Homeland Security: Protecting Your House Over The Holidays

When people talk about safety, do your eyes glaze over? Mine do. But it is an essential part of the world we live in. Statistically, it takes only seven seconds for a thief to make up their mind if your house is worth getting into. Thieves that have been in the game for a long time know exactly what to do and what they want as soon as they get in, so you need to think about what you need to do to get your homestead protected.

Securing The Doors And The Windows

These are the easiest entry points for a burglar, so get them as secure as you can. Fit secure locks, like deadlocks, on the doors and get a security chain. If it doesn’t need saying, I’m gonna say it anyway, lock all your windows and doors when you leave the house, even the first-floor ones! Even if you are going out for a few minutes. If a thief breaks in and your door wasn’t locked, you won’t get any payout from the insurance company!

To secure a sliding door, you can place a wooden dowel or a metal bar in the door tracking. And all keys need to be removed from locks and away from the door as burglars can use mailboxes to fish the keys out. If you have single pane glass in your windows and doors, you may want to think about upgrading them to UPVC. This material is much harder to break through.

Your Household Possessions

To give yourself a bit more piece of mind when it comes to protecting your possessions, it’s best that you write an inventory of your most valuable items. If you have lots of important documents, you need to put them somewhere safe, or you can invest in a small security box or home safe. These are easily purchasable online for a good price. And get contents insurance if you haven’t already. Because if you need to claim on the items and you have made a comprehensive list, the company will replace your items like for like, depending on how easily sourced they are. Your great-grandma’s necklace from 100 years ago will be hard to replace, so put that in the safe!

How Do You Make Out You’re At Home When You’re Not?

A great way to give the impression you’re there, even when you’re not, is just to light up your home. You don’t need to go to a Home Alone-inspired effort. If you’re worried about deterring thieves is really expensive, you can set the timer to switch the lights on at intervals.

If you are going on vacation, especially during the upcoming holiday season, make sure that you are putting in some more effort to protect your home. Ask a neighbor or friend to check your home every couple of days and to tidy away the mail from the letterbox as this is a dead giveaway that there is no one at home. If you have the funds to afford video surveillance, then it is worth investing in, or you can invest in a good alarm system. Both methods will show thieves that your home is being constantly watched and there is somebody available at a moment’s notice should they set off the alarm!

Other Equally Useful Methods

If you don’t have a pet, you might want to get a dog. Police officers say that thieves don’t target homes with pets because they can make a lot of noise! On top of that, they would prefer to not get attacked! You don’t need to get a massive dog, from my experience, a smaller dog’s bark is worse than their bite.

Another relatively inexpensive approach is to get motion sensors that you can set up in the garden that light up if someone enters. These types of lights need very little maintenance, so they are a handy arsenal when you’re not around.

Sometimes the simpler things are the most effective, such as a “beware of the dog” sign appropriately placed, just don’t have too many signs dotted around. Or having a neat garden, just so thieves can’t hide in corners, bushes or shrubs. If after all these, you may not feel as secure as you want, then starting or joining a neighborhood watch scheme is a great method too.

Overall, there are so many things that you can do to keep your home safe over the upcoming holidays. The safety of you or your family is the most important thing, so don’t scrimp on it.