Barricade Windows: Zombie-Proof Hacks for PZ Builds 41/42
Project Zomboid survivors know that securing your base is vital, especially when playing solo. One of the first defenses you'll want is boarding up windows with planks. This comprehensive guide will teach you step-by-step how to put planks on windows in Build 41 and Build 42 of Project Zomboid, detailing the tools you need, how mechanics have changed between versions, and strategies to keep your safehouse zombie-free. We'll also dive into recent patch changes, community tips, and relevant mods to up your barricading game. Let's nail down those windows and fortify your base!
Before diving into barricading, make sure you've chosen a strategic base location that's worth defending. And remember - if you get bitten while securing your base, check our guide on surviving zombie bites in Build 41 vs 42 to understand your options.
Table of Contents
Tools & Materials Needed
Before you start boarding up windows, you'll need to gather the right tools and materials. Barricading in Project Zomboid doesn't require any special skill level (even a beginner character can do it), but having certain tools is non-negotiable.
Hammer (Any type)
A hammer is essential as the tool to drive nails into planks. A claw hammer is most common, but a ball-peen hammer works too – in-game, any hammer variant counts as a valid tool for barricading. You can find hammers in tool sheds, garages, warehouses, and hardware stores. Residential kitchens or storage closets sometimes have one. If you chose the Carpenter occupation or the Handy trait, you might even start with a hammer.
Nails (at least 2 per plank)
Nails serve to fasten the plank to the window frame. You'll need two nails for each plank you plan to hammer up. Nails are typically found in the same places as hammers – tool sheds, hardware shops, crates, and sometimes in kitchen junk drawers. They often come in Boxes of Nails (each box contains 100 nails). Important: Open nail boxes to get loose nails before barricading. The game will not automatically open a box of nails for you. Keep in mind you cannot reclaim nails from a barricade – when you remove planks, the nails are lost or bent beyond reuse.
Wooden Planks
These are the boards you'll actually place on the window. Each plank covers a portion of the window, and you can add up to 4 planks on one side of a window (for a total of 8 if you also barricade the opposite side). Planks can be acquired in several ways:
- Looting: Check construction sites, lumberyards, or crates in warehouses – they often have stacks of planks. Some residential sheds or garages may have a few planks as well.
- Crafting/Sawing Logs: You can create planks by cutting logs. If you have a Saw (hand saw or garden saw), right-click a wooden log in your inventory and saw it into planks. Each log yields 3 wooden planks.
- Disassembling Furniture: Use a hammer and/or saw to disassemble wooden furniture like doors, beds, tables, and chairs. Disassembling often yields a few planks (plus some nails and scrap wood).
Optional – Propane Torch & Welding Mask (for metal barricades)
If you plan to use metal sheets or metal bars/rods to barricade instead of (or in addition to) planks, you'll need a propane torch with fuel and a welding mask. These are used for metalworking and can be found in garages, tool shops, warehouses, and sometimes on mechanic or metalworker zombie corpses. Make sure the torch has propane gas left (you can check the percentage in its tooltip). Build 41 requires both the torch and mask to barricade with metal. In Build 42, as of current unstable patches, a quirky change/bug makes it so you don't actually need the welding mask to barricade with steel rods – only the torch is required.
Step-by-Step: How to Board Up Windows with Planks (Build 41)
Barricading a window in Build 41 is straightforward. You're essentially performing a context-menu action with the right tools in hand. Here's a step-by-step breakdown:
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Clear the Area
Make sure the immediate area is safe. Ideally, kill or lure away any zombies around the building before you start barricading. Hammering planks makes noise – each bang of the hammer can draw nearby zombies. Learn more about what attracts zombies to your base to avoid unwanted attention.
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Gather Materials on Your Character
Have at least one plank and two nails on your character (in your main inventory is best) along with your hammer equipped or in inventory. If the planks or nails are on the ground or in a container, pick them up first.
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Position Yourself & Face the Window
Stand directly in front of the window you want to barricade, on the inside. You should be adjacent to it (you'll know you're close enough if you could normally climb through or open/close it).
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Right-Click the Window
This will open the interaction context menu. In the list of actions, look for "Barricade (Planks)". In Build 41, this option appears if and only if you have a hammer and at least 1 plank + 2 nails ready. Select Barricade (Planks) from the menu.
