In the United States alone, one burglary happens every 15 seconds. Nobody wants to become a victim to such a crime, which can have adverse effects on the life of your family, so it behooves every homeowner to adopt all the possible measures to ensure a better level of residential security.
Your vigilance for residential safety must include all areas of the house from the yard to the basement. Any burglar will strive to find an opening, literally and figuratively, in which he can penetrate into your house and steal all the valuables inside. We understand, of course, if high-tech alarm systems may be too expensive for average homeowners but you must do the best you can with whatever is within your budget.
Yard Security
Let’s start with the yard, which is your primary defense against burglars. Your neighborhood may not allow high fences with barbed wires to be erected but that does not necessarily mean that your yard can be a sitting duck. You have so many other options as deterrents against burglars including:
• Installing sufficient lights in and around the yard so that any suspicious activity can be seen either by the neighbors or by the persons inside the house
• Keeping the plants, bushes and trees trimmed so that burglars cannot seek shelter from them while waiting for the opportunity to enter your home
• Placing motion detectors, even if it’s the kind used to contain dogs, in the yard so as to sound the alarm at night when someone does try to cross it
There will be times when you are away from home such as on an out-of-town trip. Ask your neighbor’s help to pick up your mail and other deliveries, look out for the house and report any suspicious activity that may be happening inside while you are away. You must also return the favor.
House Exterior
Now, let’s move on into the exterior areas of the house itself. You have to keep your doors, windows and other possible openings locked at appropriate times, if not at all times. You want to make sure that burglars will have no possible openings into the house at any time.
The doors, which must be made of durable materials, must also have strong locks installed on them by a trustworthy residential locksmith. Then, the doors must also have at least 2 locks with the other one being a deadbolt while sliding glass doors must have vertical locks. Add in a wide-angle peephole on the entry door to see who’s knocking on it before actually opening it.
The windows must also be properly secured. You must ask for durable window locks, latches, hinges and handles to be installed with perhaps the addition of a few strategically placed iron grills.
House Interior
On the inside, install an electronic home security system. This way, you will be alerted when somebody tries to override the system, which you can then call to the police. Placing the police number to be called in big fonts near the phone or placing it on speed dial is an excellent idea.
These recommendations are commonsense tips that any homeowner can apply to protect his family. Do them now and sleep better at night knowing that your family is safe inside the house.