ephas
18 December 2020
If your home is not secured, it can be an easy target for a potential robber.
With more than 231,000 annual break-ins in Australia, chances are that your property can be robbed at some point. Thus, anything you can do to minimise that likelihood should be considered, especially if it’ inexpensive.
No need to spend a fortune to keep robbers at bay
You don’t have to break the bank when you are robber-proofing your property. The good news is that there are some cheap yet robust preventative measures you can take to secure your home. In addition to opting for state-of-the-art home security cameras and systems, there are some amazing inexpensive ways to have peace of mind whilst you enjoy your holidays.
In this article, we’ve discussed 8 different inexpensive ways to theft-proof your home against intruders. But before you can truly develop an inexpensive robber-proofing strategy, you should educate yourself with the right information about thefts and robberies.
How do most home invasions take place?
Did you know most robberies take place during the daytime, between working hours?
Yes, it’s true! Most potential invaders expect to break-in when no one is home.Subsequently, they target easy points of entry from where they are most likely to break in. These common points of entry mainly include front and back doors, windows, garage, unlocked areas, sheds and storage. By safeguarding these key areas of entry, you can significantly reduce your chances of a potential home break-in.
Also, most burglars are not masterminds. Actually, the majority of burglaries are the result of opportunities which homeowners create and invaders seek. For instance, burglars don’t prefer carrying heavy tools along with themselves. Instead, they use whatever is lying around to break-in, such as a tool or ladder.
8 Inexpensive tips to keep your home safe
Home security isn’t just something to think about when you are out on a vacation or office trip. As we’ve already mentioned above, most robberies occur during the daytime when most people are at work. Therefore, whether you’re heading to office or going on vacation, you need to protect your home every single day.
In order to make your home crime-safe, you can consider taking various cheap yet effective measures right away. Let’ find out some of them with the help of an experienced security doors company
Keep your doors and windows locked
It may seem easy to forget but believe me, locking your doors and windows is one of the most important and simplest ways to secure your home from home invasions. Keep your doors and windows locked at all times to make it more difficult for invaders to gain access.
Around 34% of break-ins take place through the front door and another 23% through a first-floor window. Here, the key takeaway is that thieves are looking for easy-access to break in. Therefore, properly lock your windows and steel security doors, even when you’re at home.
Using some good quality locks and security systems will add to your safety and security.
Keep handy tools away from the reach of robbers
As we mentioned above, potential robbers seek for easy access and they look for heavy tools to break-in. So, it’s best to keep your tools locked, fences repaired and outdoor sheds padlocked. Bricks are another handy tool that can possibly lead to a break in. My neighbour, a keen gardener, has a habit of leaving his tools out, which is why one day he addressed a break-in. The moral of the story, be concerned about what you are leaving outside for them.
Keep your locks updated
If the locks of your home are damaged, it’s a big concern for your home security. Easy-to-pick locks could invite robbers in your home easily. In such a scenario, you need to secure your home by re-keying or replace your locks with more tamper-proof versions. To start, make sure all your windows and doors have high-quality deadbolts.
It is best to install crime-safe security doors for better security. Also, make sure the hinges, lock hardware holes and strike plate of your doors can withstand everything short of a vehicular battering ram.
Keep important stuff out of sight
Robbers always seek for your expensive items that possess high value. Stuff like electronics, jewellery, luxury watches, cash or important documents is among their favourites. So, keep your important and valuable items out of their sight. As a better security measure, you can consider keeping such stuff intact in a safe deposit box.
Install motion-sensor security lights
Robbers don’t like the limelight as for obvious reasons, they don’t want to get noticed when they are around. By improving night-time lighting outside your home, you can effectively deterrent them from breaking-in.
Consider turning regular lights into some cheap motion-sensor security lights. They are very helpful to put a spotlight on anyone scoping out your home and will keep the potential robbers away.
Stay clever when you hide your front-door key
When you hide your key, the intention is to keep it as safe and hidden as possible. You not only want to keep it away from the sight of a potential invader but also not much difficult to find for those who should have access to it such as your kids, house sitter, delivery person, or even yourself.
It is actually advised that you consider giving an extra key to a trusted neighbour, find unexpected hiding places, or better install an inexpensive combination lock-box.
Play tricks when you are not around
Before breaking in, most intruders take the time to determine whether the home is safe to enter. This is where you can fool them by plotting or playing some tricky moves. You can leave the TV or radio on when you’re out. This will make it sound like someone is inside the home.
Also, if you have a car parked in your driveway, it will make a criminal think that someone is inside the house. Thus, ask your neighbour or friend to take care of your property for you when you are out or tell them to park their car on your driveway.
Be smart with social media
Social media is fantastic for staying in touch with friends and for posting your photos, especially during a trip. But, remember it can be public. Criminals can simply search for keywords like travel, out of town and find descriptions of the dates and times when you will be leaving your home.
To avoid this, carefully share the information about your trip. Additionally, if you do feel the need to let people know that you’ll be travelling out of town, ensure that your post is marked as private on that social media platform.
The bottom line
You see, figuring out how to make your home safe and secure from intruders doesn’t have to be an overwhelming and expensive chore. You can use the aforementioned tips to get started and have peace of mind. Start with understanding, which strategies are best-suited for your property and create a plan to add the rest later.
Whatever you will do, just keep one thing in mind – it is better to stay aware of potential security risks and take action to secure your home before it is too late. And if you’ve got any security tips that we skipped in this article, feel free to let us know in the comments.
About the Author
Lachlan Smith is the General Manager at Bayside Security Doors & Shower Screens.