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Wait for the Barricading Action
Upon clicking Barricade, your character will kneel and begin hammering the plank onto the window frame. You'll hear banging sounds. A progress bar will appear over your character's head, indicating the time to complete.
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(Optional) Repeat to Add More Planks
One plank is up – congrats, that window is now partially barricaded. You can further reinforce by repeating the process up to 3 more times on the same side of the window (each time uses another plank and 2 more nails). Each plank you add provides an additional layer the zombies must break through.
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Done!
The window is now barricaded. Visually, wooden boards will appear nailed across the window sprite. If you try to use that window, you'll notice you can't see clearly through it anymore and the "Open/Close Window" interaction is replaced with "Unbarricade".
Removing a Barricade (Build 41)
If you ever want to take the planks off, you can do so with the proper tool. Right-click the barricaded window and choose "Unbarricade". For wooden planks, you'll need a claw hammer or a crowbar in hand to remove them. Your character will play an animation of prying out nails. Each plank comes off one by one (with another progress bar per plank). Removed planks will drop to the floor and can be picked up for reuse, but the nails will be lost.
Build 42 Barricading – What's Changed?
If you're playing the newer Build 42, don't worry – the fundamental barricading process is the same. The interface and steps to barricade are unchanged from Build 41: you still right-click a window, select Barricade, and so on. However, there have been some tweaks and additions in Build 42 that affect barricading:
Metal Bars are now Steel Rods
In Build 42, the developers renamed the "Metal Bar" item to "Steel Rod" and repurposed the term "Metal Bar" for something else (crafting metal items like spoons/forks). Practically, this means if you want to barricade with the equivalent of metal bars in B42, you need Steel Rods. Steel rods serve the same role – three steel rods can be welded onto a window to create a bar-style barricade.
No Welding Mask Needed for Rod Barricades
This is a notable change/bug in early Build 42. Players have observed that when barricading with steel rods, the game does not require a welding mask – you only need a propane torch with fuel. This is a departure from Build 41, where using metal sheets or bars always required you to wear a welding mask. For metal sheets in B42, it's safest to assume you do need the mask, since those use the older code.
Inventory QOL – Nails Usage
Build 42 introduced a quality-of-life improvement regarding nails. In Build 41, if your nails were in a secondary container (like a backpack), sometimes the barricade option wouldn't appear. In Build 42.1 patch, the devs fixed this. Now "Nails will be transferred to main inventory before starting a Barricade action." So you no longer have to manually shuffle nails around; the game will handle it and also properly consume the nails even if they were initially in a backpack.
Wooden vs. Metal Barricades: Which to Use and When?
Project Zomboid offers more than one way to barricade. Wooden planks are the default and most accessible method, but you can also reinforce windows (and doors) with metal sheets or metal bars/rods if you have the equipment. Each material has pros and cons. Let's break down the differences:
When to Use Wood vs. Metal
As a solo player, you'll likely start with wooden barricades – use what you have. Wood is perfectly fine for most short-term needs (like boarding up a safehouse for a week or two).
If you plan to stay in a location long-term (like turning a house into your "fort"), consider upgrading to metal barricades once you have the means. Metal barricades shine if you expect to fight off hordes or frequently have zombies testing your defenses. If you want to maintain visibility while still being secure, metal bars/rods are great as they allow you to see and shoot through windows.
Solo Safehouse Barricading Strategies
Barricading is as much about strategy as it is about hammering nails. As a lone survivor, you have limited time and resources, so you want to barricade in a way that truly improves your safety without wasting effort. Here are some tips and best practices for effective barricading:
Prioritize Key Entry Points
In a typical house, windows are the weakest entry and the ones zombies usually target first. When you claim a safehouse, identify which windows are most critical to secure. Generally, ground-floor windows should be the first priority since zombies can only enter at ground level. Focus on windows facing streets or high-traffic areas where zombies are likely to wander by.
Second Floor = Safe Floor
If you have access to a two-story building, establish your living/sleeping area upstairs and fortify the staircase more than individual windows. Many solo players will destroy the staircase or block it and use a sheet rope to access the second floor, creating an unreachable safe zone for zombies. For more advanced fortification techniques, check our complete wall building guide.
