Home Safety Tips
Renovators Place Columnist
Oct 08, 2009
Your home should be your safety haven, a place free from crime and related problems. To help ensure you are not a victim of a break-in, theft or other crimes, take these preventative steps:
- Consider a security alarm system to protect your home. Ideally, the system would notify police and fire officials in the event of a break-in or fire.
- Keep all house and car doors (and windows) locked ? even if you are leaving for only a few minutes!
- Make sure your front and back doors have wide-angle peepholes to allow you to see a wide area.
- Never open your door to strangers!
- Use a solid wood or metal-clad door between your house and the connecting garage; add a deadbolt lock for extra protection.
- Add strong locks on sliding glass doors and French doors; use a stick in the track of your sliding glass door to prevent it from being opened.
- Keep bicycles, grills, tools and other valuables in a locked shed or garage.
- Keep a current home inventory of valuables; add ID numbers for easy tracking.
- When going out of town, be cautious about telling people you will be away; arrange to have a neighbor park their car in your driveway during extended absences; have mail and newspaper delivery stopped; have your lawn watered and/or cut; put interior lights on timers.
- If you hear someone breaking into your home, leave safely if possible and call the police. If you can't leave, lock yourself in a room with a phone and call for help.
- Trim trees and shrubs so they do not create safety havens for criminals.
- Enhance outdoor lighting to highlight doors, windows and other points of entry; use motion detectors for added safety.
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