by Crimethinc. Workers' Collective
Available in 284 free installments
Owner:
Again, consider your goals when deciding how to move in. If you're going to pose as You can reduce dust in a warehouse
, .1 . .1 1 1 1 ^1 J J J ? -J environment by taping a household
legal occupants, you might want to go m at night and unlock the doors from the mside, ^^^^ ^^^ air-conditioning duct filter
then just roll up in the morning in a van with your stuff and take some cookies to the to the intake side of a box fan, and neighbors when you go introduce yourselves. If you're doing anything that could be leaving the fan on low. construed as breaking and entering, go in at night and cover your tracks immediately?if you break a window, clean up the glass. Be well-apprised of local laws; in some states, just being caught trespassing in possession of burgling tools such as crowbars can get you arrested for intent to perform burglary, which is a felony. Often there's no need to go down that road: windows are frequently left unlocked, especially above the ground floor, and squatting one small person can squeeze in and open up a door from the inside. Try getting up to 509
the roof if there seem to be no easy entrances at the ground floor. Long before the testing
and development for this cookbook began, this author and a friend once found our way
picking devices i's illegaTyou^can ^^*° ^ ^^^^ abandoned building by entering the sub-basement coal shaft through a grate
keep them inside the body of an down an alley. If you're going to be loud, choose a rainy night If you're working with a
empty marker. grinder, cover it and the person using it with a large piece of dark cloth, to hide sparks.
Once inside, it's wise to clean up immediately?nothing makes a place feel like home
as much as making it clean and comfortable. Change the locks as soon as you can; if
that's impossible, install your own front door and frame, or, failing that, at least punch
a hole in the door and on the other side of the doorframe and run a chain secured by a
padlock through the holes. Making the place homey before the police arrive can mean
the difference between getting thrown out without a hearing and forcing the city to go
through the whole eviction process?or avoiding it entirely. Likewise, you need your
neighbors to trust you and feel that you are a positive influence in the neighborhood.
The toilets may be smashed, but if the pipes are still in good condition, you can get running water. You may be able to access the water pipes in the basement, if not on the back of the building. If these are in the basement, there will probably be two sets of pipes coming in and out from the street; the larger pipe is probably for sewage. You might be able to open these pipes with a wrench; if you succeed, look for leaks in the rest of the building, and leave the water on at a trickle in the winter so the pipes won't freeze and break. Even if you can't get the inflow pipes open, the sewage outflow pipe may still work. If you can't get any of the pipes working, you'll have to use five gallon buckets filled with sawdust for toilets, and dump your waste waters in storm sewage grates or on the limousines in the corporate business district. If you can't find sawdust for the composting toflets, you can use any other organic matter?e.g., ash, shredded Squatting newspapers, hay, or grass clippings. Wetted newspaper can also stand in for toilet paper 570 in a pinch.
Fix all holes in the roof as soon as possible, and make sure the roof drains are not clogged; if need be, spread thick plastic over the roof until you can get around to fixing it. Watch out for asbestos and other dangerous dust particles; call around to see if a local organization can test materials for them. You can keep such dust out of the air temporarily by keeping the materials in question wet. Lead paint is also dangerous, especially for children; keep it wet, as well, when sanding it off. If you can't get trash pickups at your place, and there's a lot of rubble or garbage in the house, designate a room for it until you can move it out.