Leave One Exit
Always have at least one way to get out in an emergency. If you board up every window and door of a house and a fire breaks out or a horde surrounds you, you could trap yourself. Common tactics: leave one door un-barricaded (but keep it locked), or use a sheet rope out a window as your escape hatch.
Noise Discipline
Be mindful of the noise. Each hammer strike can be heard a moderate distance. If you're in a town or neighborhood, clear a radius before barricading. You could even use a noisemaker to lure zombies away, then quickly barricade while they're gone. Remember that barricades don't make you soundproof.
Double Barricading
If you have plenty of planks and nails, barricading both the interior and exterior sides of a window doubles its protection. This means up to 8 planks on one window (4 outside, 4 inside). Consider doing this on critical windows like those in your bedroom or ones facing high-traffic areas.
Use Furniture for Additional Defense
Consider combining barricades with other obstacles. Pushing a heavy piece of furniture in front of a barricaded window can slow zombies further. You can't nail furniture to a window, but just placing a big sofa or bookshelf behind your barricaded window means even if they break the planks, they then have an obstacle.
Recent Patch Notes (18 Months)
Here's a summary of recent updates that affected barricading mechanics:
Click to Expand Patch Notes
Build 41.78 (Nov 2022)
This stable update included primarily fixes. One noted issue was that barricading XP did not get boosted by skill books (reported as a bug), meaning carpentry XP gain from barricading remained low even after reading Carpentry skill books.
Build 42.0 Unstable (Late 2024)
The initial unstable release of Build 42 brought the item renaming where old metal "Bars" became Steel Rods for crafting reasons. Additionally, a bug emerged where nails in a backpack weren't consumed when barricading, giving an infinite nails exploit.
Build 42.1 Unstable (Jan 21, 2025)
A patch that fixed the nails issue: "Nails will be transferred to main inventory before starting a Barricade action." This ensured that nails in any container get properly used up, closing the infinite nails loophole and making the process smoother for players.
Build 42.5 – 42.6 Unstable (Early 2025)
Minor adjustments included a fix where the Tutorial house had been too dark when fully barricaded – the devs changed it so the tutorial starts with only 2 planks on windows instead of all windows covered. Also, devs fixed some graphical issues with steel rod barricades (like curtain placement bugs) as the new items got polished.
Community Resources & Mod Recommendations
Barricading is a popular topic in the Project Zomboid community, and there are plenty of external resources, discussions, and mods that can enrich your understanding or alter your gameplay:
Project Zomboid Wiki
The PZwiki is always a great reference. The Barricade page contains up-to-date info on barricade mechanics, materials, and even some numbers on health/durability. It also lists what tools remove barricades, etc.
Reddit Community
Reddit's PZ community is very active. You'll find tips and personal experiences – e.g., players sharing screenshots of their fortified bases, or asking "Planks vs metal sheets, what do you prefer?" Browsing Reddit can also lead you to clever ideas like using vehicles or traps as barricades.
YouTube Guides
There are several YouTube videos addressing base defense and barricades. Content creators like Retanaru and Pr1vateLime often include barricading advice in their tips videos. Video demonstrations can be extremely helpful if you're a visual learner – seeing someone barricade and then test it against zombies can reinforce these concepts.
Recommended Mods
Consider these mods to enhance your barricading experience:
- Immersive Barricaded Start: Spawns you in a world where your starting house already has windows with sheets and barricades.
- Stronger Walls and Barricades: Offers configurable buffs to barricade health (3x-100x stronger).
Important Note for Mod Users
When installing mods, always ensure they're compatible with your current game build (41.78+ or 42). Many older mods were designed for earlier versions and may cause issues if not updated. Check the mod's last update date and user comments for compatibility information.
Conclusion
Barricading your windows (and doors) in Project Zomboid is a crucial survival skill for any solo player. By knowing how to properly place planks on windows in Build 41 and 42, understanding the differences in tools and materials, and employing smart strategies, you can turn a vulnerable house into a zombie-resistant haven.
Remember that no barricade is completely zombie-proof – they're a delaying tactic, buying you precious time to react. Use that time wisely: whether to eliminate the threat, flee, or reinforce further.
As you fortify your safehouse, keep in mind resource management and don't barricade yourself into a corner. A well-barricaded base, combined with an escape plan (like a sheet rope) and vigilance, can let you survive for months, even amid the apocalypse. Good luck, stay safe, and happy barricading!