Is your home as safe as you think it is? The following is a quick list of things that you can do to improve your home security. You don’t have to do all of them, and this is by no means a comprehensive list, but you should get to work on at least one in the next couple days.
Outside the Home:
- Is there a name on your Mailbox? Check the outside and the inside of the mailbox. Is your family name there? Lots of mailmen will put the names on the inside to help them. Get rid of the names on your box. You don’t need someone bluffing and saying they know you, or easily looking up something on you from such an easy security violation.
- Bushes – Can someone hide behind your bushes and work on your door or windows to get inside without someone seeing them? I like thick thorny bushes. Right now, we have rose bushes as a decoration and there isn’t enough room between the house and the bush to get in there. Look up thorny bushes that will work in your area and grow thick. Then trim them so they bush up to keep your home safe.
- Lights – Can people approach your house without being seen by anyone from the outside or the inside? Fix it. Add motion lights or flood lights. Currently I’m testing these solar lights in my backyard. Not sure yet, but they seem to be working well.Lighting is so cheap these days, there is no reason you can’t cover your entire house.
- Lock all your doors and windows… all the time. I’ve set our electronic locks to auto lock just in case I forget. Make it a habit to check all the windows often. Check the doors a bunch during the day and at night before you go to bed.
- Reinforce your door locks – Change out the screws that are in your kickplate to longer screws. It will take you longer to get new ones from the store then do the job. And cost you less then $5. I wrote an article on Door Security here. This will get you started. Do the easy things first.
- Reinforce your Windows – On the ground floor and especially if you have a window close to your front door. 3M makes a bunch of different stuff. Thicker is better when it comes to this and you can do it yourself and use products like this. Learn more by watching this video on safety glass.
Inside
- Alarm System – You have something that notifies you right? Right now I use a Nest Guard but there are tons of different ones on the market. You don’t need something monitored unless you want the extra costs. With the tech today, just buy one that notifies your phone.
- Can you See – What can you see out windows and what can’t you see. Figure out where your dead spots are so you know. Dead spots are the areas you can’t see from inside. No matter how many windows you have, there will be dead spots that you just can’t see. Know where they are. And don’t let your bushes create dead spots.
- Cameras – Put cameras in the most likely entry ways to the least likely. They are getting so cheap. I have a bunch of friends using these Wyze Cameras and they are super cheap and work well.
- Create a safe room in your house – Reinforce the door and door jam and add a dead bolt like it’s an outside door. Then add safety things inside that room. Now create your plan to get there.
Plan Your What If’s
- Fire
- Person in your Home
- Default plan where anything goes wrong
- Bug
Out Plan
- 3 Day Bags
- List of things to get if you have some time
- Load out plan for vehicle(s)
These are just some of the things you should be prepared for and how you can get it done. The list can go on forever, but this is a great way to start. Once you have all of the above done you can start adding things.
Do one thing at a time to make your home safer and pretty quick you will have a safer place to live. In the Marines we use to say, “always be improving your position.”
When was the last time you improved your most important position? When are you going to improve your home?
Stay Safe,
Ben