Before you leave for your well-deserved vacation, it's smart to take a look at how safe your home is.
The FBI says that every 15.4 seconds, someone breaks into a home in the United States. Most of these break-ins happen when the homeowner is out of the house.
A lot of these break-ins could be stopped if people made their homes safer and put in home security systems.
One of the most common and effective ways to make your home safer right away is to install a home security alarm and home security surveillance cameras.
Home security monitoring is an option for many of these home security products. But installing these devices doesn't make you immune. You still need to take other steps and precautions to make sure you're safe.
Installing motion sensor lights around the outside of your home is one of the less expensive things you can do.
There are a lot of things that can be done inside the house as well as outside to make it safer. Check all door and window locks and replace any that are broken.
Patio sliding doors give thieves what they want: easy access. This is usually due to poor maintenance or security (like a broken lock), so don't be fooled into thinking it won't happen to you. It does and it will.
Take these steps to make your sliding door even safer. If you want to stop the door from sliding open, you could install a "Charlie bar" or another type of track blocker.
At the very least, you should put a steel rod or wooden dowel in the track to stop it from moving.
If you can, keep your valuables in a home safe. This includes keys to outbuildings, garages, other cars, and anything else that needs a key.
You should also hide any personal papers and information about who you are in your home safe.
If you don't have a safe at home, you might want to use a post office vault, especially if you live in an area with a lot of crime.
A great way to keep a burglar away is to make it look like someone is at home. This is a key part of making your home safer. This can be done by using timers to turn lights and appliances on and off at different times of the day in different rooms. But you should be smart and use this trick in more than one room.
Stopping your mail and paper deliveries is another security measure. If you have two cars, leave one in your driveway or ask a neighbour to park there while you're gone.
Leave a key with a neighbour or family member you trust and ask them to check on your home every so often. Turn off all answering machines. Don't be tempted to leave a message saying you're on vacation.
Make sure all of your outbuildings are safe, and lock up any tools in your garage that could be used to get in.
No matter what you do and how you protect your home, it will never be completely safe.
But your home security will be better if you make it harder for a thief to get in.
