a slight rise (built of dirt excavated from the trenching itself approximately 3 to 4 feet high) can create an optical delusion of a smooth terrain. In the event of a massed horde, the pure weight of bodies will force a large number in. With a sufficiently deep and wide trench, thousands could be dead before they build up enough bodies to roll over their comrades.
there too, for the persistent ones.

Abatis:
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| A crude abatis created by laing down tree tops on the far side of a trenchwork. |
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| A more complex, but ironically easier to breach, stake abatis. |
An Abatis is a term in field fortification for an obstacle formed of the branches of trees laid in a row, with the tops directed towards the enemy. The trees are usually interlaced or tied with wire. Abatis are used alone or in combination with wire entanglements and other obstacles.
Although used since at least Roman Imperial times, abatis is rarely seen nowadays, having been largely replaced by wire obstacles. However, it may be used as a replacement or supplement when barbed wire is in short supply. A form of giant abatis, using whole trees instead of branches, can be used as an improvised anti-tank obstacle.
An important weakness of a wooden abatis, in contrast to barbed wire, is that it can be destroyed by fire. Also, if laced together with line instead of wire, the linee can be very quickly destroyed by such fires, after which the abatis can be quickly pulled apart by grappling hooks thrown from a safe distance. This idsavantage can be overcome, however, by using metal (such as pipes) and wire.
An important advantage is that an improvised abatis can be quickly formed in forested areas. This can be done by simply cutting down a row of trees so that they fall with their tops toward the enemy. An alternative is to place explosives so as to blow the trees down.
Additioanlly, if your out on a hill in the middle of nowhere, you get a lot of room for a perimeter and a Abatis is a must have for perimeter defense. Zombies cant really get by it, they'll sorta just fall in the pit and roll around. There would have to be enough to fill the pit up but a wee bit of fire will take care of that and you couldn't have any problems with this. Throw pipe bombs down there too, for the persistent ones.
Note: An abatis, whether wooden or metal, crude tree-top style or stake, etc, should NEVER be used as a ends in and of itself but as an adjunct to a wire emplacement, to stiffen an wire network and prevent it from be stepped over or push aside easily. It can also be used as a form for a dirt pile and/or be piled, at least partly, in dirt. Section not permanently set into the ground can be used as gates.

Barrels:
Barrels can make a serviceable wall. Just stack them up and fill them with heavy stuff like rocks and sand after ensuring the barrel 'wall' is constructed in a stable fashion.
Barrels are especially ideal for shoring up defenses in critical areas, such as checkpoints, gates, and over watch positions (machine gun nests). These will NOT blow up if set on fire, unless you fill them up with explosives, which is not recommended.
EXTREME CARE should be taken when stacking barrels to ensure that they are stable; As a general rule, barrels do not like being stacked one on top another, though with proper preparation they can be stacked effectively and serve you well. Additionally, food grade barrels should NEVER be wasted on construction; Save these for foodstuffs and water storage. (When in doubt, however, assume the barrel is NOT food grade).
Food-grade barrels (and hand-pumps, how are you going to empty that barrel?), are good for blockages; You can block a door with and fill a barrel, and the door won’t be opening anytime soon, since every gallon equals 8 lbs. But, should you change your mind, you can always empty the barrel, and move it away, instead of tear down that cinderblock wall you made, or move all those sandbags. It should be noted this isn’t intended to barricade a opening, rather than establish a perimeter.
Earth Wall:
Just like a trench, they can be excellent defensive measures but will take large amounts of time and effort to construct. Also, it will tend to want to wash away over time from rain and wind.
There are fortunately several ways to forestall this: Firstly, using some system of reinforcing the sides and possibly the top of the wall,
Options Include:
● Sandbags: Stacking sandbags in a pair if mini-walls, then filling the gap between;
● Fencing and Boards: Fencing could supply the support to the boards, which then hold in the dirt;
● Rock Cover: Simply placing a layer of rocks of decent size would reduce the wind damage, but may exaggerate water damage.
Some combination of the above will likely serve you best. regardless, an earthen wall (unlike, generally, a berm) will require constant maintainance and repair.
