While it’s challenging to protect your home from professional thieves, most home burglaries are carried out by amateurs. These thieves are deterred if you engage some of these manageable security precautions:
- Plan to “burglarise” yourself. You’ll uncover any vulnerabilities in your security system that may have beforehand escaped your notice.
- Lock up your house, even if you go out just for a short amount of time. Numerous burglars step in through unlocked windows or doors.
- Replace all the locks when you move into a new residence.
- For the most efficient alarm system, hide all wiring. A professional burglar watches for areas where he or she can cut the security system.
- Your house should look occupied at all times. Make use timers to turn lights and radios on or off when you’re not at indoors.
- If you have a faulty alarm that continually goes off, get it repaired promptly and inform your neighbours that it’s been fixed. Many people snub an alarm that goes off regularly.
- A spring-latch lock is an easy target for burglars who are “loiding” specialists. Loiding is the process of sliding a plastic credit card into the latch tongue to depress it and open the door. A deadbolt opposes any such attack. It is only exposed when there is adequate space separating the door and its frame to permit a thief to use power tools or a hacksaw.
- If you lose your keys, replace the locks promptly.
- Before giving your house key to professional house cleaners pr tradespeople for several hours, make sure the person is trustworthy and honest as well as hardworking. Inspect all testimonials thoroughly. If the house cleaner is not from a reputable company, get in touch with your local trading standards to check on the firm’s reputation.
- Rather than keeping a spare key in a mailbox, under the doormat, or a plant pot in the garden.
- You could wrap the key in tin foil or place it in a 35mm film can that can be buried where you can quickly locate it if you require it.
- Don’t leave notes for tradespeople people or members of your family on the door. These pose as a welcome mat for a would-be a burglar.
- If the access areas to your home are dark, contemplate installing lighting with an infrared detector. Most thieves don’t want to be seen attempting to get in a door.
- Talk to your neighbours about any suspicious characters or unfamiliar cars you see prowling around.
- To prevent your tools from being robbed, paint the grips. Thieves bypass things that are obvious to identify.
- Trees positioned near windows or shrubbery that might shield a burglar from view can be significant defects in your home protection plan. Examine your landscaping layout in regards to your protection needs.
- Request the credentials from all sales-people that request admission to your home. Ask that their identification be pushed below the door or through a letterbox. Many professional burglars use this guise to case out homes. If you’re suspicious, check with the person’s department before allowing him or her inside.
- Never list your full name on your mailbox or your listing in the telephone book. Use only your initial and your surname.
- If someone arrives at your door requesting to use your phone to get in touch with a mobile mechanic or even the police, keep the door locked and make the phone call yourself.
Dogs are significant deterrents to burglars. Even a small, loud dog can be beneficial. Burglars do not like to have attention brought to their attendance. Remember, however, that trained guard dogs do not always make good pets. Obedience training and attack training are a completely different ballgame. Only an animal that has had obedience training and has a good temperament is appropriate for a house pet.
Securing Doors
To help burglar-proof your home, fit 1-inch throw deadbolt locks on all outside doors.
A door with too broad a gap between the door and the frame is an invite for the burglar to apply a jimmy. Reinforce the door with a piece of sheet metal or a panel of 3/4-inch plywood.
If there are door hinges on the exterior of your house, take down the door and reset the hinges so that they are inside. If the hinges are on the outside, all a thief has to do to get into your home is tap out the hinge pin from the door.
Glass patio doors can be burglar proofed by placing a pipe or metal bar in the central bottom track of the door slide. The pipe should be the equal length as the track.
- It’s easy for a burglar to push through wood rot. Replace rotted door frames with new and preferably solid wood.
- It’s easy for a thief to smash glass panels and then stretch in and open a doorknob from the inside.
- A door with glass panels should be both fortified, replaced, or secured with deadbolts that can only be unlocked with a key.
Securing Windows
Guard your windows with one or more dependable locks, an alarm system, burglar-resistant glass, or multiple small panes rather than one large area of glass.
When installing a window lock, drip some solder on the heads of the screw heads. This action stops a burglar from unscrewing the lock after they have cut a small hole in the windowpane.
At A & E Locksmiths Kent, we believe that our customers should never be left alone in their time of need. We are one of the leading providers of 24-hour locksmith services in the county, and are dedicated to maintaining a high standard of service. Our team aim to be at your location within 20 to 60 minutes of your initial call, and strive to carry out all common lock repairs during the first visit.
