Last year, more than half a million households were victims of an attempt or a burglary of their primary residence. Therefore, it is a subject that we all dread, but which is part of our daily lives and does not only happen to others! Don’t worry. We have the tricks not to turn your summer vacation into an obsession.
20 ways to protect yourself against a burglary
There is more than one, every minute, in America. It makes you think. In addition to being very widespread, these offenses are experiencing a small revolution and are taking place more and more in the presence of the occupants! They are called home jacking. First advice, therefore: lock your doors, even when you are at home, and avoid sleeping with the windows open.
1. Install a reliable lock
It would take between 90 seconds and 12 minutes for burglars to break into a house, and more than a third of breaches occur through the front door. To slow down or destroy any hope of forcing your door open, at least opt for a category 1 or 2 A2P certified multipoint lock, which should not give way quickly.
If you have an effortless lock and you don’t want to make too many changes to your door, an additional lock and an opener will prove very effective at first.
Regularly check your lock block before entering your home. If it’s scratched or looks damaged, the lock may have been forced open.
Want a high-security lock? Consider the 3-point lock to secure your home.
2. Go further with the smart lock
Attached to your smartphone via an app, smart (connected) locks keep you informed of any activity at the front door.
Beyond telling you when the latter has been activated (via instant notifications), these locks are perfectly integrated into global home automation systems and residential security or surveillance installations. In addition, they can be controlled remotely, even protected with passwords encrypted!
3. Plug-in smart plugs
Like the new generation locks, some electrical outlets are now connected. You can access it remotely, again using your smartphone to turn on or off lamps or any other device connected to the electrical installation.
Perfect for simulating a presence, some are programmable and allow you to create cycles over several weeks. The ideal illusion that there is life in your home!
4. Invest in an alarm system
It is a reliable piece of equipment to protect your home and an extremely deterrent against burglaries. Some systems can contact you directly in the event of an intrusion (we speak of self-monitoring), and others, via a remote monitoring subscription, are directly connected to a central unit responsible for contacting the police in the event of breaking in.
Very often, it is also a question of notifying visitors, well-meaning or not, of the presence of an alarm via stickers to be placed on the mailbox, the front door, but also various openings ( garage door, bay window, etc.).
You can therefore leave your home with peace of mind. It is under good protection!
5. Install a surveillance camera
Video surveillance systems have a motion detector that is triggered, activates the camera, and alerts you by SMS in the event of an unwanted presence in your home.
Count around 200 $ for this type of product, knowing that there are some for the interior and the exterior.
6. Install an armored door
The next step is to install an armored door. Some models, made to measure, are pretty expensive, but less costly options consist of “simply” sliding the existing door into an armored sheath (sheet metal 20 mm minimum thickness).
To be effective, an armored door must be perfectly adapted to the building; a few millimeters of space are tolerated in this case, that’s all!
The armored door: a fundamental for you? With All In One Locksmith, it’s as if it were done!
7. Swap your doorbell for an intercom or videophone
Contrary to a classic chime, which only consists in informing you of a visit, the intercom and the videophone allow you to speak with your interlocutor to see him. These modern devices are also equipped with a remote control that enables you to authorize or not access your home. So you can easily filter visits.
Therefore, it is an excellent security system since it allows you to know the identity of a person who seeks to meet you at your home, even before they can enter your home or enter your property.
8. Mandate a security company
Do you live in an area where home robberies are common? Do you feel unsafe in your home?
You can call on a security company to protect home, which, in addition to securing your living space, can also provide you with other services, such as checking your mail, for example.
Check your entrance regularly
9. Regularly check the landing of your entrance, whether you live in an apartment or a house.
Indeed, some criminals carry out scouting and use discrete symbols to communicate with each other. It can be a cross, a diamond, or even initials: AM (afternoon), N (operate at night) written in chalk. Usually, these codes go unnoticed on the floor or indoor frames but convey information about your home.
10. Secure your garage door
We often focus on the security of the front door but little on the additional openings. However, some give direct access to your house.
