7 Ways to Protect Your Home and Make It a Safe Space
Ensuring your home is protected and safe is incredibly important, whether you live alone, have kids, or share a flat with roommates. Whether or not you live in a neighborhood that is considered safe, doing your due diligence can not only help you sleep better at night, it can make all the difference if a break-in should actually occur.
Here are seven ways to protect your home...
Lock Your Door and Windows at All Times
This might sound too obvious, but it’s incredibly important to keep both the doors and windows secure, whether you are at home or not. Even if you are just spending time in the yard, you still want to make sure no one can enter your home without your leave.
This is especially important while you are sleeping: don’t leave the windows open, not without a window restrictor.
Buy Quality Locks
The quality of your locks will play a major role in the safety of your home. First, make sure all outside doors have a deadbolt. You can also consider smart locks, which you can engage remotely, or even lock systems that come with hidden cameras.
It’s also worth considering upgrading your bedroom door and locking system. It will provide a safe place for you to hide if a break-in ever does occur, and you can sleep more soundly. Do just make sure that a friend or family member knows how to enter your bedroom in case you feel unwell and can’t get to the door to unlock it. Smart locks will work here as well.
Keep Your Ladders and Tools Locked Away
If you have a lot of tools or a ladder you use around the house, make sure they are all locked away in a shed or a garage that is just as safe as your house. You don’t want anyone to easily access them and use them to climb up through a first-floor window.
Make sure the garage or any other building that provides access to your house is locked just as securely as your main front door. Burglars often break into the garage to gain access to a home because this is usually the cheapest lock in the place.
Don’t Advertise You Are Away
When going away for a holiday, don’t post about it on social media. You can share all the photos and videos you want after you’ve come home (make sure you make it clear in the posts that you’re back).
Burglars tend to use the ignorance of people who freely advertise they are not at home to invade their homes, so don’t let social media become your downfall.
Take Gun Ownership Under Advisement
Some people will tell you that the ultimate way to protect your home and family is to own a gun. This is, of course, only partly true, as a gun in the home can also pose a significant risk, especially if you have children.
If you can legally own a gun and you’re considering getting one for protection, especially if you live in an unsafe neighborhood or live alone, make sure to take all necessary precautions. Don’t keep the gun and the ammo in the same place; lock the gun where only you can access it, and learn all there is about gun safety.
Be Careful Where You Hide the Spare Key
Never leave a house key under the doormat or under a pot on the porch. The mailbox is not a good hiding place either. This is the first place anyone who wants to enter your home will look.
Ideally, you want the spare key to be housed with a friend or a neighbor. Alternatively, you can buy a lockbox and conceal it outside the home. Make it small and discreet, and only hide the key in there.
The same kind of caution should be exercised with your postbox key and your garage opener. Don’t keep them where they can easily be reached or stolen, and treat them with as much care as you do the house key.
Prevent Unwanted Internet Access
People often forget to protect their internet routers and digital devices. If you don’t have a secure wi-fi password and unauthorized access is easy, anyone can use your network to hack into your devices and steal your identity, hack your mail or bank account, or even unlock your smart door.
The same level of precaution should be exercised with all of your devices, especially those that are interconnected via bluetooth. Don’t allow unknown devices to connect anywhere, and always ask for double verification.
Wrapping Up
These simple measures should be enough to help you keep your home safe and protected. Take them under advisement and consider how you can implement them in your own living space.