While we hear about the need to protect our homes from attack or intrusion, few people actually know what precautions are most effective. The more you know about home security, the better off you’ll be. Keep reading to get some useful advice on making your home safe.

Make sure you have a safe to keep valuable items in one place. This ensures during a break in that the most important things are not stolen. Put the safe somewhere difficult to get to, like the attic.

Do you keep your dog outdoors when you go out? If so, you can use your dog to hide your spare key. Attach the key to the dog’s collar so that it is hidden from view. This is very effective if your pet is afraid of strangers; therefore, burglars are not very likely to notice the key.

Buy fire resistant roofing, flooring and ceiling materials. This will help you protect your home under all circumstances. Avoiding fire hazards is a great way to keep things safe.

Home security systems do more than sounding an alarm in case of a break in. Some give offer the option to monitor all entries into the house. This can be useful if you’ve got small children that are able to open doors.

Ask friends for some advice before choosing home security companies and systems. Knowledge of first-hand experiences can be very helpful to you when it comes to making this important decision. Sometimes, you may get great advice from the people you know.

Buy ceiling, roofing and flooring which is resistant to fire. This give your home an extra protection layer. Keeping fire hazards away is a great safety precaution since fire can cause lots of destruction.

In the summertime, you should rid your yard of dead bushes and vegetation. These can pose a fire hazard due to heat and storms with lightning. Be sure all sorts of flammable items are kept under control around your home.

Turn the ringer off on your telephone if you are going to be away. If the phone rings without you there, burglars will suspect that you’re not home, and that can make your home a target for an attack while you’re gone.

Be outgoing. It is important to communicate with others who also live in your area. Ask them to watch your home if you are on vacation. Listen for gossip too. It is often a good way to find out about security issues, such as strangers in the neighborhood.

Eliminate dead vegetation and rotting wood from the yard each summer. This sort of thing is a fire hazard in the heat of summer. You can prevent disasters by keeping your yard clean.

When dealing with a company installing your home security system, it is important that you trust your gut. You are giving someone unlimited access to your home, so be sure the installer doesn’t give you a bad vibe. Do not hesitate to ask for a different person to install the system or even consider hiring a different company. After all, the point of the system itself is to help you feel more at ease.

Make sure to have your home inspection system maintained on at least an annual basis. This should be performed by a technician from your security company. Mother Nature and wild animals can also cause issues with your home security system. You may not know there’s an issue if you can’t see it.

Walls can serve as a handy hiding place. This is a great way to hide jewelry, for example. Target any unused phone jacks or electrical outlets for an easy hiding spot. If you don’t have unused plates, it’s easy to put in a fake one.

If you reside in the country, you may be less worried about break-ins than urban dwellers are. Some people feel that rural residents lead riskier lives because they are far away from neighbors. Some think rural areas see less burglary.

Use the spaces in your home’s walls to store valuables. You do not have to damage your walls to keep your valuables safe. Your home should have a few pre-cut areas that can be used. Consider unwiring an electrical socket that isn’t used and storing your valuable jewelry.

If you’ve got skylights, don’t forget about it when it comes to home security. While they are an excellent source of natural light, they are also an easy way for thieves to enter your home. Your skylights should have strong components that can withstand tampering.

Do not choose a home alarm system that monitors only your doors. Windows are a way for thieves to enter your home as well. Each point of entry for your home should be monitored by the system. They are the most effective.

Keep the wires of your home security system hidden. 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. Keep the wires hidden in the walls or underground to keep intruders from getting in. That will make you safer.

Keep the wires of your home security system hidden. Intruders can get around security systems and into a home by cutting the wires. Make it hard for intruders and bury the wires or hide them inside your walls, if possible. That will make you safer.

If you have purchased any large and/or expensive items, do not throw the boxes away until the day before the trash man is scheduled to come. Having these type of boxes hanging around will give robbers a good idea of what type of merchandise you have inside of your home.

The wires that are on your house are very valuable. The majority of people aren’t aware of this fact until a burglar steals these wires. Experienced criminals can make a decent amount of money quickly by stripping copper wiring off of houses in order to sell it at a scrapyard. Therefore, ensure you hide your wires so that burglars cannot see them, or make the wires extremely hard for the burglars to get to.

You should change all the locks if you just bought or rented a new home. Although the person you purchased the house from might seem good, you really have no clue as to who they really are. Aside from that, other people lived in the home even before the ones from whom you purchased the home.

If you are entering a house that has already been occupied, you should first change your locks. The person who used to live there may still have a key. You might even purchase and install your own locks so that you are assured of having the only keys.

Motion Detectors

When hiring a home security company, make sure to read the fine print on the contract you are signing. There are sometimes fees if you break a contract or need additional equipment. You should avoid such expenses if you can, so make yourself aware.

When searching for methods of improving your home’s security, a great, inexpensive method of doing this is purchasing exterior lights with installed motion detectors. These lights not only give off light at night, but can also offer security around your home. If you position motion detectors properly, it is very hard for someone to sneak onto the property.

Always use online resources to identify the very best home security firm. Review the websites of several companies and play close attention to the types of services offered and the customer reviews. You’ll find it easy to narrow your choice down to three top contenders; your next step is to arrange to meet each of them to discuss your specific security needs.

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. Call the cops and let them do the initial walk through.

A wireless home security system could be just the option you are looking for. A wired system should be less expensive but you might have to spend your money on getting your home rewired. The wireless systems are simpler to maintain and install and they don’t need power from the home to run.

If you don’t have a paper shredder, you might want to buy 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. Rip paper into tiny pieces if you can’t afford to purchase a paper shredder.

Do not use locks with spring latches. These are the easiest for criminals to open with a credit card. This is achieved by sliding the card into the space between the latch and the door. This causes the lock to click open. IF spring latch locks are already in place, add a deadbolt for that extra layer of security.

Make sure no one can look inside your garage. Add frosting to your window glass to keep folks from looking in the house. Also, don’t leave your door open for long periods of time when you work there.

Ask if your company offers options to both buy and lease your security equipment. Buying outright costs a lot more in the beginning, but one time costs might lower or eliminate some monthly fees that add up over time. Leasing is cheaper, but there may be hidden fees and contracts. Pick the option that suits your particular situation best.

You might think that your home is secure. They don’t understand how to protect their homes, though. Consider the information that has been given to you as a resource for making sure your home is safe.

If you’ve got a keypad to lock your door, do not make a password which is obvious. Anyone could get your date of birth from Facebook and could have access into your house. Rather, use a number that can be determined through an equation that you can remember instead.