Even though Melanie and Ryan live in a fairly safe and quiet neighborhood, they had their truck broken into, home broken into and garage broken into all within a few weeks of each other. After the third break-in, they decided to make their home appear as difficult as possible to rob. And, although summer is usually the peak time of the year for burglaries, with the change in the economy, robberies are on the rise. There are a few simple things Ryan and Melanie made to help their home be more secure and less of a target for those looking for a home to break into. Since making these changes, they have not had anymore problems:

Take Stock of Your Home: How long has it been since you took a good look at your home from the outside? Go outside and spend a few minutes looking at it from the outside. What would a burglar see? Do you have outdoor lighting? Do you have expensive items such as computers or tvs visible from the outside? Does your garage sit open most of the day? Have trees or bushes grown up around your doors thus making it easier for would-be robbers to enter unseen? Make a list of changes you need to make and start on them right away.

Change Your Bad Habits: Many people, believe it or not, simply forget or choose not to lock their doors when they leave the house. Or, many people leave their garage open while they run a “quick errand.” Another mistake people make is to leave valuables sitting inside their car, plainly visible. Sometimes a burglar will just try a doorknob to see if it will turn. If it will, they will walk in and quickly take what they see. If not, more then Kamagra Soft likely they will move on. Burglars are looking for ease and efficiency. By simply getting in the habit of locking your doors, closing the garage door, and bringing valuables in from your vehicles, you will better protect your home. Ryan and Melanie realized they had been leaving Ryan’s laptop in his truck and were always leaving their garage door open. They changed these habits quickly and have not had anymore problems.

Fortify Your Doors: Doors are the gateway to your home. It is worthwhile to install heavier doors, with stronger frames, making it more difficult to kick them in. Also, in addition to the must-have deadbolt, check to make sure your dead bolt is a quality lock. The throw bolt should be longer than one inch. If it is not, you should replace it. Make sure your hinges are on the inside of the door and consider having your door swing outward instead of in. It is more difficult to kick in a door which swings outward. Additionally, installing a dead-lock can really help to deter would-be burglars. These locks do not have a key from the outside, making so the criminal has to actually break your door in order to get in. Just seeing the lock there will help to deter a criminal because of the greater difficulty.

Check Windows and Sliding Glass Doors: You can have the greatest locks in the world on your door, but if your front room window is sitting wide open with a brand new laptop sitting on the table by the window, you’ll still have a problem. Windows, especially those most accessible, should have locks on them. If you cannot afford new windows at the moment, using a dowel in the frame to make it difficult to slide them open will at least help. For your sliding glass doors, you can install keyed locks for the top and bottom of the door. In addition, you can have installed a special panel inside the sliding glass door or windows which won’t allow the door or windows to be broken.

Be Safe: In addition to the above changes, Ryan and Melanie organized a Neighborhood Watch program on their street. The neighbors tell each other when they are going to be out of town and report any suspicious cars or people to each other. This has helped the neighborhood gain a better feeling of security and the burglary rates have decreased dramatically on their street.

Author Bio: Jan Brass is an expert on home security and related topics. He also does writing and research on a number of related topics, such as security fasteners, products, and other hardware. Visit http://www.securityscrew.com/ to learn more about security, tamper resistant, and tamper proof screws and read about other security products.

Category: Home Management
Keywords: home, home improvement, security, home security, advice