As a homeowner, your priority should be to keep your family safe. When you home is damaged or destroyed, you can feel very violated. Your house is your biggest investment, but it also represents your sense of security. Keep your most precious investment safe.

You should only provide a house cleaner your key if you completely trust them. Only select service people who are totally trustworthy. Carefully check their references. If they work for a firm, call the local Better Business Bureau to find out that firm’s reputation.

Create the illusion that your home is constantly occupied. Keep your radio, TV and lights on timers. This will make it look like someone is home. This is just one of the many precautions you can take to secure your home.

If you like to have a key hidden in case you lose yours, place it in a safe place. The doormat is too obvious of a place to hide it, as robbers will look there first. One idea is to hide your key inside the collar of your outdoor dog.

Is your dog outside when you are away? They can help you with your spare key. Secure the key on the inside of the dog’s collar. This is an especially good idea if your dog doesn’t like strangers, and gives you easy access to get in your home.

Fire-resistant building materials are the way to go, both inside and outside the home. This ensures your home won’t be a tinderbox. It’s best to prevent a fire before it starts.

Keep your most precious belongings inside a safe. This will keep your stash of diamonds, gold and other valuable items out of view and inaccessible to burglars. Keep your safe in a hard-to-get-to place, such as a basement closet or your attic.

Never let a stranger inside. There are some people who are very convincing and good at getting you to let them into your house. This person might just be casing the joint to see if there is home security equipment.

Your garage needs to be secure. Intruders could easily break into your garage and access your home. A C clamp helps for garage doors on a track. The clamp actually keeps the door closed if tightened close to the track roller.

Use your garage for your car, not just storage. Keeping your car in your house will deter intruders from vandalizing or stealing it. This will also make it more difficult for burglars to track when you away from home.

Eliminate dead vegetation and wood in the yard in the summer. These can quickly become fire hazards when hit by direct sunlight, placing your house at risk. Keep your yard clear so it is a safe area.

Use motion sensors on exterior lighting. This type of light will come on when they detect motion within a certain distance of your home. They will signal movement to you but will also serve as deterrents to the thieves. Do not forget to change a bulb when it burns out.

If you’ve got a garage, make sure to use it for your car rather than extra storage space. A car kept locked in a garage is much less likely to be stolen or damaged. Keeping your car out of sight is also good for thwarting burglars’ attempts to determine when you are likely to be away from home.

The fist thing you’ll need to do for home security is to get new locks. This could be an ex-spouse or roommate you got into a fight with. It’s generally cheap can can take less than a day to do.

Any program to improve the security of your home should begin with complete replacement of your door locks. Has a roommate or ex-lover moved out recently? If so, then you need to change out the locks in order to keep you and your home safe. It is inexpensive, and most locksmiths will be available for next day appointments.

Go with your instincts when choosing a security system company. If the installers make you feel uncomfortable, heed your feelings. If you don’t feel comfortable, go with someone else. Ultimately, the whole point is for you to have peace of mind.

Don’t forget to secure your skylights too. Skylights have a good function, but unfortunately they also often provide a way for a burglar to enter. Having heavy duty, reliable hardware is best when it comes to skylights.

If your home security system is installed, be sure its wires are well-hidden. One of the ways an intruder can get around a security system is by disconnecting or cutting the wires. Don’t make it easy for an intruder, have the wires buried or hidden within the home’s walls. This helps keep you and your family safe.

Rotted Wood

Always go over the small print on contracts offered by your home security company. There may be hidden costs to doing business with them, including early termination fees and surprising equipment costs. You should avoid these fees as much as you can; therefore, you need to know of their existence.

Replace rotted wood that surrounds your door frame. Anyone can gain access to our home by prying away the rotted wood. Replace rotting wood with new wood to stay safe.

In the event you find your door open upon arriving home, you should never enter and investigate yourself. The thief might still be inside, and you don’t have any idea whether or not they are armed. Instead, wait outside until the police come, after calling them on your cell phone.

Alter the locks and the keys when you change homes. While you may trust those who lived there before you, you have no idea who lived there before them. You can purchase and install locks yourself to make sure only you have the key.

A wireless security system could be a good option. Systems that are wired can be a little cheaper, but may need significant reworking of your home’s electrical wiring and can fail in a power outage. Wireless systems are much easier to install, and they can work independently of your home’s power.

