Home Security Basics
The security of your home is one of the most important services you as a father provide to your family. Unfortunately it is also one of the most commonly overlooked areas of standard home maintenance. For starters there is no such thing as a intruder proof home. With this in mind your objective while securing your dwelling against the bad guys, is to make it as difficult as possible to enter your home quickly and without attracting attention. Homes not easily and quickly broken into are most often bypassed for easier targets. We have listed below 5 basic steps to securing your property that every dad should consider.
Step #1 Study the target.
Step outside your home and do a full circuit of your property. Your objective here is to view every aspect of your home as if you were the criminal. Look for windows with easy access from the outside; sliding glass doors and secluded side doors should get your attention as well. Try to locate blind spots where a criminal could do his work unseen or hide from passing vehicles such as overgrown landscaping. Stand outside your windows and look in, do you see your expensive television set? So can the criminals.
Step #2 Study yourself.
Take stock of how security minded you are on a daily basis. Do you leave your adjoining garage door open when doing yard work or other dad jobs around the house? Do you have a habit of leaving ladders against the side of your home or garage allowing a burglar another tool to use against you? Do you leave your ground floor windows or sliding glass doors open at night with only a locked screen between your family and the outside? These are all things you need to consider when attempting to secure your home against those who would disrupt the life you have built for your loved ones.
Step #3 Think Layers.
All right, you have decided to take a few steps to secure your home … where to start? Simple as the concept may be, layered security can be the difference between a thwarted criminal and the loss of property or bodily harm. Consider placing rosebushes or other painfully thorny plants under vulnerable windows, add something difficult to climb over inside the window and you now have a three layer defense on what was formerly an easy one layer entry for the criminal.
Sliding glass doors provide a serious challenge to home security. The best bet for these is a combination of safety coated glass, a steel bar in the track cut to the proper length and some form of vision obscuring drape or panel style blinds. Safety coat is a adhesive plastic sheeting that makes breaking out windows difficult. Combine this with a metal cross bar and blinds that do not allow the criminal to see what or who he is about to intrude upon and you will have greatly decreased the chances that he will even try.
Step #4 The best burglar deterrent on the market.
Consider getting a dog. A barking dog whether inside your home or in your yard is widely recognized as the best method of deterring a burglar or intruder from approaching your home. Any dog will do for this step; there is no need for a monstrous pooch with a spiked collar and a kill phrase. The point is to have an always on alarm siren that not only alerts you that something is out of place but attracts attention in general. Remember a criminal most often wants a soft, quiet target. These fellows do not want to go to jail, they will move on rather than risk discovery.
Step #5 Get an alarm system.
Since you have made it slow and annoying for a would-be criminal to get inside your home. A alarm is going to be much more effective now that the good guys will have a greater chance to arrive in time. Home security systems provide not only another layer of your multilayered security scheme but provide you with peace of mind that your home is protected to some degree even when you are away from home.
