How to secure your home
Our homes are usually one of our most expensive and important of possessions. If you have a home, you likely value it, and would hate to see it get broken in to. Security in our homes is very important, the following are tips for how to secure your home:
1. Make sure that every exterior door is made of solid wood, or is metal clad. If you have hollow core doors, they should only be on the inside of your home, they can easily be kicked in, and are too easily accessible for outdoor doors.
2. If you have doorknobs that are key operated, you will want to make sure that you reinforce it with a dead bolt. You will want a single cylinder dead bolt, that must be used with a key on the outside, and a thumb latch on the inside. You might be asking yourself why not have a key operated deadbolt on both sides? The answer: in case of fire in the home, having a thumb latch on the inside is much safer.
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3. When putting a dead bolt on your door, you want to use one with a beveled rim, as it will prevent the dead bolt from being pulled out with pliers. Also, you will want to use 3 inch mounting screws to properly anchor the strike plate.
4. To make sure your door is extra safe, you will want to be sure that the hinges are mounted on the interior of the door, so that intruders can't just pop the pins out and lift the door off the frame.
5. You want to have a peep hole. Make sure you choose one with a wide angle view. If you have small children, or if you are in a wheel chair, you will want to have a peep hole installed low enough so that you can use it. You will want to make sure that your child knows how to use the peep hole.
6. If you have a sliding track door, you will want to lock it, not just with the regular lock, but you will also want to use a dowel, it can be wooden or metal. You can buy it at Wal-mart, and you simply stick it in the track. That way, even if the door lock is broken, or the door is forced open, it will not be able to open past the dowel.
7. If you want extra safety with a sliding door, you will want to buy what is called a charley bar. This is a metal fold down device that keeps the sliding door from being lifted off the track.
8. If the door around your entrance has glass inserts, trade them out for security glazing. This is a security plastic, it is glazed so you can't see through it easily, and it is break proof, so you won't have intruders breaking the glass to unlock a door and come in.
9. Inventory your possessions. It would be wise to use a video camera, and tape everything in your house. It is especially important to video tape serial numbers, or any kind of identifying marks, etc. in case things get broken. You will want to keep your inventory of items somewhere other than your house. It is best to keep this inventory in a deposit box.
10. If you want to deter intruders, it would be smart to install motion sensors on your lights, this can scare intruders away.
11. Make sure all entrances, pathways, and driveways are well lit. This is a great way to deter intruders.
12. Make sure your house numbers are well lit; this will help police identify your home easily and quickly should they be called. It will also help anyone who sees suspicious activity be able to identify the home the activity is taking place in.
13. You will want to cut hedges down so they do not cover ground-floor windowsills
14. Use safety bars if in an area that has high crime rates.
15. Use pin locks if you have double-hung windows.