Advantages: The advantages of an earthen wall are significant: Easy to build and repair, can be combined with an abates and trenchwork system (indeed, the dirt out of your trenches have to go SOMEWHERE), and can even be used to HIDE more extensive defensive works (ie, burying a series of inter-connected bunkers).

Rhynoliner Spray-On Truck Bed Liner:
Here is a spray-on liner that is supposed to protect a truck from a bomb blast so it is not completely destroyed. A Discovery Channel show called SmashLab used it to protect a cinder block wall from a couple pounds of dynamite. When sprayed on both sides,
the wall was able to stand up to the bomb. Use it to add another layer of protection to walls, sandbags or even drywall in a pinch.
Tires:
Stack them like bricks, fill them and pack dirt into all the empty spaces. This makes a very sturdy wall, but don't forget to reinforce it to keep Zeds from toppling it through sheer weight of numbers. One way to do so is to offset the stack like a brick wall and to fill the tires with dirt, sand, rocks/pebbles, and etc.
WARNING: Rubber is flammable, and steps to ensure that a fire in one section of wall does not spread to others. Water generally will not stop such a fire, so an alternative should be utilized. (This is one potential fuction of filling the tires with dirt.)
PVC Pipe:
More for building traps than barricades necessarily, but highly effective none the less, especially when sharpened (IE pungi sticks); Sharpen as many as possible and build a palisade. Additionally, the open nature of the piping will cause it to act like a shunt, pouring blood out of the victim very quickly, and they will not be able to stop any of it (provided the end does not come out the other side of the zombie, or it breaks off inside). Care should be taken that PVC is plastic, and prone to breaking easily; It must be maintained continuously.
Rebar:
Reabar can come in use when making very basic fortifications, if you can pound some rebar into the ground in a weaving pattern this will stand up to some low-class offense. this will not stand up for very long, but it should give you enough time to load your guns and kill the zombie. Do not use this as your only defense, it is very basic and not very useful if used against numbers of more than two or three. byates: Additional way to use rebar would be pound into the ground at a angle and sharpen the exposed end. Put some pallets over the end to hold them up and keep separated. Let Zed impale themselves, the harder they push, the more firmly they drive the rebar into their bodies, might even get lucky and get a head jab. Either way, they get hopelessly stuck and can be finished off with flamethrowers (which will be needed either way to get rid of the bodies).
Hog Panel:
This is not something you might find in the city. These are 16 foot by 34 inch panel of 4 gauge wire welded in a grid. They would be good for area denial, fastened across doors, windows, hallways, etc. These are not as floppy as chain-link fence, more like sheet metal of a similar gauge, but easier to handle. And, it is strong enough to hold back a hog, should slow a zombie. Easier to shoot through than solid too.
Scaffolding:S

caffolding is a temporary framework used to support people and material in the construction or repair of buildings and other large structures, the purpose of which is to provide a safe place of work with safe access suitable for the work being done. It is usually a modular system of metal pipes, although it can be made out of other materials. Bamboo is still used frequently in Asia
Metal pipe-type scaffolds are usually made of steel (galvanized or otherwise) or aluminum, and come in a variety of lengths, but generally a standard diameter of 1½” (48.3 mm)
Ordinary wood boards provide a working surface for users of the scaffold and range in three thicknesses between 1½-2½ inches at 9 inches to 1 foot wide and 12½ long.
As well as boards for the working platform boards can be placed beneath the scaffolding if the surface is soft or uneven, although ordinary boards can be used, and meet the minimum requirements, they can be too long and tougher boards can be necessary.
Metal Highway Plates:These are used to cover trenches in the roadway, when they work on the road over repeated days. They’re tough enough to hold up thousands of cars day in and day out for weeks or months of construction. They come with only two holes in the huge plate (5-6’ by 10-12’), but they’re *very* heavy. You will need crowbars to take one out of the ground (usually they’re asphalted in place), and heavy equipment to lift them.
Concrete Safety Barriers (Jersey Barriers):
Safety barriers are about 1½’ to 2’ tall, and almost always have holes in them to allow fencing to be placed DIRECTLY on top. However, the barrier itself becomes a security breech if the fencing is too low (you simply step onto the barrier, step over, then step back onto the barrier, and you’re over).
