Home Security Guide: Information | Tips On Home Security » Home Security Tips

Home security tips to keeping your home secure while on vacation

admin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:06:40 +0000

Summer is here and you can’t wait to go on your holiday but is your house well protected while u are away? According to FBI statistics, most communities across the United States will experience a 10 to 18 percent in home burglaries during the months of June, July, and August, with most tending to occur in August. A significant number of break-ins could be prevented with simple precautions. According to the Insurance Information Institute, 9 out of 10 home break-ins could be prevented if homeowners knew how to burglar-proof their homes.

Here are some of the home security tips to follow before going on a vacation.

1) Interior lighting is important to show signs of life and activity inside a residence at night. A darken home night-after-night sends the message to burglars that you are away on a trip.

2) Don’t tell other people the dates you will be on vacation. Keep it on a need to know basis. Only inform people that you trust like your trust worthy neighbor so that they can help you to watch after your house when you are away.

3) Put your newspaper on hold. Burglars will know that nobody is at home if they see newspaper piled up in front of the main door.

4) If possible, leave a car parked in the driveway. This will simulate the impression that somebody is home.

5) Make sure no valuables are visible outside of your house. If a passerby can see your belongings, so can burglars. Normally you would do this by closing all curtains but try to keep some shades or blinds up and curtains open to keep a normal appearance, provided that valuables are not visible through the uncovered window.

6) Make sure all doors, windows and other possible entrances that burglars can use to gain access to your house locked and fastened. Double-check before leaving the house.

7) Never leave a message on your answering machine saying you are on vacation. A burglar can easily obtain your phone number through the phone directory. They can call your number while standing right in front of your house and imagine the joy they will be in when they hear your message.

And, of course, the best way is to install a home security system. It provides peace of mind when you are away on your trip but do remember to activate it.

The bottom line is, try to keep it from being obvious that there’s nobody at home. The last thing a burglar wants is to come face to face with the occupant.

Home security tips for apartments and condominiums

admin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:04:17 +0000

Apartments and other high-rise homes are at risk of burglaries as houses. Don’t assume that it’s less risky under the pretext that there are security guards at the entrance to your building. It’s not wise to solely rely on someone else to protect your home. Here are some of the home security tips that you can follow to make your apartment safer.

1) Change your apartment locks when you move in. This will prevent the previous occupant or whoever else that has hold on to the keys before from entering your apartment. This way, you will have a piece of mind that the only person that have access to your home are you.

2) Parking tags used in most apartments and condominium should not identify the unit that the parking lot belongs to. Make sure the tag does not have the unit number on it as potential burglar can use it to identify whether the owner is home.

3) Install peepholes. It provides a way for you to identify the person at your door step before opening the door. Without a peephole, a burglar can just knock on your door and when you open the door, all he has to do is push the door and it will knock you off your feet. This will put you in a great disadvantage and unable to protect yourself.

4) Beware of tailgating. Tailgating is the practice of following an authorized resident through the open gates before it closes. If you notice someone doing this, inform the management or security guards. The person tailgating you could be a burglar or just a friend of an occupant, but it’s a risk that you should not take. You could have done your part in preventing your neighbors from being robbed. You would want them to do the same thing.

5) Get to know your neighbors so that you know who is not supposed to be in the premises. Most apartment buildings are located in cities and because of the hectic schedule of city living, it does not exactly encourage interaction between neighbors. This is a big mistake. You should take the effort to get to know your neighbors. They will play a part in helping you to protect your home and you on theirs.

6) Make sure the building’s public areas are properly lit. Properly lit areas enable you to identify threats easily and prevent dark areas from being used as a hiding place for staging surprise attack. Inform the management if you find any lights that are out.

Home Security Tips

admin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:02:35 +0000

Follow the home security tips below to see if you miss out on any of the precautions that you need to take. The majority of burglaries are committed during the day when most people are at work or at school, so that the burglar does not bump into anyone.
Home targeted for burglaries are usually marked and monitored for days before any action is taken. They will monitor for the time of the day when the house is empty. So watch out for people wandering around your home.

But beware of opportunity thief that will strike when an opportunity present itself like unlocked doors. Around 20 – 30 percent of break-ins occur through open doors and windows and they don’t even have to use force. Most burglars are looking for things that are small, expensive and can be easily carried out of your house.

