Continue reading if you need advice about home security. Home security is a complex and costly topic that requires a great deal of thought. You need to know what you’re doing before you can make the right decisions.

Keep your car in your garage. Keeping your car in your house will deter intruders from vandalizing or stealing it. Keeping your car out of sight is also a good way to prevent intruders from determining whether or not you are home.

When you buy a new home, be sure to have the locks changed. You have no clue how many people were given keys by the former owner. To make sure no one else can get into your home, call a locksmith. If you lose keys, make sure to do this, too.

Change your locks if someone you don’t trust moves out of your home. 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 generally cheap and may be done in a little under a day.

Buy a safe to contain everything of great value. This ensures during a break in that the most important things are not stolen. Keep it hidden in a hard to find location.

Walls are a good place to hide things. Keep small, valuable items inside the walls of your home. You could use a phone jack, electrical outlet or a switch plate. You can also just put in a false plate to cover a hiding place.

You need to secure your garage if it is attached to your home. Many people worry about burglars getting into their attached garage and then entering their home, but there is a fix. If your garage lifts up on a track, try using a C-clamp. This will prevent your door from opening up if the clamp is close to its roller.

Hide the wires of your home security system. Easily-accessible security wiring is a definite weak point in your home’s protection; the best alarm system in the world is useless if it’s easily disabled. Don’t make it easier for them, so have wires hidden in the house’s walls or buried. You will be much more safe.

Clear away all the dead and dried out vegetation around your home in the summer. These items have a higher chance of catching fire during the hot months. Be sure all sorts of flammable items are kept under control around your home.

Flashlights in your home should always have newer batteries if your power goes out. Flashlights are very important, as they will give you the ability to move around in the event of an emergency. If you have kids, teach them how to properly use the flashlights so everyone in the family can help out during a power outage.

Make sure to have your home inspection system maintained on at least an annual basis. A security professional should visit to help with the testing process. Mother nature can sneak in and cause many problems. Sometimes it is very difficult to see the problem if you don’t know where it is.

If your home isn’t new, replace the locks. Although other tenants might not have a key anymore, they could have copied it. For maximum security, buy your own locks and install them yourself. This way you can be certain nobody else has a key.

It will not benefit you to be shy. Speak with your neighbors and friends in the area. Keep an eye out for their houses, and request that they return the favor. Don’t ignore the gossip. You will learn a lot from your neighbors, including details about recent break ins in the area and the shady individuals they noticed.

Prior to allowing access to anyone, make sure you are shown proper identification. Conduct background checks if necessary. There is no way of knowing whether or not service people are honest, so you should not give them keys to your home.

Be sure to secure the skylights to your home. Skylights are commonly used by thieves to enter a home. The hardware that secures your skylights should be sturdy and durable.

Keep safety in mind when doing landscaping. You should not let plants and shrub block your doors and windows. This way, no one can hide there if they are attempting to break into your house. Keeping the areas around your windows free of plants can help to deter criminals from lurking too close to your home, without you noticing.

Regardless of how long you think you’ll be gone, make sure to lock your doors. A lot of times, burglaries happen due to carelessness. Once a thief is inside, he can steal a lot of valuables in a short amount of time.

If you come home and see your door ajar, never investigate it alone. The burglar may be on the premises. Go to a neighbor’s or another safe area and call the police.

Rotted Wood

It might be time to get yourself a paper shredder if you haven’t already gotten one. A thief looking through your discarded papers can find a lot of information you do not want them to have. They may even learn your schedule, so they can burgle your home while you are away. You can also simply tear papers with personal information into small bits before you discard them.

Be on the lookout for rotten wood anywhere near your doors or windows. Rotted wood can be easily removed by thieves. Keep your home secure by replacing rotted wood with fresh timber.

Discuss various contracts offered by any home security provider you are exploring. There are going to be ups and downs for each one. A longer contract might give you a lower monthly bill, but you could be stuck with those monthly costs if you sell your home or decide to discontinue services. Shorter contracts have more freedom, but the monthly costs could be higher.

