Protecting Your Home When On Holiday

Overview: We like to get away from the house for at least a weekend every now and again, and there will always be times when you can’t get a friend or family member to house sit. So how can you keep your house as safe as possible during times like these? In this blog we’ll take a look at some of things you can do to make your home safer when you’re away.
 

Make sure your house looks lived in

If you get a lot of mail or a regular newspaper delivery, make sure you either cancel your orders or get a neighbour to collect them. If someone sees a house with five unread newspapers on the door mat and mail sticking out the box then it’s pretty easy to guess that no one’s around. If you can, get friends or neighbours to visit the house and make sure there’s no obvious signs of vacancy. If it’s the winter, this could include making sure all your pathways are clear of snow – not just the ones for the mail man.
 

Install timed lights and motion sensors

If you install a light timer that you are able to customize, you can set your lights to be on at various times of the day. This not only suggests that there is someone at the house, it also makes it hard for a burglar to predict when the house might be empty. On the other hand, motion sensor outdoor lights can be all that’s needed to deter a burglar who thinks chosen the perfect house. Motion sensors should be installed on both the front and the back of the house.
 

Make sure you lock all your windows and doors

This one may seem obvious but you’d be surprised by how many people forget to lock a door, or more commonly, a window. Think how many windows you have – are they all closed and locked? It’s definitely something that’s worth double checking. It’s generally easier to remember doors but certain ones can still be easily forgotten, like garage doors and perhaps even a yard gate if you have one. You can even put a piece of wood at the foot of any sliding doors to prevent them being forced open. This way they’d have to smash the window and then climb through the hole in the glass – not something that most burglars would commit to.
 

Keep your neighbours informed

It’s always a good idea to get to know your neighbours and it can become pretty handy when you go away on vacation. Let at least one neighbour know when you’re leaving and when you’re coming back and ask them to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. The chances are that if you have someone on the lookout for anything suspicious, it’ll be pretty obvious when something’s up. For example, imagine the all too common situation of unfamiliar neighbours. One family goes on holiday without letting anyone know, and two days later their neighbours happen to notice that people moving furniture and other things out of their house. Nothing out of the ordinary, they think, must be just be cleaning out.
 

Install a home security system!

This is simply the best way of deterring criminals from breaking into your house. First, there’s the security stickers and signs that you can display around your house to let would be intruders know that the house is alarmed. Secondly, there’s the actual alarm. If someone breaks a window, or picks their way through a lock and is confronted with a deafening siren, they’re not going to stick around. Not only will they get the hell out of there, the alarm will also clearly notify your neighbours that something is up, regardless of whether you know them. A wailing alarm is far more obvious that some distant banging sounds.


 

Bottom Line: There are many ways to make your home safer when you’re vacation, and each have varying levels of ease. If you’re on good terms with your neighbours, then by simply asking a few favours you can greatly increase your home’s safety. Even if you don’t know them that well, your next trip could be the perfect excuse to get to know them. However, if you really want to maximize your home’s security then it is essential that you install a good quality home alarm system. With the recent advancements in technology home security systems don’t have to be a pain and instead they can provide a seamless extra layer of security for your home.

For more information on how home alarm systems can make your home safer, contact Frontline Security in Calgary today.

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