Protection from burglary should be your top priority regardless if you own the property or rent it. Of course, various ways to secure your property exist, but some strategies are more effective than others.
This article will familiarise you with various effective methods to improve your home security provided by professional locksmiths.
So, let’s begin.
Increase the visibility around your property
The way you do this is by eliminating any potential hiding spots.
Keep your shrubs and bushes trimmed and low. Also, you must keep your tree limbs trimmed back and away from your house if you live in a two-story property.
With less opportunity to take cover and a higher possibility of being seen, many burglars may get deterred from even trying to break in.
Also, remove any obstacles that might block the view of your home. By increasing the visibility, you make it easier for neighbours or passersby to spot any suspicious activity and, hopefully, alert the authorities.
Invest in curtains
And after you’ve increased the outdoor visibility, ensure you hide all your valuables and not keep them in plain sight. Put your expensive items in a safe place or a lockbox.
Now, shades or curtains are effective when it comes to concealing your home’s interior. Covered windows and doors make it difficult for burglars to survey the interior and plan their entry.
Also, take care of your expensive outdoor equipment, such as bicycles and machinery. Store them in your garage or shed with a lock on the door.
Be careful during festive seasons, and don’t show off what you’ve got for Christmas, for example. Many people put the empty boxes from their new tech outside, which is a pure invitation for opportunistic burglars.
Light up the surroundings
Intruders take full advantage of darkness, so the less of it around your property, the better. You can discourage burglars from entering your home by installing a porch light outside, and if your neighbours want to follow your example, all the better.
If you don’t want your light to shine all night for different reasons, you can opt for motion-activated lights. Mount them in the corners and entrances of your property and the garage, and they will prevent intruders from targeting your home.
Remember that the motion lights will also likely get activated by stray animals.
Secure the windows and doors
Unlocked windows and doors are a common entry point for burglars, so you need to upgrade them with sturdy locks and always lock them whenever you leave the house.
So, it’s best to consider installing deadbolts on all exterior doors and reinforcing weak points such as sliding doors and basement windows with additional locks or bars.
You can add further to this by installing window stops on your double-hung windows. These mechanisms are meant to prevent intruders from sliding the window open and entering.
There’s also an added benefit that you can keep the window slightly opened for ventilation without fear of break-ins.
Upgrade your locks and doors
It might sound bold and too noisy, but burglars usually break into a home by kicking in the front door.
However, you can make that more difficult for them by replacing hollow-core exterior doors with solid wood or metal doors and installing a deadbolt with a bolt length (also known as a throw) of at least one inch.
Standard locks can be easily picked or forced open by determined and experienced burglars, so consider upgrading to high-security locks that are more resistant to picking, drilling, and bumping.
Remember that if you are not handy with tools, it’s best to call a professional locksmith instead.
Smart locks are also a good option because they provide remote control access to your property, and they’ll send you alerts when someone enters.
Invest in a security system
A quality security system is the most secure option for guarding your home against break and entry.
Today’s market offers many solutions, from DIY ones which you can install yourself to professionally monitored systems with 24/7 monitoring and response.
The ideal security system should have:
- motion sensors;
- door and window sensors;
- a loud alarm to scare off burglars.
Also, consider adding a security camera, as it will definitely make any potential intruder think twice before doing anything stupid.
Once you install your security cameras near entry points to your house, you can see suspicious activity in real-time or review the recorded footage later.
Bring home a protection dog
A home protection dog can keep a check on suspicious activities in or around the home with a strong sense of awareness. With their specialized training honed here in Houston to perfection, they can perceive even the slightest of changes around them.
Besides possessing physical capabilities, these dogs develop an unbreakable bond with their owner, providing a selfless companionship to cherish for a lifetime.
Don’t show off on social media
Burglars have and continue to use social media to gather information about their potential targets. While you mainly hear about celebrities getting robbed, it’s common for the average person to become a victim.
Criminals track you down via the personal information you’ve posted about yourself. They can find your address using GPS data embedded in photos posted to Facebook and Instagram.
That’s why you should never post photos of your latest gadgets or, god forbid, post when you’re on vacation. That makes the criminals’ job that much easier.
Final important note: Don’t leave your keys outside in a secret corner or something like that. Experienced burglars know all the common hiding places for spare keys and probably some you haven’t thought of.
Conclusion
As you can see, your best chance to improve your home security is to upgrade your doors and locks.
Still, it’s best not to give burglars a reason to even try by showing your new purchases on social media and keeping the packing boxes in plain sight.
