Something terrible can occur when you least expected. Do not put your family by falling short on safety.Read on for great tips to make your home safer and free of criminals.
Consider using your dog as a place to store your spare key. But, this is only effective if your home has a pet door or your dog stays outdoors when you are not home. Simply affix a spare key to the collar of the animal. You’ll always have a backup plan if you lose your key!
Security Systems
Does your dog like to play in your yard? You might consider leaving your spare key with your dog. You can attach your key to your dog’s collar in order to keep the key hidden. This is an especially good idea if your dog doesn’t like strangers, and gives you easy access to get in your home.
Home security systems offer other triggering features to just being noise alarms. Most security systems can be set to sound an alert when anyone enters. This is a valuable safety feature for parents that have small children so that they know if their kids open or close doors.
If your home has a lot of valuable items inside, then you need to purchase a safe so that all of these items can be kept in a single location. This will help to keep your jewelry and other valuables secured in the event of a break in. Hide your safe in a hard to find place like the basement or attic.
Talk to the people who live in your neighbors.
Is your ceiling resistant to fire? What about your flooring or roofing? This will help you protect your home under all circumstances. Because of the amount of damage fires can cause, it is important to protect your home from them.
Some maintain that rural residents lead riskier lives because they are far away from neighbors.Others hold that burglars are not as likely to target rural places have less of a chance of being targets for burglars.
Shut off phone ringers inside the home if you’re going to be gone for quite a while. If the phone rings when you are away, burglars will know there’s nobody home, making the house vulnerable to a break-in when you are out.
Make sure that your valuables can be seen from outside the outside. Large windows at the home’s front can be beautiful, but that works both ways.
Don’t make a habit of giving strangers access to your home. Even if their story is compelling, they need assistance or want to sell you something. Some folks will enter to scout for security systems, and upon seeing you lack one, will resolve to return at a later time.
Flashlights are key because they allow you to move around if an emergency. Make sure your family knows where the flashlights are and how to operate them.
Request information from your local law enforcement agencies about home protection packages. Your local police department will help you with preventive measures, inspect your home and show you how to mark your valuables so they can easily be found. Speak with the police in your area to see if they have these things.
Check references carefully before giving anyone access to your home. You should do background checks in order to find out their criminal history. You never know if the maid, maid, and letting them in or giving them a key could be a fatal mistake.
You need to have your security system checked once a year. This is a job for professionals; get a security firm to inspect your equipment. Mother Nature and wild animals can also cause issues with your home security system. It’s quite possible for there to be a fault in your system even if you can’t see it.
You can make your home safer by investing in some motion activated exterior lighting. If positioned correctly on the exterior of your home, your motion detectors can make it impossible for strangers to sneak around.
Try installing motion-sensor lights. Lights like these will automatically turn on whenever someone is near them. You will receive advance warning of any potential issues, and a would-be intruder will probably be scared off. Do not forget to change a bulb when it burns out.
Be certain to read all of the entire contract when you hire a security company. There are sometimes fees for terminating the contract early or need additional equipment down the road. You should avoid such expenses if you can, so make sure you are aware of them.
Never place a spare key in a plant box or under your welcome mat. These seem like great places for you when you misplace your key. Thieves aren’t stupid and also know common hiding spots. Ask a friend, neighbor or relative to keep your extra keys for you.
Thieves can often be found looking through garbage cans in search of personal information to figure out your schedule and credit card slips. Rip your important papers up before throwing them away if you can’t afford to purchase a shredder.
Make sure all the wood around your doors is in great shape. Rotted wood can be easily removed by thieves. Find a reliable contractor who can replace the door frame for you.
Make sure that your address numbers are visible from the street. If you need assistance, the police may have difficulty finding you in an emergency.
When choosing between security companies, read everything on the contract. You need to find out about hidden costs, such as cancellation fees in case you want to cancel your contract before it expires. These are costs you’ll want to avoid.
Your dog is a great crime deterrent. Dogs become extremely protective of turf and bark when something is wrong. It doesn’t even have an aggressive dog. Even small dogs can keep intruders with enough noise.
Could burglars see inside your garage? Make sure that they can’t! Use frosted, adhesive backed plastic to cover the windows. You can purchase this at a home improvement store. Do not keep your door open long enough for people to get an idea of what you own.