Look at your home through burglar’s eyes and ask yourself this:
How would you get into your house if you were to lose your keys?
If you can find a way to get in, so can a burglar.
Most of the times, the simplest and cheapest precautions can make a lot of difference. Below are some of the most common home security tips that will help you ensure a better security for your home.

- Back door and garage door are the easiest to get into and the most common tools for entry are credit card, pliers and a screwdriver. Some just use the “kick in the door” method. It is often successful because strike plates are usually installed with half-inch screws instead of 3-inch screws or the dead bolt throw is not an inch long.
- Sliding doors are secured by latches not locks and are easily broken into as the aluminum latches can become worn after some time and can be easily pried to lift the latch. The sliding door can also lifted out of its track. A few simple methods can be used to prevent the sliding from being used as a point of entry. Wood or metal block can be used to keep the door from being pried open. Keeping the door rollers adjusted and in good condition plus the installation of a pin that extends through both the sliding and the fixed portion of the door will keep a burglar from lifting the door out of the frame.
- Sliding window also poses the same risk as sliding door. Window can also be prevented from being lifted out of its track by installing screws into the upper track of the movable glass panel.
- Keep your valuables away from being seen easily from the outside of your house. This will only attract burglars. It’s not a good idea to place small and expensive valuables like jewelries, purse and fancy electronics near windows. These items could be easily snatched and carried away.
- If security bars or window grills are used as a second line of defense if windows are broken, make sure it’s not permanently sealed. It must have at least a portion that can be opened like a window so that it can serve as an escape route in case of fire.
- Remember to keep all possible access to your house locked. If windows are locked with locks, remember to keep the keys near the windows and can be easily seen and reachable from the INSIDE of the house and at the same time, it must not be easily seen or reachable from the outside of the house. This is because locked windows are an alternative escape route in case of emergency. Locked windows are meant to block intruders and not a death trap to the owner.
- Plant rosebushes or cactus in front of windows. It makes even getting close to such windows an unappealing prospect. One of the most common way of breaking in is through windows as a burglars can work on such windows easily but doing it while standing in the middle of a thorn bush is not a pleasant experience.
- Coat safety-coating on the most vulnerable windows. Safety coat is an adhesive plastic sheeting that makes breaking windows difficult. Instead of being broken with just a pop, a burglar will have a hard time breaking the glass and will stop if it’s taking too long or even unbreakable. It can be quite expensive but it does provide serious burglar protection.

- Do not leave keys under the mat. It’s a common practice that will only invite troubles. Burglars know about all these commonly used hiding places.
- Do not leave house keys in the car. If a burglar gain access to your car, he will gain access to your house too.
- Do not stick or engrave anything on your keys that can match that set of keys to your house. If you lose your keys and if somehow it falls onto the wrong hand, that person will know where your house is and will have easy access to your home.
- A barking dog, whether inside the house or in the yard is proven as the best deterrent to burglars. It doesn’t have to be a godzilla-sized dog, even a smaller yappy dog serves as an early warning system. Even if barking does not deter the burglar, a bite will. And there is no such thing as a stranger intimidating a dog into silence. The truth is a dog, even a small one, inside a house is not something a burglar wants to deal with. Getting bit is not fun.
- Make sure security system is activated. It’s only useful if it’s activated. Test it regularly to make sure it’s in good working condition. Imagine your belongings gone when you reach home and then to find out that the alarm didn’t go off because it’s spoilt.
- Never put documents containing important information like personal identification numbers into thrash unshredded. It can provide another way for thief to steal your belongings other than breaking into your house. Electronic theft is on the rise now that more and more people are using the internet to do transactions and this is an easy step that can be taken to prevent identity theft.
- Use light timers. It’s inexpensive and can be found everywhere. They should be used on a daily basis and not just when you’re away. For best effect, use light-timers near the front and back windows. It will simulate occupancy.
- Secure your garage. Garage provides an access to the rest of the house and since it’s likely to be unoccupied during the night, it’s a favorite target for thieves. Even if the thieves do not plan to enter the house, there are other valuables that they can choose from like your car, bicycle and tools.

If you return home and find that your house has been burglarized, don’t touch or move anything. Leave the house immediately and call the police as the burglar could still be inside the house. Do not try to be a hero and try to apprehend the burglar as the burglar may be carrying a weapon.