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Home Security Audit — Is your home secure? Most people think that burglary is only regarding illegal access to your home where items get stolen and destroyed. But the horrible truth is that it has a more serious impact on a family’s well-being and mental state.
Home Security Audit: What You Need to Know
Looking Deeper
Often, victims of burglary often confess to a sense of violation. It further leads to feelings of anger, fear, and emotional distress which is particularly true in the elderly and children. Act now and protect your loved ones, your home, and property. Homeowners are encouraged to enhance the security around and in their homes.
This Home Security Audit article will provide you what you need to know about having a secure home. It seeks to guide you on taking precautions to help reduce burglary risks around your house. Some DIY and affordable suggestions are given to help you increase your home’s security to the max.
Here we have outlined ten things that you need to answer to check if your home is vulnerable to thieves.
Ten Things You Need to Ask Yourself
Answer these ten questions with yes or no to help you reflect on your house’s vulnerability to burglars.
- Are there clear views of all doors and windows?
- Do you leave the lights on timers, inside and outside the house especially when no one’s home?
- Are the grasses cut, the driveway shoveled, and flyers and newspapers collected when you’re away?
- Do you have deadbolt locks on your doors?
- Do all windows have a second security feature especially the ones with a single locking device?
- Are the strike plates on your outside door locks secured in place with four screws?
- Do you store the keys to the car in a place that’s out of sight within your home?
- Do you mark your valuables with your identification number?
- Are you storing your valuables in an isolated area or a safety deposit box in your home?
- Do you know your neighbors?
If you have answered no to a majority of the questions above, then your house is at risk of burglary. What can you do to improve your security? Keep reading.
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How to Protect Your Property
Is your home at risk? The following tips and pieces of advice will help you enhance your home’s security and make it less vulnerable to burglars.
1. Assess Your House
First off, trick people into thinking that you’re at home even if you aren’t. Make it look like someone’s inside. Make sure that it looks like someone is living in it. Thieves are less likely to break into a property where someone is obviously inside the house.
Most criminals assess a house and wait for opportunities that will increase their success rate at stealing. They usually look for:
- Unshovelled driveways
- No Car in the driveway
- Uncut lawns
- Absence of outdoor lighting
- Uncollected newspapers or flyers that indicate nobody’s home
- Presence of solid wood fences or landscaping that will help them hide
It’s important to look at your property from the burglar’s view and observe things that you may have gone unnoticed. Make the needed changes and ensure your house and yard looks lived in even when no one is at home.
2. Look at the Bigger Picture
Check your property and see what may attract a thief to target your home.
Landscaping
Your property’s landscape has the potential to attract burglars. The shrubs and the trees can cover your doors and windows which can provide cover for thieves. Avoid large trees and excessive shrubs that can provide a hiding spot for adults.
Also, don’t choose fast-growing pants. Get the ones that don’t need frequent maintenance. Then, check your landscape and see how much of a cover your plants provide relative to your neighbors’ views. Lastly, don’t overplant.
Fencing
Choose a fencing material that doesn’t disregard your security for privacy. A private area appeals more to the criminal. Take, for example, a six-foot high fence can provide you enough privacy but at the cost of your security. The fence can serve as a private space for a burglar.
Lighting
Use timers to maintain a minimum of two lights in your front yard during dark hours where normally you are at home and awake. To enhance your security, get yourself motion activated lights. These work great in alerting homeowners and effective against trespassers.
Property Maintenance
Avoid having flyers hang out from your mailbox and piled newspapers on your front porch. As much as possible, empty your mailbox and avoid creating a pile of newspapers. These communicate to burglars that there is no one at home and make your property an easy target.
3. Nuts and Bolts
Securing your home with doors, locks, and frames is important.
Door Security
Protect your home with a solid and good door. Buy a door that has no windows to avoid having the inside lockset at arm’s reach. Consider adding a peephole to solid doors so you can peek outside to see who is at the door.
Locks
For a home security audit, check how secure your lock is. Place a deadbolt lock outside access doors including your garage door. Make sure that the locks should be:
- Drill-resistant
- Pick-resistant
- Saw resistant
- Twist-resistant
Avoid buying deadbolt locks that need a key from both sides. They will not allow for a quick escape in cases of fire.
Windows
Windows are one of the house parts that are vulnerable to break-ins since they can be pried open, smashed or lifted off their tracks. Deadbolt locks that a burglar can reach from a window lessen a house’s security.
Summary
In conclusion, it is best to prevent any break-ins before you become a victim. Your home is at its most vulnerable point the moment that you are away. Perform a house security audit or get a professional to do it. Make sure that your house just as how you left it. Always keep security in mind.
