Our homes are where we need to feel the safest. The criminal element among us, sadly, would not hesitate to penetrate our homes and steal not only our possessions, but our sense of safety and security. The good news is that you can take action to harden the home against intruders.
In terms of layers, think about home security. The first is the land surrounding your home, the second is the building’s exterior, and the third one is the house’s interior. This will help you compartmentalize the assignment of protecting your house.
Related: This Is How to Improve Your Home Security System
The Property
Walk at night around your house and think like a criminal. The aim is to find any fields that would provide perspective coverage.
This may be poorly lit areas, bushes and shrubbery, or any objects or structures behind which criminals may hide.
Pay attention to the areas around windows and doors, as the most probable avenues of entry are these.
Make notes and make a strategy to remedy these problems from any places that are dark or provide concealment. To minimize or remove someone’s ability to hide, try to light up dark areas and, if possible, cut back bushes and shrubbery.
One of the best upgrades you can add is motion-activated lights. These lights sense movement and turn on when motion is detected.
This has the benefit of illuminating and revealing any offenders that might be lurking around your house, and alerting you to potential trouble at the same time.
The entire perimeter of your house should be either illuminated or shielded by motion lights.
Cameras are also a perfect addition to the protection of your exterior. They should be put in a way that, without being filmed, no one can access any window or door.
Safety cameras are becoming increasingly cheap and need no special skills to be mounted.
A good idea is to mount cameras which, if they detect motion, will send alerts to your phone. Many cameras also have two-way voice contact, which is useful for a primary entry door. A further layer of protection is being able to talk to others without opening the door.
It will also help track suspicious activity in your neighborhood by installing a camera that covers the street.
Related: Home Security Tips From an Ex-Burglar
The Exterior of the Building
The first step is either to buy a home protection system or to purchase some signs and stickers to make it look like you have a safety system.
It’s also a good idea to post a ‘Guard Dog on Duty’ sign, regardless of whether you have a dog or not.
When you go out or go to bed, make sure to choose a device that you can activate while you sleep, and always set the alarm. Many possible burglars would avoid houses accused of having a dog or a surveillance device.
Your front door is a most likely point of entry for a criminal, because under the disguise of salespeople, delivery people, or even law enforcement, they can reach the front entrance and ring the doorbell. For them, this is a successful way to assess if the home is occupied before attempting a break-in.
Your first step for all entry doors should be to upgrade the door hinges and deadbolt to the best one you can afford.
It will help to disperse the force of a kick by adding a wider security strike plate with longer and wider screws.
Along with improved strike plates and hardware, the door frame should, if necessary, also be strengthened. Avoid any electronic locks using WIFI or Bluetooth technology, as they can be hacked.
A storm door lock is an addition that should be considered for your front door. These are transparent glass or mesh screen doors that make it possible for you to provide a buffer between yourself and anybody who comes to your front door.
The benefit is that without exposing yourself physically to a stranger, you can talk through this door. It is sufficient to delay a home invader long enough to allow you time to close and lock the front door, although the degree of security is limited.
Install locks on each entrance door’s interior, which can only be locked and unlocked from the inside.
Again, make sure that you are purchasing the best models you can afford. Before going to bed for the night, lock these locks.
You should not leave a key under the welcome mat, or in the flower pot, in any circumstances. Hide it far from the door if you want to leave a key outside your home, such as being hidden in a backyard garden. A much superior choice is to place it in an old pill bottle and bury it in a place you can easily remember.
Related: Home Protection Early Warning Systems
Windows
Glass windows are a big weak point in the security of your house, but it’s a characteristic of homes without which we can not survive.
Steel bars are the best protection for windows. The problem is that a suburban home rarely looks nice with steel bars.
Another concern is that in the case of an emergency like a fire, steel bars often prohibit the occupants of the home from using those windows to escape the building. Buy mounting hardware that is the strongest and largest one that can be used if you plan to add bars.
The clear security window film that can be added to your windows is an alternative to bars. What this does is keep the window, just like a car windshield, from breaking. While this tactic will only slow down a suspect, it will ideally deter them long enough for the police to arrive.
The thicker the film, the greater the safety, the more these films are available in different thicknesses. Do this on all the windows you have.
There should be either a piece of wood or a device in any window that opens that prevents it from opening more than an inch or two.
Related: 10 Common Home Security Mistakes
The Garage
Your garage is a significant weak point in the security of your house. If a door from the interior of the house to the garage exists, it must be protected in the same way as any other outside door.
The real garage door is not as sturdy as you would think, and all it takes is to get a car back into it, smash the door and make it useless.
Garage door openers are often vulnerable to hacking, where by finding out the code with software and then transmitting it to your opener, a thief can open your garage door.
You can purchase sensors connecting to your WIFI network that will warn you when you open the doors. These are also useful, because when you are away from home, you can use them to check if the garage door is closed.
The Inside of Your Home
The aim is to make it appear that your house is still occupied, even though it is empty.
If you have a dog, train it to bark every time someone knocks at the door or rings the doorbell. This will also reassure a would-be thief that the risk is not worth your house.
Using timer switches for your exterior and some interior lights, even if the house is dark, gives the feeling that someone is home. The glow of a TV, which is also set on timers to give the impression that someone is watching TV, is simulated by some devices. In the house or the garage, having a radio on would also make burglars believe that the building is occupied.
Installed on doors and windows, WIFI activated sensors will send notifications to your phone that a door or window is open. And if you’re not home, this will give you a heads up that someone is gaining entry.
Defense
If, in spite of all the passive countermeasures, someone is determined enough to invade your home, then you need to have a strategy to protect yourself and your family.
Escape is always the best choice, because your possessions are not worth dying for, so the first choice is to disengage yourself and your family from the danger. This is not easy often, and you will have to protect your family.
Self-defense is beyond the reach of this article, but the laws regarding self-defense in your region should be recognized and understood. Spend time in your head going through scenarios and coming up with ideas for adequate defense.
Your goal is to make it unattractive for a criminal to try a break-in at your house. A major portion of the criminal element can be deterred by good lighting, cameras, guard dog signs, and security company signage. The upgraded entrance doors and unbreakable windows would at least slow them down for those who still want access and alert you to the imminent threat.
Finally, it can also serve as a major disincentive to make the interior of your home still offer the appearance of being occupied. The key takeaway is to do whatever you can in order not to appear to be a convenient victim.
