Basic Home Security Guidelines

Burglary is a common problem throughout the world, but there are a number of basic home security guidelines that you can follow to keep your home secure from unwanted intruders. Many of these techniques are common sense ways to help prevent your home from being robbed and others help to encourage criminals to select an easier target.

Here are a few basic home security guidelines to help you enhance the security of your home:

Basic Home Security: Don’t Be A Target

Thieves and criminals will always look for an easy score, so one of the first of the basic home security guidelines involves making your home a daunting and unwelcome target for burglary. Keep curtains, exterior doors and especially garage doors closed; do not let thieves get a peek at what there is available to pilfer.

Consider using timers to activate your interior lights while you are away. Timers are a cheap way to fool potential thieves into thinking that your home is occupied, and occupied homes are the least inviting targets of all.

Lighting is another of the basic home security guidelines that is significant as thieves will almost always choose targets that are poorly lit and with compromised visibility. Examine your home at night and make a note of areas with insufficient lighting, particularly if they correspond with the locations of doors or windows. These areas should be lit with bright exterior lights that will remove the shadows that thieves crave.

Effective locks are also an important part of the basic home security guidelines. Front doors should have deadbolt and chain locks in addition to the main lock. Exterior garage doors should be padlocked, or have an automatic locking device if they are remote controlled. Rear doors and interior garage doors should have sturdy main locks. All entry doors should have reinforced hinges and mountings, so that they cannot simply be kicked in. Sliding glass doors and windows should have barred rails to discourage entry.

Basic Home Security Systems

There are a number of different types of home security systems that are sure to fit all needs. Alarm systems can be purchased that will respond to movement, sound and/or to the opening of a door or window. Subscription services mate these features with patrols and rapid response by private security guards. No thief wants to confront a home with a security system, and merely the presence of such a set-up will discourage burglary. This level of protection does not come cheap but offers the ultimate in peace of mind.

There are no guarantees even if you diligently follow all basic home security guidelines but you can cut your chances of being the target of a burglary a hundredfold by making your home a difficult looking target for thieves. Take the time to examine your home, find the weak points and address these areas of opportunity in order to expand your basic home security guidelines and put the security of your family and the safety of your possessions first.