Do you have a home security plan? If not, you should put one into place immediately to keep your home safe and sound from now on.
Home burglaries have actually been on the decline over the last 20 years or so. But even still, there are millions of homes that are broken into and burglarized each and every year. There are also injuries and even deaths that occur when some of these break-ins take place.
The good news for homeowners is that it’s never been easier to beef up home security. You can secure your home from top to bottom by making home security a top priority and by creating a strong home security plan.
Want to learn some of the top ways to make your home significantly safer than it is now? Here are nine ways you can upgrade your home security plan in an instant.
1. Install a Sturdy Front Door on Your Home
When you think about a burglar trying to break into a home, you might think about them climbing through a window or trying to gain access to a basement. But more often than not, burglars will attempt to break into homes by walking right through their front doors.
With this in mind, it’s very important for you to install a sturdy front door on your home if it doesn’t already have one on it. There are lots of great front doors out there these days that are made out of:
- Wood
- Fiberglass
- Steel
Your goal should be to track down a front door that’s going to stand strong in the event that someone tries to break into it. It’s often going to be the first line of defense for your home, which is why it’s so essential for it to be as strong as it can possibly be.
You should also take this same approach to buying back doors and any other exterior doors located throughout your home. The stronger your exterior doors are, the better they’ll be when it comes to protecting your home.
2. Make Sure You Have Strong Locks on All of Your Home’s Exterior Doors
You can invest in the sturdiest exterior doors on the market for your home. But if you don’t pair each of them up with strong locks, guess what? It could all be for naught!
In addition to purchasing exterior doors that will stand up to almost anything for your home, you should also contact a residential locksmith to help you outfit them all with top-of-the-line locks.
There are many different locks that you can choose from for the exterior doors in your home. You should make it your mission to find the right locks for your home based on the style of your doors and your specific security needs.
You should also be sure that you use your locks once you have them all set up. One recent survey found that about 25% of Americans still aren’t locking their front doors at all times. If you fall into this category, change that ASAP.
3. Consider Adding Deadbolts to Your Home’s Exterior Doors
If you want to take a home security plan to the next level, you should think about installing more than just basic locks on your home’s exterior doors. You should also go ahead and look around at some of the best deadbolts that are available today.
The right deadbolt is going to make it pretty much impossible for a burglar to kick in an exterior door in your home. It’ll add an extra layer of protection when you get into the habit of using it.
There are a handful of different types of deadbolt locks that you can pick from. This includes:
- Single cylinder deadbolt locks
- Double cylinder deadbolt locks
- Touchpad/keypad deadbolt locks
Regardless of which of these options that you go with, you’re going to want to be sure they’re installed properly. You should request service from a licensed locksmith and have them get the job done for you so that you know it’s done right.
4. Fix Any Exterior Doors in Your Home That Might Be Broken
Is there an exterior door in your home that doesn’t close and lock quite right for one reason or another?
Maybe time has taken a toll on this door and it just doesn’t work the way it used to. Or maybe your home was broken into in the past and you never got around to having burglary damage repair done to your door.
Whatever the case, a broken exterior door in your home is going to be a big no-no for anyone trying to improve their home security plan. You’re going to have a gaping hole in your plan that is going to leave your home susceptible to burglars.
You might also find that it’ll be almost impossible to successfully set up a home security system in your house when you have a broken door. It’s going to result in your system going off early and often because of your broken door.
5. Put a Peephole Into Place in Your Front Door
Wouldn’t it be great to see who is knocking at your front door before you open it up? Wouldn’t it also be great to sneak a peek at what’s happening outside of your home without having to open your front door up every time you do it?
You can do both of these things by having a peephole placed into your front door. Peephole installation is an excellent way for people to monitor what’s taking place on their front porches and in their front yards.
There are a bunch of different peepholes that you can put into place in your front door if you would like. Some of the most popular options today are:
- MiniScopes
- XtraScopes
- NuScopes
- WideScopes
There are also more advanced forms of home technology, like smart doorbells, that will help to see what’s going on in front of your home. But peepholes will get the job done without forcing you to pay any additional fees over time.
