Feeling safe at your own house and making sure that your possessions stay in place while you’re away is quite important in terms of life and property protection, fulfillment of basic human rights and just living without fear. Being one of the most highly developed nations in the world, the US still struggles with high crime rates and home security issues, especially when it comes to burglary and break-ins. In fact, some state agency reported that every 15 seconds one American house is being subjected to burglary. And, one of the richest countries and nations in the world is ranked first in the list of countries with the highest burglary rates. Isn’t that crazy?
And I doubt that those people, who make up their mind to earn a living by committing crimes and taking away things people worked hard to purchase, choose completely unprotected homes. However, those cases aren’t as rare as you would have guessed. Quite a lot of people are just being too careless and expose their houses to the intruders, almost inviting them to come over and take whatever they like. I couldn’t believe it when I found out that one third of burglars didn’t even need to use force to break into the house. They just entered an opened door or window a house owner forgot to close when he left for work. And, another outrageous fact is that less than one third of American households are protected by security systems. I don’t know what other people are hoping for, but I hope that if you’re one of them, you’re going to find out how to protect your home from intruders as soon as possible and introduce reliable house security measures into your house as well. As being proactive is much easier than trying to find a criminal and bring back stolen possessions.
So, when it comes to the ways of how to protect home from break-ins, there’s an entire complex of measures you may take to feel much safer and actually be much more protected. They include services related to professional digital security systems, the list of house protection measures, which make it less attractive and exposed to burglars, and ordinary precautions one shouldn’t forget about in his everyday life. Obviously, the more measures you implement, the higher is the chance that your house will be able to ‘fight the intruders back’. Professional security systems, combined with ordinary things like proper front and back doors, solid locks, closed and secured windows, opened lawn and valuable possessions, which are not put on display, will make your house more protected and burglary-resistant.
Unfortunately, you can never feel 100% safe in your own house, as experienced and talented burglars tend to find their way inside the house, getting over all the security measures and finding even well-hidden valuable things. But, the greater your security system is and the more proactive measures you take, the fewer criminals will want to take a risk and break into your house. It will sound horrible, but they’d rather find another, less ‘difficult’ and more rewarding at the first sight household. Don’t want to be the latter one? Then keep on reading these home safety tips and maybe some of them will help you out to ensure better house security.
5 main home security tips
1. Security systems
It’s better to address a professional not only to install them properly and make sure that they work as they should, but also to pick out necessary gadgets for your house. Security installers will choose compile a security system according to peculiarities of your house, its location, your needs and budget. Also, you may ask them to improve your system anytime you want, either you think that you need more cameras or you want to add a different kind of sensors. If you’re interested in hiring someone, who’ll ensure your house security, visit HireRush.com to find a professional security system installer. Scroll through the specialists’ profile and call several of them directly from the site to evaluate the costs and figure out their schedule.
Security installation services
Those of you, who decide to form their security system without professional assistance, should take into consideration these facts. First of all, wireless systems work much better than wired ones, which are much easier to disable. Secondly, it’s better to install both indoor and outdoor surveillance cameras. The ones with motion detectors and night vision work the best. If your cameras lack motion detectors, you should definitely consider installing them near the doors and windows. And, they won’t harm you even if you have motion detecting cameras. Don’t forget about alarms and smoke detectors. Carbon monoxide ones are also one of the home protection must haves, and not only for anti-burglary reasons.
There’re also such security systems or at least cameras, which enable remote monitoring with the help of the smartphone app. They’ll notify you when someone enters your house or leaves it. You may turn the cameras using your phone while being hundreds of miles away from home.
Don’t forget to apply for an alarm permit at your local police department, especially if you plan on installing remote monitoring systems or quite loud alarms. Smoke detectors may require separate permits, or they may be covered by a single security system permit.
There’s also an opportunity to connect your house security system with your local police department, so that the police officers set off to your house as soon as they hear the alarm. However, they’ll charge you quite a lot for a false call.
Some people also recommend placing security signs in front of the houses, saying that they work just as good as security system on its own. I couldn’t disagree more. Most signs mention the type of system your house features. And that is quite handy for a burglar, as he’ll be able to figure out how to disable your security system in advance. Would you like to help them out and make your pricey home security system completely useless? I don’t think so.
2. Secure your doors and windows
It’s necessary to make sure that your doors are sturdy enough and locks are reliable enough to give the burglars trouble while opening them. Simple hollow doors are too easy to knock out. And one may surely just open front doors with glass inserts from the inside after shattering the glass. Sometimes intruders even manage to open the doors by reaching the inside knob from the mail slot. So, we’ve already determined which types of doors it’s better to avoid.
The solid wood or metal doors work the best. Ask a locksmith to install deadbolts on your doors if you haven’t already. There’re also numerous kinds of locks with anti-thief protection. They have protective features against drills or saws, used to break the lock.
Don’t ever leave with your windows opened not to attract unnecessary burglars’ attention to the house. Secure your windows with proper locks or maybe even with iron grating. Don’t forget about the basement windows and back doors, as they’re the most convenient break-in places. Installing stronger glass that is quite difficult to shatter may help as well.
Of course, burglars may easily break the window’s glass to enter the house. But clever thieves avoid doing that, just like anything that might seem unusual to neighbors or attract someone’s attention.
Maybe, an experienced and determined burglar will be able to open any door or find another way to get into the house. But, the more time he spends doing that and the harder he has to work for that matter, the higher the chances that someone will notice his unusual behavior or that you/police will be able to react to the alarm’s signal.
Also, many burglars refrain from continuing the break-in when they fail to get into the house quickly.
3. Clean up the landscape and light up the area
It’s highly recommended that you should cut the tops of your trees and get rid of the tall bushes to make your front and backyard as visible and opened as possible. This will also decrease the amount of hiding places.
Make sure that your garden and front yard is well-lit during the night time, as burglars tend to avoid performing their operations in such conditions. Installing lights (or spot lights) with motion sensors, which light up only when someone’s around, is a great idea as well. You’ll be able to determine if someone’s trying to approach the house the second these lights light up.
4. Don’t display your possessions
Many home security specialists note that homeowners should concentrate on making their houses less attractive targets for thieves and intruders.
If you have an expensive car (or any car, actually), try to keep it in the garage, but not on the driveway. Purchase the blinds or shades for your windows and keep them shut when you’re away, so that the burglars aren’t able to determine whether your house is worth intruding when just walking along the street and peeping at the windows. This method is also known as ‘window shopping’. So, you should better close the showcase not to tempt the unwanted visitors.
Hire a professional to install a house security system
It’s also better not to place the cardboard boxes from your recent expensive purchases (like TV or) into the bins the way that everyone is able to see what you’ve just spent money on and what items are worth breaking in for. Don’t place them near the bins if they can’t fit inside as well. It’s better to take those boxes apart and fold them to cover the image and name of the purchased (gifted) item. A burglar won’t probably rummage in your garbage, as that would look just weird. And, weird things or behavior attract people’s attention.
5. Make it seem like you’re at home
If you’re planning to leave your house for longer period, it’s better to make sure than no one is able to determine your absence simply by looking at your house. Make it seem like you’re still at home. Ask your neighbors to fill the garbage bins and take out the mail out of the mail box regularly. Insert timers to make the lights inside the house turn on and off at certain time at different rooms. It’s also good to set your TV to turn on and off in the evening in order to create some noise.
