Burglar-proof your home
If you are going away over the festive season the last thing you want to worry about is whether your home is a target for burglars. Here are ten tips you should heed to ensure that your home is safeguarded against potential criminals.
1. Make your home more difficult to enter by locking all internal and external doors. Use high quality locks on exterior doors to resist twisting, prying and lock-picking attempts. Sliding glass doors are secured by latches which can be forced open from the outside. Prevent this by inserting a wooden dowel rod into the track to limit movement. Older sliding glass doors can be lifted up and off their tracks. To prevent this, you need to keep the door rollers in good condition and properly adjusted.
2. Install burglar alarms. These are a major deterrent to burglars. Place highly visible decals on the exterior of your property to indicate that an alarm system is in place.
3. Lock all windows. Windows should have secondary blocking devices to prevent them being opened from the outside. Inexpensive wooden dowels work well for horizontal sliding windows and through-the-frame pins work well for vertical sliding windows. For ventilation, block the window open no more than six inches and make sure you can’t reach in from the outside and remove the blocking device.
4. Install light timers. Light timers are inexpensive and can be used on a daily basis, not just when you’re away.
5. Cancel newspaper deliveries and arrange for a trusted neighbour to collect your post. Unattended mail is a sure sign that the home is unoccupied and vulnerable to burglars.
6. Tell a trusted neighbour or friend when you will be leaving for a holiday and when you will be returning. Do not advertise this fact widely.
7. Notify your security company of your absence and ensure they have your current cell number.
8. Do not leave a key for your home under a doormat or in a pot plant when away. Rather give the key to a trusted neighbour or friend and ask them to check up on your home regularly.
9. Leave your contact number with a friend or trusted neighbour so that you can be contacted in an emergency.
10. Turn the volume of your telephone down so that others do not hear it ringing continuously.
Burglar-proof your home
If you are going away over the festive season the last thing you want to worry about is whether your home is a target for burglars. Here are ten tips you should heed to ensure that your home is safeguarded against potential criminals.
1. Make your home more difficult to enter by locking all internal and external doors. Use high quality locks on exterior doors to resist twisting, prying and lock-picking attempts. Sliding glass doors are secured by latches which can be forced open from the outside. Prevent this by inserting a wooden dowel rod into the track to limit movement. Older sliding glass doors can be lifted up and off their tracks. To prevent this, you need to keep the door rollers in good condition and properly adjusted.
2. Install burglar alarms. These are a major deterrent to burglars. Place highly visible decals on the exterior of your property to indicate that an alarm system is in place.
3. Lock all windows. Windows should have secondary blocking devices to prevent them being opened from the outside. Inexpensive wooden dowels work well for horizontal sliding windows and through-the-frame pins work well for vertical sliding windows. For ventilation, block the window open no more than six inches and make sure you can’t reach in from the outside and remove the blocking device.
4. Install light timers. Light timers are inexpensive and can be used on a daily basis, not just when you’re away.
5. Cancel newspaper deliveries and arrange for a trusted neighbour to collect your post. Unattended mail is a sure sign that the home is unoccupied and vulnerable to burglars.
6. Tell a trusted neighbour or friend when you will be leaving for a holiday and when you will be returning. Do not advertise this fact widely.
7. Notify your security company of your absence and ensure they have your current cell number.
8. Do not leave a key for your home under a doormat or in a pot plant when away. Rather give the key to a trusted neighbour or friend and ask them to check up on your home regularly.
9. Leave your contact number with a friend or trusted neighbour so that you can be contacted in an emergency.
10. Turn the volume of your telephone down so that others do not hear it ringing continuously.