It is the job of every homeowner to do everything possible to keep their home properly secured. While an alarm is a good place to start, there are other steps that can be equally effective. Keep reading for an inside look at what you can do to make your home secure.
Man’s best friend can also be trusted to secure a spare key. This works with a dog that stays outside or a dog with a pet door. Keep a spare key around the dog’s collar.
Buy fire resistant roofing, flooring and ceiling materials. This can provide additional safety to the home, particularly in dry regions. Investing in fire-resistant materials will help you save a lot since a fire can cause extensive damage.
Do you keep your dog outdoors when you go out? Store the spare key with them. Attach your key to your dog’s collar, ensuring that it can’t be seen. Your dog is an especially good key hiding spot if he doesn’t react well to strangers, since they won’t approach him, but the key will be there if you need it.
Don’t use social media to announce that you will be gone for an extended period of time. While these platforms are there for sharing, this is announcing to the world that your home is an open target.
Purchase a safe to lock all of the extremely valuable items in your home in one place. You can’t have your valuable personal items and jewelry out in the open for anyone to see. Hide that safe in a difficult-to-reach place like in a closet inside your basement or an attic.
The fist thing you’ll need to do for home security is to get new locks. If you have boarders, former live-in partners, or others who once had access to your home, this is especially important. It is not expensive and you can do it in less than a day.
It is important to invest in building supplies that are as fire resistant as possible. This will make your home more safe, especially if you are in a dry climate that has many power lines. Fire prevention should be taken seriously because it can stop a major disaster from happening.
When securing your home, don’t forget about skylights. While they are an excellent source of natural light, they are also an easy way for thieves to enter your home. Make sure your skylights have reliable, heavy duty hardware in place.
Don’t announce your vacation agenda on your social networks. This is especially true if you have lots of unfamiliar “friends”. This can indicate that your home will be free and vulnerable during the time.
Walls can serve as a handy hiding place. If you need to protect expensive items in your home, put them inside the walls. You could use a phone jack, electrical outlet or a switch plate. You can also just put in a false plate to cover a hiding place.
You never want to open up a door to a stranger without proper identification. People you do not know could have bad intentions or want to get an idea of how many valuable objects you own. Only open the door for people you are expecting.
Regardless of how long you think you’ll be gone, make sure to lock your doors. It may shock you to know this, but a lot of intruders get inside homes through open doors. Once a thief is inside, he can steal a lot of valuables in a short amount of time.
Secure your garage. Lots of folks are concerned about burglars gaining access to the garage and then the home, but this can be addressed. If the garage door lifts via a track, you can use a C-clamp to stop your door from opening at the hands of intruders.
Don’t throw away boxes for expensive or valuable items until the garbage collection day. These types of items are appealing to thieves, and you may as well put a sign in your yard inviting them to steal yours.
A skylight is another area that needs to be protected for home security. As nice as they look, they’re a prime target for thieves. Make sure your skylights have reliable, heavy duty hardware in place.
Your landscaping should be designed based on what will be safest for your home. Make sure that there is nothing obstructing your doors and windows. This makes it where people can’t hide in different nooks and crevices. Put these features at a greater distance from your house; let beauty also complement safety.
Walls are excellent hiding spots. Jewelry and other small items can be protected very well when placed in hiding places in your walls. Place them in switch plates, phone jacks or an electric outlet. Anything not used currently makes a good spot for hiding.
Put up video surveillance. Both hidden and visible video cameras can help keep your home safe. Intruders can be deterred to visible cameras, but hidden cameras are better if criminals damage the other cameras. Surveillance systems often allow you to access videos through your cell phone, too.
Don’t hide an extra key under a rock or in a planter. Though you may think you are giving yourself a way into your home if you lose your key, you are actually inadvertently inviting intruders into your home. Thieves know about all these hiding spots. A better solution is to give your key to a neighbor you trust.
Discourage burglars by making your garage windows opaque. Frost your windows so people cannot look inside your home. Also, avoid leaving the door open for prolonged periods of time.
You should have several flashlights and batteries in all your rooms. Flashlights are critical, and provide you with the freedom to move about as needed. Teach your children how to properly use flashlights.
A dog is an excellent burglar alarm. They are protective about their territory, plus they make noises that keep burglars at bay. There is no need for a guard dog. A terrier will make enough of a fuss to stop someone from breaking in.
When allowing a representative from any security company to enter your home, look for someone in uniform and ask to see an identification. Intruders could disguise themselves to inspect your home. This is dangerous to your valuables and your family. You want to use caution to prevent danger.
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A good way to scare off intruders is to keep your house lit at nighttime. They don’t wish to be seen. Making your home’s exterior nice and bright will make it impossible for crooks to go undetected. Keep the lights on if you want your home to be secure.
Don’t use spring-latch locks. They give intruders and easy time breaking in, since they can be unlocked with a credit card. Intruders simply use a credit card inside the latch, making the lock open. If you have spring latches already installed, consider adding deadbolts too.
You can find an excellent home security company with a simple Internet search. Read through official websites for different companies and look for reviews written by customers. After narrowing down your top five choices, you can then take the next step by contacting each one.
You should think about a wired system if maintenance is a concern. Although wireless systems are easier, they usually require a lot of batteries that require changing regularly. Neglecting this maintenance can cause faults in your security system and leave you improperly protected. It’s also very costly to replace a lot of batteries at once.
If you will be away from your home, arrange to have whoever is collecting your mail to also pick up fliers placed inside your door. Some burglars place fliers to see if they’ll be quickly removed. Fliers that are left behind signal to the burglar that there is no one at home.
A home alarm can be a good investment if police are notified when it sounds. The only way to ensure this is to use a system that calls the police for you. It is not safe to assume the neighbors will call the police.
Keeping a dog provides a great way to boost your home’s defense. Dogs will bark at the sign of trouble or intruders. It is not necessary to have an aggressive dog. Little dogs can also make big noise, which is the main thing that burglars care about.
While many people avoid the neighborhood busybody, you should be friendly with them. The nosy neighbor may be the one to alert you that someone was snooping around your house. Stay on their good side and they will be sure to let you know if they see anything suspicious.
If you have kids or roommates that you don’t want in certain household areas, it’s not necessary to lock multiple doors and tote around tons of keys. Install key-less locks instead. These locks use codes instead of keys. You can have your home security company install it for you, or you can do it yourself.
It’s sadly true that women who live on their own or with children are especially tempting targets for burglars and home invaders. Try placing big, muddy boots on your front step to create the illusion of a big, active man living there. This is sure to scare criminals off from your house.
Ask about the different contract durations that a security company can offer you. You will probably find there are many pros and cons associated with each different contract. A longer contract might give you a lower monthly bill, but you could be stuck with those monthly costs if you sell your home or decide to discontinue services. A short contract will avoid this, but may be more costly.
It’s good to have interior locks, but they really aren’t effective without exterior locks. A deadbolt with keys for both inside and outside is one of your best choices.
When you are out of the house, your drapes and blinds should be fully closed. Intruders can see into your home if they are left up. If a burglar sees something that is enticing, they are going to try and get it from your home. Close your drapes or blinds while you are asleep, too.
Now that you’ve read this, you have no reason to be in an unsafe home. Perhaps this seems to be very complicated and troublesome; however, you must proceed to secure your home and provide safety for your family. Apply what you’ve just learned, and you should be golden.
Think about getting a hard-wired home security system if maintenance costs are an issue for you. Wireless systems are convenient, but they require multiple sets of batteries that have to be changed out on a regular basis. If you neglect battery changes, your system won’t work. It can also be pretty expensive to replace batteries.
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