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Last week I talked a little about Home owner’s insurance and Renter’s insurance. I did in fact sign up for the renter’s insurance this last week. What prompted that decision was I had recently had someone knock on my door late at night. I was up of course, I thought it was odd that someone would be knocking on the door. So I waited to see if they would take off running, thinking it might have been neighborhood kids. But they never took off, so I asked who it was after about 40 second’s. Well after that the person took off running.
I don’t know for sure if it was someone looking to break in, but that is what it seemed like to me. If it was just kid’s knocking on people’s door’s I’m sure they wouldn’t stick around that long to hear a response. This was around 01:30 not many kid’s are allowed out that late at night anyhow.
The renter’s insurance was very cheap, I don’t know why, but I was thinking that it would cost a lot more, you know like Home Owner’s Insurance. Those are quite a bit different.
So This week I’ve decided to tell you about how to fortify your home in case you have someone trying to break in, I’ll also discuss thing’s that you can do to let people think that there are folk’s home, even when you are at work or gone for a vacation! Find out today on how to protect your home from burglary!
My first experience with an burglar!
Around 4 year’s ago, I had a vehicle enter my long driveway. This was right at 03:30, I didn’t recognize the vehicle, but I could tell they were up to no good. It was an early 90’s model 4 door car. It was in real rough shape.
As I was peeking through the blind’s I could see that there were four men in their late 20’s to middle 30’s. What I could also see is that out of the two up front, one had a rifle and the other had a shotgun.
I had two dog’s one a Pit bull and Lab mix, the other a Great Pyrenees. They both greeted the men as soon as they cracked open their door. I went ahead and grabbed my gun and waited to see what they would do.
Well they were surprised by the dog’s, the driver decided to point his gun at the dog’s and I was thinking he was about to shoot, but then a the light in the living room turned on. I’m not sure how it turned on, my guess was faulty wiring, but it did manage to get them to change their mind’s. The ended up backing down the long driveway pretty fast.
My guess is they didn’t want to try to enter if they thought someone had already spotted them. That and they might have seen me as well, I walked through a hallway that had window’s but no blind’s.
That was the first time I ever had any issue’s like that before.
Basic home security measures!
Well for starter’s make sure you have blind’s or curtain’s up over all the window’s. The less that people can see in, the harder of a target it makes.
There are many different things that you can do to fortify your home against an intruder. These are both outside and inside your home.
Best home outside security cameras!
You want to make sure that you are aware of vehicle’s or people on foot entering your property line. One way of doing that is to set up camera’s. Now you can just use Game Camera’s but you wont be able to see thing’s live like you would if you had a security system in place.
You can go with a multitude of different Home security system’s. But it can be quite expensive in the long run. You have the initial set up and installation cost’s but then you still have to fork over money each month to keep it up and running.
If you would rather go that way then there isn’t anything wrong with that. I don’t really have any experience with any of them, so I couldn’t suggest a company for you.
If you want to set up your own outside security system, then first you’ll need to determine how many camera’s you will need. Where will you have the put up at? Will they be in plain view or concealed?
There are a lot of different aspect’s to consider when setting up your own home security system. After you have determined the number of camera’s that you’ll need to complete your outside security system, you’ll need to go on the search of good quality camera’s.
You will want to find some that allow push notification’s or other type of active alert system that will let you know when a camera pick’s up on someone or something coming into view.
There are camera’s that allow you to do this. Unless you want to set there and watch the security footage all day, you will really need to spend the extra money and get camera’s that are able to pick up on people or animal’s. There are smart camera’s that can determine the difference and those will allow you to set it to where you wont get alert’s for every dog or cat that come’s into view.
Depending on how much you want to spend you can also invest in night vision or thermal imaging camera’s.
I saw a sign!
You can pick up sign’s at most hardware store’s or even online for much cheaper, sign’s that tell other’s that you have a security system. Not every burglar will be deterred by warning sign’s but it is a very good idea to go ahead and put them up and make them visible.
You can place these sign’s in the ground by the road or entrance to your property or stick them to window’s.
You do not have to actually have a security system in place to use these sign’s!
That is going to hurt!
Do you have any vegetation by your house? You don’t have to have your garden on the outside perimeter of your house, but if you place maybe some cactus’ or other type of prickly vegetation under window’s it can also deter criminal’s from gaining access through your window’s.
Driveway Alarm!
Depending on your set up, you could also look into getting a driveway alarm. Have you ever noticed those black tube’s running across roadway’s at certain time’s of the year, or in driveway’s of businesses? Well those are signal hose’s. You can attach a meter to the end to determine how many set’s of axle’s have crossed over the hose.
