Home protection goes beyond installing a security system. Take a walk around your house thinking like a burglar to identify areas for improvement.
Keep valuables hidden, whenever possible. Install motorized smart shades over windows to provide privacy from sunlight while setting timer switches for dusk-to-dawn lighting. Enlist the help of neighbors when away on vacation to collect mail and newspapers as well as to shovel walkways and bring in garbage cans when shoveling isn’t possible.
You can obviously get a home warranty. Here are some great ideas to get started with that. Besides that, do think about the following.
1. Lock All Doors and Windows
Home security can be a tricky business. Most of us remember to lock our doors whenever we leave the house, yet many neglects to secure their windows as well – a potentially costly oversight since 30% of burglaries occur through unlocked windows.
Installing pin locks or using a letterbox draught excluder can make it harder for criminals to open windows and enter your home.
2. Keep Your Valuables Out of Sight
One of the worst nightmares of traveling or spending an enjoyable day out can be coming home to find that your house has been ransacked. To keep valuable items out of sight, keep cash, jewelry, and passports secure in a safe; store electronics behind curtains or closets as an added precaution.
Test out your house as though a burglar would, to assess potential entry points. Simple changes like trimming back overgrown bushes, closing curtains, and locking ladders can make your property less of an inviting target for thieves.
3. Install Motion Sensor Lighting
Motion sensors can be an excellent investment for home security and home improvement. From lighting your steps leading up to the front door to lighting up dark corners in your yard, motion sensors provide invaluable illumination that provides security at home.
Criminals and vandals typically operate under cover of darkness; having lights automatically turn on when someone approaches your property can be an effective deterrent against criminals and vandals.
Additionally, this type of lighting will save energy by eliminating the need to leave exterior lights on for extended periods.
4. Keep Your Guns in a Safe
Gun safes can help prevent both accidents and break-ins – an especially crucial consideration if children live in your household.
If you don’t want to invest in a safe, you could use a lock box or gun case instead. They are usually easy to access yet will prevent burglars from taking your guns.
Experts advise against keeping weapons in places such as garages where they could easily be seen by nearby neighbors.
5. Upgrade Your Doors and Locks
Reducing security costs with new doors and locks is an affordable way to increase property protection. To get maximum benefit, it is wise to change them as soon as you move into a new place and avoid giving out keys to friends or family members.
Burglars typically want to break in and be gone within 10 minutes, so any efforts taken to delay them is well worth your while.
6. Upgrade Your Lighting
Lighting should be one of the key elements to consider when protecting your home since criminals often peer through windows looking for potential targets or to see who is at home. Installing blinds or curtains that can be raised or lowered via an app may provide added protection; motion sensor lights may help deter burglars by providing ample illumination of a specific area.
7. Plant Thorny Shrubs or Hedge
Thorny shrubs and hedges can provide your home with extra security, being easy to grow while acting as an effective visual deterrent against burglars. Plus, their lower cost installation makes them an attractive alternative to fences or walls!
Thorny plants not only act as deterrents for intruders, but they can also keep wildlife out of your garden, thus contributing to a natural ecosystem that promotes local biodiversity.