Your home is where your family deserves to be safest, no matter what. When they venture out, it needs to remain safe and secure for when they return. You should keep reading for some useful tips that will help you keep your home and your family safe.
Change all of your locks when you move in. It’s important to know everyone who has a key to your home. Call a locksmith to make sure you’re the only one with access to your home. Also, if you ever lose your keys, do the same.
Buy a small home safe that you can use to keep your valuables in. You can’t have your valuable personal items and jewelry out in the open for anyone to see. Hide the safe in a very hard to reach place like the attic or a closet in the basement.
Hiding places for spare keys must be chosen with extreme care and caution. Above doors or under doormats are much too common to hide them and potential criminals will check them first. You could hide the key with your dog on the collar.
Extended Period
If you will be away from your house for an extended period of time, turn the ringers off for all your phones. When burglars hear phones ringing for an extended period of time in a home, they know that there is no one there to answer.
Don’t let people into your home unless you know them. Do not give in, even if a person uses a convincing story, asks for help or says they are selling something. There are some people who will just come in to see if you have a home security system, and if you do not, they could come back later when you are not home.
Take advantage of any and all security resources your local police force makes available to homeowners. Several in various jurisdictions have programs which entail providing a home inspection, what protective measures will help your home and even how to engrave valuable items to make them easier to recover. Contact your local police department to find out if they offer this type of program.
Compared to city dwellers, you might feel more safe in your rural home. There are some who believe country folk are more at risk because neighbors are not nearby. Some people, though, believe that you will not be at risk for a burglary.
Walls are great for hiding things. You can hide small valuables in your walls. You can use phone jacks or electric outlets as hiding spots. If you have no unused plates, you can put in a fake one.
No matter how soon you plan to return home, you should lock your doors. Many home thefts start with the thief simply walking in an unlocked door or window. It doesn’t take long for a thief to steal thousands of dollars worth of stuff.
If you are new into a house, replace all the locks. Regardless of how trustworthy you consider the last owners to be, neither you nor they can be sure that there aren’t others out there with keys to those locks. People may have lived in the home before those owners, too.
Make sure all the wood around your doors is in great shape. If a person wants to enter your home, rotted wood can easily be pried away. Replace the rotting door frame with a new one and keep your home much safer.
If your home isn’t new, replace the locks. Previous tenants may have given the keys back to the landlord, but it is always possible to make copies of keys. You can also put the locks on yourself so you can be sure no one else has a key.
If you’re hiring a company for home security, be sure to read any fine print before you sign that contract. There may be hidden costs involved that you were not aware of. Avoid nasty charges or fees regarding early termination, contract expiration and additional features or equipment.
Think about safety when designing your home. Don’t obstruct windows or doors with shrubs, plants, fences or trees. This makes it where people can’t hide in different nooks and crevices. Plan your home with safety in mind.
Consider all of your individual security needs before looking into any alarm systems. Even though these security systems can guard you and your family, that doesn’t mean they’re for everyone. Depending on your neighborhood and your household, you might well be better served by a reliable guard dog or self-defense training than by high-tech gadgetry. Think about your risk factor when making a decision.
Having read this article, you have lots of good information to choose from. How can you use it to protect your home? Stay abreast of new developments in the field and learn everything you need to know about home security.