When choosing between security companies, read everything on the contract. There may be hidden costs to doing business with them, including early termination fees and surprising equipment costs. Try avoiding these fees when you can so that you know about them.

Discourage burglars by making your garage windows opaque. Be sure and shade your windows with window frosting, something that you can purchase at any hardware store, so as to keep people from looking in your house. Don’t leave the door unlocked for a long time, either.

Think about safety when designing your home. You should have a clear view out of all your windows and an unobstructed path to any doors. This way, no one can hide there if they are attempting to break into your house. Put these features at a greater distance from your house; let beauty also complement safety.

A dog is an excellent burglary deterrent system. Dogs become extremely protective of their families and bark when uneasy. It doesn’t need to be a huge dog either. Even the barking of a tiny dog can repel potential burglars, who want to avoid noises as they carry out their crimes.

If the front door is open when you get home, resist the temptation to go in alone to find the reason. This can be quite dangerous because the burglar may still be on your property. Instead, you should call 911 and wait in a safe location for the police to arrive.

You don’t need to rely on keys to prevent entry to certain areas of your home. Code or fingerprint enabled keyless entry locks are a great solution. These may be installed by yourself or a security company.

Power Outage

Your security company might give you the option to lease and eventually buy your security equipment. Buying the equipment might cost more up front, but it means a one time cost that does not continue every month. Leasing usually proves cheaper at first, but it comes with strings attached through contracts or continuing fees and charges. Compare both avenues to see which one is better suited for your needs.

A wireless home security system could be just the option you are looking for. While wired systems may seem cheaper, they need your home to be rewired and they can fail due to a power outage. A wireless system is easy to install and to maintain. Besides, you will still be able to count on your wireless system in case of a power outage.

If the window of your living room faces the street, close your curtains at night. You don’t want all the peeping Toms of the world looking in. When your valuables are on display, burglars will see it as a veritable buffet. Do not grant outsiders a full view of your entire home and your belongings.

If you haven’t gotten a paper shredder, it may be time to purchase one. Thieves may look through your garbage for information. Cutting the papers into small pieces with a pair of scissors is another option.

Buying home alarms is terrific, but only in the case where someone will contact the police when they sound. Some security systems have constant monitoring, so that when the alarm goes off, a call is made to the police for you. It is not safe to assume the neighbors will call the police.

For improved security, put your home under video surveillance. Video cameras are a great deterrent. Visible cameras deter the majority of intruders, and if they try to disarm them, a camera that is hidden will keep capturing footage. Many surveillance systems can even be accessed via cell phone, allowing you to check up on your home when you are away.

Choose some deadbolts with captive keylocks for your home. Deadbolts have thumb latches that prevent people from reaching around them to open it. When you are home, keep the key inserted inside the lock so you can leave if there is a fire.

If you have a numeric keypad on your door as your lock, don’t make the password your birthday. Your birth date is pretty easy to come by, especially for seasoned thieves. Make it a random number that you and your family can commit to memory.

Women who live alone or along with children are the most likely targets for burglary. One way to throw off would-be assailants is to put a large pair of muddy boots on the front porch, to suggest the presence of a big man. This will drive away thieves.

A home alarm system is a great investment, but it only works if someone notifies the authorities when it sounds. Even better is to purchase alarms that are monitored centrally, so that the police are automatically contacted. After all, your neighbors might not make that call just because they hear your alarm.

Dog owners, especially those with large, tough pets, have a leg up in the home security game. What burglar wants to deal with that? Get a dog that is friendly and good with your kids, while also being a good protector.

Always lock your second story windows. A lot of people forget to lock the windows on the second floor, but intruders will use these windows. However, this is actually not how it goes. Intruders will check these windows if the first floor is secured.

Always change the keys and locks on a new home. Regardless of whether you are renting or buying, you should either re-key the locks yourself, or request that your landlord take care of it for you.

As you can see, it is hard to protect your home. You simply need to understand how home security works. Use these excellent ideas to really up the security around your house. Do not neglect even one of these tips, because they all help ensure your home is safe.

Being able to own a gun is a law that many people like because it makes them feel secure. Consider getting some gun training, just in case. Having a gun in your home might make you feel secure if you know how to use it properly.