You can also buy an alert system for them. A simple bell that will alert you whenever a vehicle has crossed over it can give you a head’s up on someone coming down your driveway. You can leave it in plain view or you can try to conceal it as well.
Fenced in!
A fence is alway’s a good thing to have. Some area’s require you to have fencing. You can go with chain link or barbed wire fencing. You can either install it yourself or you can do a quick google search to find fencing companies in your local area that will be happy to do it for you.
If you have ever fenced more than 100′ then you know just how much fun it can be. Although it will be cheaper to do it yourself, you might not be able to.
There are thing’s to consider like how far you need the post’s spaced apart, how many strand’s you are putting up, how many corner post’s will you need as well as some other thing’s to consider.
Either way, you will want to have your property fenced in or at least around your house.
Light Timer!
You are able to buy devices that will allow you to set up the lighting around your home to either be timed or come on randomly. These are great to set up before you go on a week long vacation.
These are easy to install and there is no major repair’s needed to run new wire for the outlet.
Door stop alarm!
You remember back in school when the teacher’s would hold the door open with a rubber door wedge? Well you can get those to hold a door closed and give you a few extra second’s to get a weapon to fend off the intruder.
I bought one recently myself but when I tried it out, I realized that my door was too high for it to work. I am currently looking at a door security bar. Now these range from $20-$100+ depending on how well you want it to hold up.
Even with the most expensive one, the intruder can still manage to get in depending on how willing they are to gain entry. But most intruder’s wont want to deal with all the extra hassle.
Inside security camera’s and sensor’s!
You can find a lot of camera’s that can blend in or stick out. You will want to have a system that can record constantly that way you’ll always have that footage in case something were to happen.
There are motion sensor camera’s that will activate when motion is detected, or you can buy them that always record.
Window and door jam sensor’s are great to have also. Anytime the window or door is open or ajar you will be notified right away. With the new technology that has been developed over the last decade, you can now get security system’s that will alert you via mobile device.
Get a Guard Dog!
Not only are dog’s good to have for companionship, they are also great tool’s to alert you of someone or something that may be lurking around outside.
It doesn’t matter if you have a small ankle biter or a 60+ lbs terrier. If an intruder were to hear a dog barking at them, they will more than likely turn and run. Even small dog’s can do quite a bit of damage.
Lock it up!
Most people these days will lock their door’s when they go to work. But even if you go out for a mid afternoon or early morning walk, you should still lock your door’s.
Most door’s are not the best for home security. When new home’s are built, they are built as cheap as possible. So if they can save money they can make money. But there is a cost to that.
Most exterior door’s are not very sturdy. You can look around at hardware store’s for a solid core wooden door. A solid core door is much harder to bust through.
Even with a solid core door you will still need to install a deadbolt, but toss out those small screw’s that come with the plate and get you a small bag of decking screw’s. Those will provide the most amount of resistance to a kick or sledge hammer.
But don’t stop there, if you really want to ensure a very secure entry way, go ahead and look into some metal brace’s that go on the inside of the door frame. What those do is it distributes the force that is used when someone tries to force their way in.
It wouldn’t hurt to go ahead and install a chain lock as well.
As far as your window’s go, you can buy some window security film.
This will help prevent your window’s from just shattering and enable easy access for an intruder.
Also do not forget to periodically check all the window’s throughout your house to make sure that they are locked. I know with children that can be a daunting task, but it is important to explain to them the risk’s of leaving window’s unlocked.
Any time you leave the house to go for a walk or anything that involves you leaving your house be sure to lock all the exterior door’s.
If you have a sliding glass door, you can purchase a security bar for those as well. It wouldn’t hurt to go ahead and add some window security film to that as well.
DO NOT FORGET that if you are renting, you will need to clear all of the additional repair’s and security device’s with your landlord.
This was my list for the Best Home Security Measures that I think will help a lot of you out there who are worried about a home invasion. Maybe your neighbor’s house was broken into while they were gone and they didn’t have insurance.
Insurance is a very good resource to have. I know if you have a mortgage you are required to have Homeowner’s insurance, but even if you are just renting a place you can still look into getting renter’s insurance. It can be very cheap but I’m not sure if it is available in all area’s. Just be sure to go ahead and look into it.
It is always better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it!
If you can think of any other idea’s that you have found helpful be sure to leave it in the comment section below! Also if you have found this article to be helpful then please share it with your friend’s! We all deserve to have peace of mind in these troubled time’s.