If this is the case with your garage door, various equipment can help you strengthen it and block the way to potential burglars:
- Key or bolt lock,
- Rim lock,
- Sabot or moraillon chains,
- safety bars,
- Surveillance system.
Need a lock to secure and protect your garage? A Locksmith Tampa provides and installs it!
11. Maintain the surroundings of your home
Burglars primarily look for uninhabited or even abandoned houses. Do not let it seem that no one is occupying your house, especially if you own a second home.
Regularly maintain the paths, gardens, and lawns. Contact a professional for this little maintenance if you can’t do it often enough.
12. Protect your windows
Another prevalent technique among burglars is to go through one of the windows, especially if you live on the ground floor or in a house.
To prevent this break-in, adhesive and invisible security films (the price calculated per m²) are placed on the windows without altering their transparency. Simple, fast, and very effective since it would take several powerful hammer blows to break a window equipped in this way.
You can also opt for shatterproof glass, which has superior resistance to other types of glazing. In addition, its reinforced composition (tempered glass, laminated, PVB films, argon, etc.) adds to very high resistance to shocks and UV and good insulation capacities (thermal and acoustic).
Use best locks protect home.
13. Don’t Communicate About Your Vacation
Do you want to share the photos of your vacation in the sun with the whole world by making regular posts on social networks? It is not necessarily a good idea to show that you are far from home, especially if your profile is in “public mode” and, therefore, viewable by everyone and above all, by anyone.
Do you want to communicate with your loved ones? The best thing is to send them your photos directly in private.
14. Don’t say anything on your answering machine.
In case of calls on your fixed line, do you want to tell your interlocutors that you will contact them again when you return from vacation while specifying the date? Terrible idea!
Some criminals don’t hesitate to call you on your landline number to make sure you’re not there and pretend to be canvassers if you ever pick up.
15. Inform your loved ones and the authorities in case of absence
Tell your neighbors and relatives before you leave. They will be able to monitor that everything is okay with you.
You should also know that the police set up the “Tranquillité Vacances” operation during the summer. You can register at the gendarmerie brigade nearest to you or online ( Paris and inner suburbs).
16. Have your mail picked up
Nothing like a mailbox full to bursting with advertisements, letters, and leaflets of all kinds to show that you are not at home!
If you have to be away for a long time, it’s best to give the key to your mailbox to someone you trust so that they can pick up your mail and drop it off in a safe place until you return. If this is not possible, you can also stick a ” stop pub ” sticker so that the volume of mail is reduced during this period.
17. Consider Home Swapping
Do you want a change of scenery and leave far from home, but without leaving your house empty? There’s nothing like having people at home to avoid being robbed!
A modern and innovative concept, the home exchange allows you to temporarily entrust your accommodation to a family in need of a vacation, almost free of charge.
18. Install roller shutters (protect home)
If they are efficient in everyday life, electric roller shutters are particularly effective against burglaries. Thus, most models have anti-lift or anti-lift systems, which prevent them from lifting them from the outside to access the window once they are closed.
For more robustness, opt for aluminum references rather than PVC.
19. Plant a deterrent hedge
Do you have a large piece of land that you want to protect from intrusions? You can completely erect a natural barrier all around by opting for a defensive hedge made up of shrubs or thorny plants such as pyracantha (or burning bush), holly, barberry, or hawthorn.
We bet you won’t have many incongruous visits!
20. Don’t leave anything in evidence
Please do not leave anything of value in evidence that could tempt burglars and invite them to return to your home to steal them! State-of-the-art mower lying around in the garden, brand new garden furniture set up in the lawn, ultra-modern barbecue installed on the terrace, etc.
To avoid burglaries, send deterrent signals. Do not hesitate to indicate that your accommodation is under surveillance (camera, alarm, or dangerous dog). You can also install a light with presence detection, which is triggered at the slightest movement. In general, pay attention to calls from strangers asking you about your work or your schedules. Do not communicate too much about your absences, and also store your valuables in a safe and protect .
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