Pros: Concrete. Solid. Easily available, go to your nearest freeway.
Con: Too short (but stackable), requires heavy equipment to move or position easily.
Yodock Barriers: Floating versions of the Jersey Barrier, these hollow plastic barriers can be filled with water, sand, etc to give them weight and, effectively do the same thing as the more traditional concrete Jersey Barrier.
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| Yodocks In Water. | Yodocks Being Used In A Garage. | Corner Piece. |
Perimeter Patrol Fence Panels: | | |
| Install at a 45 degree angle for constina wire attachment. Panels add another foot. | Panels add another foot. |
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| User can unload the panels from the pallet quickly. | All 210 feet of fencing fits into a medium-duty truck with ease! |
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| Reflective tape stands out in day or night. |
Temporary fencing for security, construction, or crowd control. High visibility temporary fencing packaged in self-contained pallets. You save time and labor while holding the zombies off.
• Each pallet holds 28 panels of temporary fencing – That's 210 feet of fencing, yet can be broken down and ALL of it can fit into a medium-duty truck with ease!
• Pallets eliminate the need to handle panels individually.
• At the destination, the driver can then easily unload the security fence panels from the pallet.
• This set up takes a fraction of the time of transporting the panels individually.
• Easy, one-person handling.
• Weighing only 37 pounds for each security fence panel, and with no sharp edges, these panels are easy on employees’ backs and hands – and panels are easily handled by one employee.
• Attractive and sturdy 6 ft. (height)×7.5 ft. (length) fence panels.
• Long Life-Span: Durable construction can withstand years of abuse in outdoor settings.
• High-Visibility: Bright, reflective colors stand out in day or night.
• Theft-deterrent: Protect your materials; strong, visible encing reduces the risk of theft.
• Panels add another foot of height to the top of the fence.
• They can be installed vertically or at a 45 degree angle.
• Simple, one-person installation.
• Extensions are attached to the panels using the same panel clamps that are used to attach panels to each other on the side.
• Extension panels can be attached at a 45 degree angle (perfect for attaching contintina wire) or straight up to gain a one-foot height advantage (or, even, a second full-sized section, if properly reinforced).
• “No-Climb” Extension Panels
• Add Height to the Top of Your Fence
• No climb extension panels are easily attached to top of fence.
An novel application for this product might be to stack them (use the extension connectors to attach the bottom of one to the top of another) then attach the complete unit to a set of scaffolds, giving increased stiffness and a physical barrier that zombies can eventually penetrate, but not quickly, giving defenders plenty of time to organize; Another option would be to enclose an sentry post with a remote-operated gun turret, making it incredibly difficult for anyone to get to the gun to disable it.
Architectural Fencing:
This type of fencing is quite common as front-yard fencing; However, with a modicum of effort it can be re-tasked to cover windows, denying entry to anything but the MOST determined efforts (even SWAT has difficulty with these). Depending on the way the window is configured, one might be best profited to t

urn the fencing 90º.
Tools:
Some household items that can assist you in putting up and reinforcing your chosen method of barricading. General Tool Kit:
A general tool kit is a must-have item, even outside of a zombie outbreak or natural disaster. The kit shown here, with two channel lock and five adjustable wrenches, two adjustable pliers and a pair of needle nose pliers, and a screwdriver (presumably interchangeable heads), is an excellent start, but should not be considered a “complete” kit.
Hammer:
Relatively noisy, hammer and nails do provide the advantage of being able to quickly and efficiently join two materials together; However, the proper type of nails should be used (generally the big carpentry and boxing nails) as well as the proper type of hammer (again, boxing and carpentry hammers). As a general rule, the common household hammers are intended to hang pictures, not sheets of anything.
Nail Gun:
Good for securing materials quickly and easily, but not a long term solution. Modified versions can be use as a weapon in a situation where you are building your barricade a attacked (though factory versions have safety features preventing this).
Screws: 
Screws are caught between good hold, and slow installation. They can be installed faster using an electric screwdriver (provided they have power) or a ratchet (using a ⅜” socket and interchangeable screw heads), but then sacrifice silence for speed.
