Safeguarding Your Home
The key to complete home security is balance. Well-protected windows are great, but if your doors are not properly secured your safety can still be compromised. Read below for important tips on how to make your home as secure as possible.
Doors - Your First Defense
- Solid wood doors are good, metal doors are better.
- Reinforce the door frame with a long strike plate, secured with #8 screws at least 2.5" long.
- Check that a hand cannot reach through mail slots and reach the door locks.
Sliding Glass Doors and Windows
- Sliding glass door and window security is a function of three components: locking mechanisms, frames, and sashes and glass.
- Sliding glass doors are an immediate, visible target for burglars.
- The best security for a sliding glass door is to use a device that secures both the sliding and stationary panels of the door by pinning them together where their frames overlap.
- Do not rely on "crescent" or "butterfly" latches to secure double-hung windows—they are easily defeated with an inserted knife.
- A better security measure for a double-hung window is a simple, do-it-yourself nail or bolt window stop. Drill the hole for this stop at a slightly downward angle to prevent the burglar from jiggling the pin out of the hole under pressure.
- As part of your security system installation, include glassbreak detectors to detect the sound of a window or sliding glass door being broken.
- Consider using tempered glass for especially vulnerable areas. This glass is five to seven times more break-resistant than standard or plate glass.
- Security film overlayed over glass can limit shattering and slow down a burglar’s entry.
Fire Protection
- Smoke detectors - do not go without them. They can save your family and your home.
- A smoke detector will save your life or the life of a loved one.
- At a minimum, install detectors on each floor near stairways.
- Bedrooms and other rooms are good locations for smoke detectors.
- Check smoke detectors every few months, dirty detectors can be cleaned for a small fee.
Other Tips and Ideas
- Change your locks when you move into a new home. You never know who may have copies of the old keys.
- Try to keep valuables out of sight from windows.
- Be cautious of strangers who want to use your phone. Offer to make the call for them, or let them use a wireless phone from outside.
- Do not give information about your daily routines, travel plans or home security status to anyone, especially people doing telephone surveys or sales.
- Do not enter your home if it appears to have been broken into. Call the Police from a neighbor's home and wait for them.
- Use motion detection lights to attract attention.
- Check items that could provide easy access to second floor windows or balconies, most homeowners don't expect a burglar on the second floor.
- Lock up ladders, shovels, or any other tool that could be used to pry a door or window open or gain forced entry.
- Check that your house number is clearly visible both day and night. Drive by your home to check visibility while driving down the street.
