Prevent Your Home From Break-Ins

Whether you have many valuable pieces of designer clothing, collectibles, and hard cash at home or you’re a freshman whose biggest treasure is a laptop, you’d want your home to be secure. It is difficult to fully relax and enjoy your time at home if you don’t feel 100% safe there. It might be because of the bad neighborhood, questionable neighbors, or simply because you take security issues very seriously. 

There are plenty of ways to improve the security of your home for the safety of all your belongings and, of course, your peace of mind. Here are ten essential tips you should consider. 

1. Secure door locks

You might think that a burglar won’t have the audacity to go to your front door and try and open it to get into your home. However, you will be surprised just how many of them do that.

Even if you believe yourself to be in a safe neighborhood, it’s still better to be safe and always lock all of your doors, especially your front door. There are also some other things you should keep in mind. 

First of all, you should make sure that your door frames are durable enough to withstand a certain pressure and tinkering. You should also ensure that your door hinges are secure and can’t be tampered with. If you have a door with a mail slot, make sure that nobody can reach through the mail slot to open the doorknob from the inside.

2. Install security cameras

Surveillance cameras can be a part of a home security system or installed independently. It can be useful in various ways; it reduces your anxiety when you leave home, as you can always check everything is in order when you’re gone. Also, if a break-in occurs, you can hand over footage to the police, which might help them find the criminal. 

Of course, you don’t have to stuff every room of your home with multiple cameras. The most common spots to install surveillance cameras include remote buildings, for instance, garage or workshop, and entry points such as front and back door. It’s also a good idea to have a security camera with the latest CCTV camera technology that will not only prevent people from stealing your packages but also integrate with your other security tools for effortless management.

3. Use motion sensor lights

Darkness is one of the burglars’ best friends. It can help them sneak inside your home and stay invisible. However, this is only one among many reasons why your front and back yards should be well-lit. Of course, there are certain limitations to having many lights on during the whole night. For starters, it’s quite pricey and unreasonably wasteful. However, there is a workaround! 

You can install motion sensor lights and even choose solar-powered ones, so you wouldn’t have to use any electricity. They automatically detect any motion at the nighttime, and it will be useful not only to catch any unwanted activity in your garden but also if you decide to take out the trash or let your dog out in the late evening. 

4. Put away your valuables

Clearly, home is the place where you feel the most comfortable, which is why it feels like there is nothing more natural than leaving all your belongings out in the open. And some of them might be more valuable than others, such as jewelry or expensive cutlery. 

In many cases, before a criminal would try and break into a home, they check the place first to figure out a few crucial things. One of which would be where the valuables are. That’s why, if you have all your most expensive possessions out in plain sight, you might be giving away some information to criminals about what to expect in your place.

If you have a safe at home, keep your crucial documents there as well as expensive valuables that you would hate to lose. You should also keep your tools locked away so that no one can use them in case of a break-in.

5. Invest in a smart door lock

As technology evolves, many aspects of our home improve as well. One investment that offers tons of advantages to households is a smart lock. It will also help prevent break-ins.

One of its benefits is that you don’t need to give away house keys to your family members. You can simply assign a different code for each person to know who enters your home and exits it. You also don’t have to worry about any of them losing their keys, as the only thing they need is to remember the code. 

Another little part that will be extremely useful for forgetful people is that it will automatically lock the door after you enter.  You only need either access to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth through your smartphone. 

6. Reinforce your windows

Your doors aren’t the only entrance ways for potential intruders to gain access to your place. Another common way for burglars to enter the home is through the window. That being the case,  you should also pay attention to the level of security that your windows provide. Since many windows are glass, they are easy to break, so if it’s your case, it’s worth to get alarm contacts for windows.

Aside from the window, it would help if you also reinforced the window frames to ensure that they are difficult to tamper with. If you have this option, make sure that you have high-quality windows with locks that are difficult to open. 

7. Never leave a spare key outside

Even if you are in a safe neighborhood, you should never leave a spare key outside your house. Never think that leaving a key under your doormat for one night wouldn’t cause much harm! If you’re going on a trip and want your friend to water the plants, meet them quickly to hand them the key yourself, instead of hiding it in a “safe” place. 

Another great option if you tend to have a lot of people over is a smart lock, which was discussed earlier. It is an excellent tool, so you would never need to have a physical key in the first place. You can even set it up to give some people temporary access. 

8. Scare off thieves with a dog

If you’re not allergic to dogs and have been considering getting a pet for some time, you should take a closer look at dogs. Not only are they the most loyal and loving pets, but many breeds can also serve as guard dogs. It is no secret that many large dogs can be protective of their people and property, such as Doberman Pinschers and German Shepherds. However, even if you want to get a smaller dog for your condo, dachshunds and Scottish Terriers are exceptional at being watchdogs. 

Some people don’t even bother getting a dog to get that sense of security. Instead, they get a “beware of the dog” sign and post it up in front of their house.

9. Conceal exterior wires

In many cases, installing a home security system is not enough if you don’t think it through well enough. An intruder can easily figure out that you have some systems placed simply by checking out exterior wiring. Finding those cables, they can cut them off. 

If the perpetrator cuts the wires, it will make your place vulnerable, and you might lose access to electricity or external communication. This is why you should consider using electrical conduits to conceal exterior wiring so that it’s difficult to find them and cut them. 

10. Invest in an alarm system

Whether you experienced a break-in in the past or just want to make your place more secure for the future, most of the security tips listed in this article will help to prevent break-ins. However, if they fail and someone will enter your place, there are low-cost ways to secure your home.

When someone breaks into your home through a door or a window, an alarm will go off, and it will alert authorities about suspicious activity at your home. This sound can also scare an intruder off.

Conclusion

By applying the security tips listed above, you can prevent break-ins from happening to your home. You’ll also feel safer and more secure in the comfort of your own place. If you’re planning on improving your house, consider upgrading your security system using these tips above.

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