6. Set up Home Security Cameras on the Outside of Your Home
A few years ago, a group of burglars took part in a survey about home burglaries. During this survey, they were asked to reveal what the biggest deterrents were to them when they were thinking about robbing a home.
A lot of them said that they steered clear of any homes that obviously had large dogs living in them. But they also said that they stayed away from houses when they saw home security cameras on the outside of them.
As recently as just 5 or 10 years ago, most people wouldn’t have been able to afford to hang up cameras on the inside and outside of their houses. But nowadays, these cameras aren’t anywhere near as expensive as they used to be.
You might be able to get the same locksmith who adds locks to your doors or puts a peephole into place in your front door to set up a CCTV home surveillance system for you. It’ll let you keep a close eye on your home at any time of the day or night.
7. Secure Your Garage With a Garage Door and Keep It Locked
According to a recent report, more than 60% of American homes have garages these days. If your home has a garage on it, you’re going to want to make sure that it has a garage door hanging over it.
By putting a garage door on your garage, you’ll be able to better protect everything that you keep in it. Whether you park your car in your garage or use it for storage purposes, you won’t have to worry about anyone tampering with any of your stuff when you have a sturdy garage door in place.
You also won’t have to be concerned about anyone accessing your home through your garage when you have a garage door on it. They won’t be able to use your garage as an entry point to your home if they can’t get into your garage in the first place.
You will need to make it a point to stick a high-quality lock onto your garage to ensure that a burglar can’t break into it. You’ll also need to remember to use that lock every time you close your garage.
But as long as you do those things, your garage and everything that you keep in it should be safe.
8. Avoid Sticking a Spare Key Anywhere on the Outside of Your Home
Locking yourself out of your home is one of the most frustrating things in the world. There is almost nothing worse than realizing that you just walked out of your house without your keys. It’s enough to throw your whole day off!
With this in mind, many homeowners have tried to get around this by sticking a spare key somewhere on the outside of their home. In some cases, they’ll stick it under a doormat or beneath a flower pot. In others, they’ll throw it out in their shed or nail it to the side of a tree.
This might make your life a little bit more convenient in the event that you lock yourself out of your home. But you’re also going to find yourself in a world of trouble if someone ever finds out where you keep your spare key and uses it when you’re not home.
If you absolutely have to keep a spare key somewhere on the exterior of your home, you should give it to a neighbor that you trust. You should avoid putting it anywhere else since you’re going to run the risk of someone finding it if you do.
9. Call on a Trusted Residential Locksmith for All Your Home Security Needs
There are a lot of homeowners who take the do-it-yourself approach to improving the security of their homes. They create a DIY security plan and then try to execute it to the best of their ability.
There is nothing wrong with doing this if you know what you’re doing. But if you’re not even sure where to start as far as home security is concerned, you’re not going to get much peace of mind by handling it on your own.
Rather than taking the DIY approach to your home security plan, you should work with a trusted residential locksmith to formulate the best plan possible. They’ll be able to come out to your home and evaluate your current home security situation before making suggestions on how to improve upon it.
The residential locksmith that you bring on board for this type of project should offer:
- A wealth of experience in the locksmithing industry
- A long list of residential locksmithing services
- A whole host of locksmithing products, including locks, deadbolts, keyless entry touchpads, security cameras, etc.
- Great prices on all their products and services
You’ll be amazed by what kind of home security plan you’re able to come up with when you have a trusted professional by your side. They’ll walk you through all your options and help you create a plan that’s going to work well for your particular home.
You’ll sleep so much better at night when you have this kind of system in place. It’ll make it easier to secure your home than it would be otherwise.
Start Coming up With a Good Home Security Plan
You deserve to feel safe when you’re in your home. You also deserve to know that your house is safe when you’re away.
Use some of the things that you’ve learned here about creating a home security plan to make your house safer than it is now. You can improve the safety and security of your home in no time by doing things like changing the locks on your doors or making sure that your garage door is secured at all times.
Need help carrying out your new home security plan? We’re always here to help! We can provide you with the best residential locksmithing services in the business when you call on us.
Contact us today to discover more about how we can assist you.