As the weather gets warmer, sadly, more home burglaries take place. No thieves want to break into homes and steal when there is snow on the ground, it’s too cold and they’ll leave footprints. The spring and summer months are when most robberies take place because people are often going in and outside frequently, leaving doors unlocked as well as leaving their windows open overnight or when they aren’t home to let the summer breeze in. However, these practices make it extra easy for burglars to enter your home and steal your belongings. Most burglars aren’t professionals, they’re amateurs that will give up easily out of fear. If the door lock sets on your home are too hard to penetrate or your windows are all securely locked they will most likely move on to another home that’s less secure.
Here are some burglary prevention tips to make your home safer this summer.
If you don’t have one, install a double cylinder deadbolt door lock set on all of your exterior doors. They are harder to break into. Also if a burglar enters your home through an open window, they’ll want to carry the stolen items out the front door. A double cylinder deadbolt lock makes this more difficult and they may end up giving up.
Pin the door hinges on all the exterior doors. It will prevent the burglar from taking off the door, even if they remove the hinge posts first. If hinges are exposed on the outside, it’s extremely important to do this. In order to pin your door, remove two opposite screws on each hinge and drive a headless nail into the hole in the door frame. Leave about half an inch protruding. Then drill opposite the screw hole so the nail head fits in when the door is closed.
Install a reinforced strike plate when installing your double cylinder deadbolt lock set. The strike plate strengthens the door frame and makes it harder to penetrate.
Never leave home with the windows or doors unlocked, even if you are only out for a second. A burglar could be watching the house waiting for the right moment to strike and they may even have a plan of how they can get in and out in less than a minute. So even if you’re taking the dog for a short walk around the neighborhood, lock up the house.
Never hide keys outside of your home. Thieves know where all the common hiding places are. Eliminate the need for a hidden key with keyless door lock sets. Keypad door locks are becoming increasingly popular, and the Schlage LiNk keyless entry system has also received many accolades.
If you go out of town, arrange for a neighbor or friend to pick up mail and the newspaper and check on the house. If there are a few newspapers laying in the driveway it’s an advertisement for an empty house, which is appealing to burglars.
Keep your garage door closed and locked at all times, even when you’re home.
If you have sliding doors or windows, lock them and reinforce them with a break-in bar or lock pin. This makes it very difficult to slide the door open even if the lock has been picked or forced.
Share these tips with your neighbors and agree to look out for each other’s homes. Following these tips for burglary prevention throughout the summer and beyond will drastically reduce your home’s chance of experiencing a break-in.
July 19, 2010 at 7:52 am |
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