Families and homeowners need to take several extra steps in their day-to-day lives in order to make sure their homes are properly secured. Whenever you leave your home or lock your home up at the end of the day, you likely have several procedures you follow that help ensure your family remains safe while inside and your assets are protected when you are gone.
In addition to your daily safety and security routines, there are several things you will want to consider or check throughout the year to help make sure that your family stays safe and your home remains protected against theft and break-ins. While not all unfortunate incidents can be prevented, there are a number of things you can try and look for to help keep your home safe throughout the years.
The first defense that most homeowners have against break-ins is their home locks. While deadbolt locks are quite durable, they do have a limited lifespan. Most deadbolts only last around 5 to 7 years at the most. Using a deadbolt lock that is too old or worn is never a good idea. Older locks can easily be broken, allowing a criminal or other individual to enter your home with little hassle or effort.
Check the locks on the entrances to your home and make sure there are no loose screws, broken pieces of hardware, or other issues. If you know that your locks are reaching their age limit or you discover that your locks are not functioning well at all, make sure to have them professionally replaced right away.
While you receive any lock replacements or upgrades, you may also want to consider reinforcing your front door, back door, and side door with an additional lock. Chain locks or sliding locks, for example, are inexpensive but effective locks that can help enhance the primary locks you already have.
For homeowners with attached garages, it is especially important to make sure that the doors and windows leading into your garage are secured properly. It is critical that any door that goes directly from your garage into your home is sealed with a secure deadbolt. Some homeowners may neglect this entry point because they believe that the garage will be enough to stop an intruder from ever reaching the door to one’s home in the first place. However, this is simply not the case and a majority of criminals will look to home garages as an access point in order to get inside one’s home.
Even if you have a detached garage, it will still be important to secure the garage door and any access doors with strong and stable locks. Not all criminals will want to gain entry to your home. Rather, some may be searching for specific items found in garages. Always make sure to secure the garage door itself and other access points.
Just as you will want to check the door locks in your home, be sure to do an assessment of your home’s window locks. Any first-floor windows on your home will need to have solid locks on them. It is all too easy for a criminal to enter into your home if there are no locks on the windows. It should always be a priority, alongside having sturdy door locks, to make sure your windows lock properly and securely. Window locks are inexpensive and necessary for homeowners to have. If you need help installing new window locks or replacing your current ones, make sure to call an expert in to assist you.
In addition to having the proper door, garage, and window locks, homeowners need to pay attention to the lighting around the perimeter of their homes. Poorly lit homes are often easy targets for break-ins. If no witnesses can see a given crime occurring, then the criminals responsible are more likely to get away with it.
You can prevent crime from happening around your home by keeping all the pathways well lit. The most popular option is to purchase motion-detecting lights. These types of lights are extremely bright and powerful, but they only turn on whenever motion is sensed. This makes it so that this bright light does not have to be on all the time, but will automatically come on if someone is approaching or walking towards your home.
Taking advantage of technology is another great way you can prevent break-ins and other security breaches from happening around your home. If you are on a tight budget, know that there are a lot of different options to choose from, no matter how much or how little you have to invest in upgraded security measures.
Smart or electronic locks are a great way to increase your home security. While some electronic lock models are quite sophisticated, there are a lot of models that are more simplistic or considered to be stand-alone devices. For example, you may not need a widespread security system for your home, but you may benefit from having one, electronic keypad lock on your home’s front door. Working with an experienced locksmith to help you find the right system is always recommended so that you find the right devices to secure your home without wasting your money.