Wherever you live and whatever kind of home you live in, security is likely always going to be at the top of your agenda. Everyone wants to have the feeling of being safe in their own home, and it’s something that you are going to be able to achieve quite easily as long as you are thinking about some of the essential aspects to it that you might want to consider. The truth is that securing your house effectively is certainly possible to achieve, and you can always do things to improve it.
In this post, we’ll look at some of the main things you can do to secure your house more effectively. As long as you are thinking about these, you should find that you are going to be a lot more able to have a secure house, and it’s amazing what that can do for you psychologically as well as for your family. So let’s take a look.
Reinforce The Basics
Before you start adding on extra security layers and the like, you may first want to simply reinforce the basic elements of the home: the doors and the windows, primarily. As long as these are safe and secure, you should find that you feel a lot safer in the home and that you are greatly reducing the likelihood of break-ins happening. So this is a simple and yet very powerful thing that you will want to bear in mind if you are keen on your home being more secure from now on.
For instance, you may want to make sure that you are using solid core doors for all entrances, so that it is that much harder to get in. And you might want to think about installing some deadbolts on each of those doors too, perhaps also reinforcing them with strike plates with longer screws. You can always find other ways to secure other kinds of doors too – such as using a bar or dowel in the track to secure sliding doors. Make sure you are considering all entrance doors – including back doors and garages. If these are damaged, you may need to consult with a garage door repair company to get them fixed as soon as possible.
For the windows, it’s a simple case of making sure that they are up to date and in working order, not cracked and so on. And when you go out, or you are sleeping at night, be sure that they are locked. You might need you upgrade the locks too, or use secondary locks, depending on the state of them.
As long as you do those things, you are already going to be in a good position and you’ll find that your home feels more secure to be in straight away, so this is the kind of thing that you should definitely focus on as early as you can. It’s going to make a huge difference already.
Upgrade Your Lighting
It’s another very simple thing, but something that you need to make sure you are thinking about if you want your home to be safer and more secure. The lighting helps a lot, because burglars don’t like being seen. You therefore want to make sure that you are making it as difficult as possible for them to remain in the dark. You might want to consider a number of upgrades to your home here to see how you might be able to improve the lighting with a view to making the home secure as a whole.
For instance, you could install some motion-activated lights on the perimeter and outside the entrances. You can also place some lights strategically in the outdoor areas of your home and around entry points and blind spots. That’s a very affordable way to deter people from entering your home. You can use motion sensor lights for driveways too, and you might want to keep porch lights on timers if you are away, or use smart bulbs, so that you can simulate presence in the home.
All of that acts as a deterrence, and you might be surprised at just how effective it can really be, so it’s well worth thinking about.
Invest In A Good Security System
There are lots of security systems out there that you might be aware of, but you want to ensure you are investing in one that will actually work well for your home and your situation. A modern alarm system, whether it’s professionally installed or a DIY option, can make a huge difference to the security in the home, and this is something that you should be really careful not to ignore. If you do it right, it can be a relatively inexpensive way to make your home a lot more secure in no time.
You might in particular benefit from systems that have motion sensors, door and window contacts, and loud alarms. If you have those, you are going to find that it is much more effective. And of course, these days you can easily get hold of some smart systems that allow you to check in remotely via an app. That makes it easier to use and also ensures that you are going to have a much better ability to deter burglars.
Remember: you don’t have to go high-tech. Even just a visible alarm sign, or a decoy camera, can deter burglaries effectively, or at least some of them, so this can be a simple, and low-cost, way of achieving similar results. But if you do use a real security system, make sure it’s a good one.
Make Your Home Look Lived-In
If your house looks empty, it’s going to be more of a target to those who want to get inside. That means you need to make sure it looks actively lived-in, which it probably will most of the time when you are there. But when you are going away, you need to ensure it still has that lived-in look, which is something you can achieve easily enough by using a few tricks.
For instance, you can put some of your lights on timers – ideally randomized ones, so that you are able to create the most realistic effect possible. You can also have your mail collected by a neighbor, or ask the mail service to put it on hold for the duration of your trip. And if you are able to leave a car in the driveway, that really helps too.
Those are simple things that can help to make it look like someone is home all the time, and that is a major deterrent.
Be Careful Online
A lot of the time these days, people become targets because of what they post online. You should take great care to ensure that you are not sharing anything online that could be used against you in this way. Oversharing on social media can seriously backfire. You should try to avoid posting vacation updates in real-time, and be careful not to advertise expensive purchases you have made where they can be traced to your home.
All it takes is for someone to use that information and to get to your home, so it’s important to avoid doing that.
As you can see, keeping your home more secure is relatively easy as long as you are following a few key things like those above. Do that, and it’s going to make a huge difference overall.
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