Care should be exercised to select the proper sized screw for the application; Generally this means the bigger the better, but not in every case.
Bolts:
An alternative to screws, bolts can be used to secure BIG things (strong backs, for example), but drilled out holes MUST be made in advance. As a general rule of thumb, if you have time to drill out these holes, you may wish to consider using the time to other applications, but if evacuation is not an option and the structural materials MUST be reinforced, then bolts should be considered. Ensure that all excess materials are removed (ground off), and the inside/exposed section of the bolt (generally the head) are recessed (a larger hole drilled out, allowing the bolt to be flush with the wall) whenever possible.
Welding:
Simply the best method of securing anything metal. Unfortunately, you have to be good at welding and both surfaces have to be metal.
Construction
In preparation for the siege:
The first thing to do is lock your doors.
Next, cover your windows with whatever is at hand; Shelves, entertainment centers, appliances, anything heavy or immobile.
As time permits, add to your defenses; First, cut sections of plywood, steel, or any plating you can find big enough to cover the entire window. Be sure to include viewing areas (such as a couple of exposed corners). When selecting materials, the stronger, the better is a general rule. This is especially important with big picture windows. Cannibalize housing material, even tearing down non-load bearing walls, to obtain material. Bed mattresses can be used, but are not preferable.
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Strongback Construction Diagram: Blue is pre-disaster window. Brown is plywood or other large-area covering. Black is 2×4. Red is 4×4 (may consist of married 2×4’s). |
Strong back these platings; To build a strong back, make two to four sections of 2×4 the same length as the plating are wide, then a section of wood, preferably 4×4 (2×4 can be used, but will not be as strong as you should prefer) as long as the top of the window is high off the ground Nail the short sections perpendicular to the long section (one nail will generally suffice), then lay the assembly against the sheeting. The boards MUST reach fully across the window for maximum effect, and should, resources permitting, reach fully across the sheeting. The upright also needs to reach all the way to the ground in order to help support itself. The strong back ‘can’ be nailed to the wall to help hold it in place, but this should only be used to hold the strong back in place while construction, and not as a permanent measure. Shore up the strong back using furniture as a temporary measure, then time and circumstances permitting properly shore up the strong back; Taking sections of 4×4 or bigger (two sections of 2×4 can be married {joined side by side) if no 4×4 are available), cut one section long enough to reach from the middle of the window to approximately 4 to 5 feet behind it, then a second section long enough to reach from the top of the first 4×4 to the roof (2×4 is adequate for this, unless the second section is going to be extremely long). The shoring need to be anchored somehow; Against wooden floors, this is as simple as nailing the bottom sections in place. With concrete or dirt floors, an alternative must be found. One option in this direction is to simply pile heavy objects on it (such as furniture. However, in this event, if two sections of 2×4 are married, be sure to set the shoring so that the edges (the 2” sides) are facing UP, to discourage the boards from warping and possibly even breaking under the strain.
Temporary strong backs can be improvised from pallets, and additionally the pallets can be cannibalized for materials for permanent strong backs; However, these should not be used as permanent structures.
Once your windows are solidified, shore up your doors; Select one door, preferably out of sight of the street, with a viewing area that allows you to see out as far around as possible. All other doors should be locked, then strong backed, then if possible nailed shut. This will be your entry/exit door to leave to forage and to search for other survivors, better accommodations (moving from a difficult to secure house to an easily secured warehouse, an abandoned police station, etc), and possibly to find help.
Behind your one selected door, place a couch with a lot of weight (piling debris, such as Sheetrock torn down to obtain materials to fortify the windows and other doors). This is your exit/entry point. If alone, lock the door each time you leave; The likelihood that the average zombie being able to open the door are limited. Humans will get in, no matter what you do. If in a group, have your fellow survivors lock and barricade the door. Use a signaling method, such as a specific knock (a new one should be selected each time you go out), to signal when to open, and when not to. Be sure to establish a specified return time; This will increase your security (if you arrive early or late, this will be a sign to your fellow survivors that something is wrong).
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