7 straightforward and effective ways to make your house burglar and intruder proof

This article discusses some straight forward and simple ways in which you can make your house more theft proof without going the distance.

Imagine this gut wrenching scene: You are out for work and when you return back home, you are terrified to find out that it has been broken into! All the locks at your main door have been broken, all the furniture in your house has been turned upside down and anything worthy has been stolen: Clothes, kitchenware, electronics, and jewellery.

But the worst is yet to come. You start getting jitters days in and days out afterwards, imagining that somebody was in your house. And it becomes very difficult to sleep at night with the lights on. And you feel frustrated all the time. So what can be done to avoid such a situation and be proactive against any chances of theft? Here are a few easy and straightforward tips that can help you to make your house more safe and secure against burglars and intruders:

1. Secure the doors

Just don’t give burglars and intruders an easy chance to enter your house by carefree or negligent about the most obvious entry into your house(34% of them use doors). Make sure that your door frames are robust, not easy breakable and the hinges are all properly nailed and secure. Some ways to go about keeping doors safe:

• Install a deadbolt
• Use smart locks
• Add extra layer of security with a video doorbell
• If you have a mail slot make it foolproof so someone can not use it to. Unlock the door.

2. Lock the windows

Make sure that the latches on your window are strong and not flimsy (sometimes even the ones installed by the manufacturer are). Key-operated levers or aftermarket window locks can help you out here to make your windows safe.

Some other measures to keep in mind:

• Install window sensor or glass break sensor
• Reinforce your windows with additional window bars
• Use safety windows that make use of tempered glass that is much more durable than your normal window glass.
• Get window treatment. There is a lower chance that a burglar would break into your house when shades or curtains are drawn as this is a signal that someone is inside the house.

3. Light up the landscape

By making use of this measure, you are likely to scare away any intruders or burglars who simply don’t like to be in the spotlight. Place these as a security measure around your front and back yard, along the pathway leading to your house, near the garage and on the fence posts.

Some other helpful actions to consider:

• Use motion activated lights
• Save energy with solar powered lights
• Set up schedules with smart light bulbs to make them more energy efficient
• Use a smart outlet so you can put these lights on a timer to suit your needs

4. Make entrance from the garage secure

Be careful about closing all the doors to the garage, both interior and exterior, every evening, and personally checking it to make sure that the children have not left it open carelessly. You don’t want to give intruders any free invitation to steal your precious stuff(that might be stored in the garage) even if they can’t access your house.

Some things to consider in this respect:

• Install a smart garage door opener
• Keep any windows into your garage covered
• Keep any remote controls or garage door opener in your house rather than putting them in plain sight like in your cars.
• Install a driveway alarm

5. Eliminate any places where intruders can hide.

Take a good look around your property to check for potential hiding spots like lush trees and shrubs that obscure windows or doors from your neighbour’s view and trim these down or cut them so intruders can not use these for cover or hide themselves in it.

Some measure to consider:

• Create a clean open landscape
• Keep plants and hedges under 2 feet tall to prevent them from offering a hiding space for the thieves.
• Use defensive plants to create a hedge, basically anything with spines, thorns, or sharp leaves, around the borders of your property
• Never place stools and ladders in plain sight

6. Set up a security system

There are a whole variety of these available these days, ranging from basic DIY to professional ones. Assess the need of your house and your neighbourhood ( you can contact your local police department to simply request for neighbourhood crime statistics) and then take the needful action accordingly.

Some things to consider:

• Smart home capabilities so you can control it with other devices such as Google Home, Alexa etc for more convenience
• It has good reputation and offers efficient customer service
• Upfront payment vs monthly payments
• Additional features like smoke and carbon monoxide monitoring

7. Get a security camera:

This can be a life saver as it can not only expose any act of crime but can also scare the intruder away even before any malicious act.

Some factors to consider:

• Always place it out openly so it is clearly visible.
• Preferably a security camera with a mobile app so you can easily store any footage in real time and store it as well if it needs to be handed over to the police later.
• Desired features like motion detection, night vision, and Wi-fi capabilities
• Ample storage for your average needs.