According to a piece of information, single family homes are twice likely to be the victims of theft than apartments. Cash, jewelry, electrical equipments, tools and cameras are the most common items for a robber.
People start paying attention to their own home security only when they hear something worst happened to their relatives or their neighbors. Lack of security is the best weapon of burglars. There are many things which a person can do to make his home secure.
Here are the Top 4 Home Security Tips
1. When Leaving Home
When thinking to counter the enemy, you have to think like them. A robber will intrude into an empty house so anything that makes your house doesn’t make your house seem empty; will lead the intruder to move to another target.
So leaving some lights on will work as a security. Do not change the look of your home, for example do not close up all the long curtains or send the dog to someone’s house but instead pay a kid to visit your house and feed the dog, take him to walk etc.
Put a timer on the main lights of your lounge as well as on your TV so that they come on and off at usual timings of your leisure time. Ask one of your trusted neighbors to put a trash bag out of your house if they don’t mind doing so.
You can do a lot more things to make your place look lively. Putting yourself in place of the robber and think where would you break into your house first, you can take some extra precautions there. For further assistance in making your home secure, talk to your local policemen and their recommendations.
2. Some Changes you should Make
Neatly cut the overhanging branches so that the robber cannot get to upper floors. Look for other easy ways through which a robber can go up on the roof. For example, ladders laying around in your yard, lattices against the wall, roof drains etc. Also, you can plant thorny bushes outside low windows of your house.
Trim any shrub borders or bushes in which a person can hide against your house. If you have any skylights which can be removed from outside then get it secured! Look over your roof area and see if there are any sort of possible ways from which a person can enter into your house, even a loose roof vent can provide a way in for a child robber.
Do not keep your spare keys somewhere predictable. What you think is a good place for hiding your keys; it would be obvious to any experienced burglar to predict. Generally people leave their keys under a pot plant or over a shelf. The best thing to do is leave the keys to one of your trusted friends or neighbors so they can only get into your house legally.
Install some extra lights as well as some motion detectors alongside of doors. Set them in such a way that only a person can switch them off, not a pet. They can be raised in sensitivity or aimed higher.
3. Things You Need to Ensure
Make sure that your exterior doors are at least ¾ inch thick (they probably are) and are they made from solid wood or with unbreakable metal. Any good quality door will surely provide decent protection. Make sure that all of your exterior doors should have a dead lock besides a regular lock.
Also, make sure that this lock is installed with heavy plate with long and strong screws. A weak strike plate and screws will give up to a good shoulder or a kick. Do not have a mail slot from which a person can get their hands through and unlock the door lock.
Glass panels in a door can actually provide an invitation to a burglar to break in. It ruins all of your door security. This is because they are very easy to break and then locks can be accomplished. Similarly, pet doors and upstairs windows are often easy way in for child robbers.
4. Garage
You have to be very careful about garage. Most of the times the side door which leads into a garage is overestimated. It is usually made of low quality material. Make sure there is a lock installed in this door which can be locked from inside at night.
Another thing to make sure if you do not have an electrical garage door opener is to bolt the garage door from inside as well. This is to stop force opening. Lock your and the alarm system of it.
Check your windows because they are very easy to open from outside, place some bolts on them as well. For a simple exercise to make sure your house is safe or not, you can ask a friend to break in, and if he is able to do so ask him to further guide you on home security tips.