Use the Internet when you are seeking a new home security company. Take a look at various websites and read over customer testimonials and details about various packages. Then, you can set appointments to make price and service comparisons before you choose.

Purchase a timer to put your lights on and off during the day. This is quite convenient because you won’t need to turn the lights off and on, and you won’t need to worry if you go away for a spell.

Landscape around your home with an eye to safety. You should have a clear view out of all your windows and an unobstructed path to any doors. If windows and doors can be easily seen from all areas, then burglars cannot hide as well, which will hinder their plans. Keep this in mind as you design.

Secure your true valuables in an area that is as safe as possible. This can include items like important photos, passports, pricey jewelry, and legal documents. You may want to invest in a floor safe for these. For ultimate security, of course, such items can be kept in an off-site location like a bank’s safe deposit boxes.

If you live alone or with other responsible adults, there is no need to lock off areas of your home to prevent access. Instead, use a numeric keypad. You can install them yourself or you can hire a home security firm.

If your door is not solid wood or metal, replace it! Doors made of these materials are sturdy. A burglar could not kick a solid wood or a metal door. It’s a good idea to replace all your exterior doors with more secure ones. It really doesn’t cost a lot.

Don’t put the registration to your car in your glove box. These valuable documents provide criminals with information about your home location. Hold these documents in person so you know where they are at all times. They have to be accessible in the event you are in an accident or receive a speeding ticket.

Sliding glass doors can be a huge security problem in lots of homes. They can easily be unlocked by lifting them and then shaking them. If you lack a connected security system for such doors, cut a piece of pipe to stick in the door’s channel. The pressure applied by the pipe provides added security and makes forcing a sliding door open a much less trivial matter.

Install a hard-wired system if you want to minimize maintenance costs. Wireless systems are convenient, but they require multiple sets of batteries that have to be changed out on a regular basis. Forgetting to change out the batteries leaves you insecure. Batteries can be very expensive to change.

While many people avoid the neighborhood busybody, you should be friendly with them. They will be the first one to notice any strangers lurking near your home. Being friendly will make them more likely to alert you right away.

Using a timer on lights is a great idea. Not only does this save you a step, you can continue the routine even when you are not home.

Women are much more likely to be targeted for a home invasion, especially if they live by themselves or with children. Place big muddy boots near the front door so it looks like a male lives there. This keeps those criminals away for sure.

Secure valuables that are truly irreplaceable. It is best to keep items such as passports, legal documents, photos and financial records in a spot that is secure. Keeping such valuables under lock and key (in a floor safe, for example) is a good way to provide the extra protection they need. A better choice is storing them outside your home in a deposit box at the bank.

If you have kids, bring their toys in when they are not using them. This shows thieves that females may be on the property. Women tend to have more valuable jewelry than their male counterparts, and thieves know this.

A home alarm can be a good investment if police are notified when it sounds. The only way to ensure this is to use a system that calls the police for you. Don’t count on neighbors to hear the alarm and call the police.

Avoid letting people outside see inside your home. Thieves are always on the lookout for highly visible expensive equipment. Be sure to put up good blinds and/or drapes to obstruct the view from outside. Otherwise, put your valuable items out of sight.

Deadbolts that have captive keylocks are the most secure locks to get. This type of deadbolt is secured with an inside latch. Even if a thief reaches in, he cannot turn the lock. When at home, leave your key in this kind of lock for easy egress in the event of fire.

Choose a company that offers more than just alarm systems. A professional security company will make safety recommendations during their visit to your home. Such measures could include additional locks, better windows and changes to landscaping. This comprehensive solution will help keep robbers at bay by limiting their access to your home.

Armed with the information presented here, you can make a well informed decision. You should not neglect the safety of your family. Use what you have learned to help make this a daily reality.

Having firearms makes some people feel safer against intruders. If you do decide to arm yourself, make sure that you take a course, follow all your states laws and fully understand how your firearms work. Just knowing you have a gun in the house can make you feel better.