Need cheap, effective ways to block off an exterior staircase leading to the terrace (ancestral house, mostly vacant)
We have an ancestral house in Kudal, Malvan (Konkan region, Maharashtra). My dad has been self funding a full renovation into a pukka house, but the house stays empty most of the year since we all live elsewhere and only visit during Ganeshutsav.
The issue: there’s an open exterior staircase leading straight to the terrace/roof. Since the house is unoccupied for long stretches, local drunks have been climbing up to drink and leaving bottles behind. It’s disrespectful to the property and honestly unsettling to think about.
We’re looking for cost-effective ways to restrict access, ideally something like:
A lockable grille or gate at the base of the stairs (they’d just jump over, not a very practical solution)
Enclosing the staircase with a concrete wall all the way up, so it reads as “inside” the house rather than an open exterior structure
Any other creative, budget-friendly deterrents
Barbed wire is our fallback option but we’d rather avoid it if there’s something better. Would appreciate suggestions from anyone who’s dealt with something similar, especially in coastal Maharashtra where labor and material costs might differ from metros.
PS: Used AI to summarize, please be kind and helpful.
Thank you.