You can have locks without keys that need a code. You can even install these locks yourself or have them professionally installed.
Are you able to see the numbers on your house from your street? If your numbers cannot be plainly seen, then the police will struggle to locate your home very quickly in case of emergency. Happily, it’s quick and easy to fix this problem.
Monthly Fees
There is no need to have keyed locks on interior doors. There are key-less locks that open with a push-button security code. These may be installed by yourself or a security company.
Ask whether companies offer systems for lease or buy your security equipment. Buying equipment can be pricey upfront, but one time costs might lower or eliminate some monthly fees that add up over time. Leasing is usually the cheaper option; however, but you will have to pay monthly fees. Look at both choices to know which one is better for you.
Speak with your security company about contract lengths and any options available. There are likely pros and cons to each. Longer agreements may cost less per month, but you may not be able to get out of the contract if you need to. Shorter contracts may offer greater freedom at a higher cost.
Always store your irreplaceable valuables secure. Items like passports, passports, legal documents, expensive jewelry and legal documents are best kept in a secure location. A floor safe is a great place to keep these things inside your house. You can also rent out a bank safe deposit box.
You should not keep your auto registration papers in the glove compartment. If someone breaks into your car, that person can view your registration and instantly know where you reside. Hold these documents in person so you know where they are at all times. You must have this information on hand if you are stopped for a traffic violation.
You do not want to tempt outsiders to look through your home. If burglars spot the expensive items in your house, you would not want him to see your belongings and target your house. Make sure and minimize what is visible to the public so as to reduce the likelihood of being robbed at a minimum.
Never place a key in an obvious spot. It’s easy to see fake rocks. Doormats are the first place people look at. The best idea is just to ask a friend or neighbor to hang on to a key for you. If you have no choice but to hide a spare key, apply some inventive, out-of-the-box thinking when you do it.
Replace flimsy doors with some that are solid wood or metal. Doors made of these materials are much sturdier than those that aren’t.A burglar could not be able to kick that door in. The cost of replacing these doors is worth it in the end.
Consider a hard-wired security system if you are concerned about ongoing maintenance costs. The wireless ones are convenient, however, they need multiple battery sets that must be changed frequently. Your home security system will not function properly if you do not change the batteries. Batteries can be very expensive to change.
Ask the security company if they offer motion sensors. This further protects you enter your home.
Program your lights to turn on and off at random intervals with a timer. A timer will prevent the need of flipping the switch. In addition, it will help ensure the lights keep turning themselves on and off when you are not home. This will help deter potential burglars.
Sliding patio doors are a huge security issue. They can easily opened if someone lifts and shakes the door frame. This will make the door wedged closed so that it is harder to force open.
Sliding glass doors can create a security issue in a home. By simply lifting the door and shaking it, it can be easily unlocked. You have to secure them, so use a piece of pipe in the track. This prevents the door from being opened.
Being friendly will bring you right away.
Deadbolts are the best locks for your doors because they contain captive keylocks. These have a thumb latch that prevents others from reaching around and opening the lock via a nearby broken window. Always leave your key in the door when you are home so you can leave quickly if you have to.
Having a big dog with a scary bark is beneficial. Burglars don’t want to get bitten or bitten.
Guns make some folks feel safer in their homes. Look into gun training, and get one to have just to be sure. Knowing that a gun is at home can give you a real feeling of security.
Video surveillance systems do a crooks nightmare. Burglars don’t wear masks that are seen in movies are fake. Many home burglars will not wear anything to cover their face because they have no intention of ever being seen.
Outdoor lights are great for improving security, but the concept can be taken a step further with lights equipped with motion sensors. This lighting will come on as someone approaches, which means it’s specific to those kinds of actions. Intruders will leave immediately. They’ve been spotted and they will flee.
There is no knowing what a criminal is thinking, so you’ll never know if your dwelling is a target. Take the necessary steps to keep your home safe instead of thinking you have it made. Remember these guidelines, and do a lot of research to protect yourself.
When you have valuable possessions like computers, televisions, art or costly items, avoid placing them in sight of windows. If these valuable items cannot be seen from outside, a thief is not motivated to break in and steal them.