Simple Burglary Prevention Tips
When you hear news reports of home burglaries, do you notice how often those burglaries could have been prevented by applying simple burglary prevention tips?
All too frequently we learn of homeowners leaving doors unlocked or windows left open. A burglar does not have to learn any housebreaking skills to slip through an unlocked door or through an open window. Even if the open window is on an upper floor all the housebreaker needs to know is how to climb.
On any list of burglary prevention tips, the advice to always lock up windows and doors when you leave your home is going to be right there at the top.
How often do you hear about a burglar getting into a home through a sliding glass door, these doors can be described as the burglars best friend. Thankfully the sliding glass doors that are being installed nowadays have a lot better security than was once the case. Trouble is that many older glass sliding doors that can be found in homes all over leave a lot to be desired security wise.
A simple burglary prevention tip to improve sliding door security is to place a length of broomstick, or suitable slat of timber, into the bottom track, this can help stop the door from being slid open even if the burglar picks, or breaks, the lock.
Another simple tip to prevent a sliding glass door being lifted out of the track (very possible with older doors,) is to place a couple of flat head screws in the upper track, make sure the screws don’t stick out far enough to stop the door from sliding freely.
Join your local neighborhood, or block, watch. Simple, but there is not a better thing you can do to reduce the chances of being burgled. Even the mere presence of neighborhood watch signs will deter most housebreakers. Who wants to burgle a home that is being watched by neighbors?
Something else likely to be found on any list of simple burglary prevention tips, is to trim down any bushes and plants around your home, that way they don’t give cover to burglars. Lock away all gardening tools (or other tools) when you have finished using them, don’t leave them laying around your yard. The burglar will gleefully use your own tools to break into your home. Same goes for ladders, keep them locked away.
Use a timer switch set to turn lights on and off when you are away from your home at night. Give the impression that somebody is at home. Some folks may think this burglary prevention tip to be not simple enough, but the reality is that today’s timer switches are very easy to set.
The above list does not cover every simple thing that you can do to improve your home’s security, there are many other easy measures that you can take. As long as you are continually taking steps to keep the thief out, you will not be the subject of a home burglary news report where the implementation of a few simple burglary prevention tips could have meant the burglar leaving your home alone.