How to Secure Your Home
Read these tips and suggestions on how to secure your home to help reduce the chances of a break-in. The steps are quite simple but can provide peace of mind, additional security and perhaps save you from theft.
In this document you will find information about:- Some General Safety Precautions
- Installing Lights for Protection
- Simple Non-Electric Security Devices
- Electrical and Battery-Operated Security Devices
- Improving Security with Locks
SOME GENERAL SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
- There is no absolute way to protect
your home from break-ins. Locks and other safety devices serve primarily
to prevent entry by the amateur thief and to slow or deter the
professional.
- Another deterrent is to avoid regular
routines that make it obvious you are away from home at specific times
of the day or night. This may be unavoidable, but try to vary your
routines of departure and arrival when possible.
- Never chat with a stranger about
leaving your home for a vacation, a visit, etc. You never know who may
be watching for an opportunity for a break-in.
- Alert your local police if you are
leaving for an extended period. Stop the delivery of
newspapers, mail and other items that could be telltale
signs that you are away from home.
- Arrange for someone to mow your lawn
in the summer or remove snow from your drive in the winter when it's
necessary for the family to be away. This gives the appearance that
someone is at home. Such precautions could be well worth the cost.
- Work out an arrangement with your neighbors for mutual alertness when anyone in the neighborhood will be away.
- Use any other precautions to make it appear that someone is at home at all times.
INSTALLING LIGHTS FOR PROTECTION
- Good lighting is one of the greatest deterrents to crime. You can mount floodlights or spotlights on the corner of your house to flood the walls in all directions. Such lights are inexpensive, relatively easy to mount and highly effective in reducing break-ins.
- Spotlights can be either single or double, although the double spotlight is recommended. Always mount the light high enough so it cannot be unscrewed easily by a burglar.
- Floodlights mounted high on the end of a house provide a great amount of light for a wide area. Floodlights can be either single or double, although double is strongly recommended.
- Lights mounted on either the corner or end of the house should be set in such a way that they illuminate dark areas behind rosebushes, screens, walls, trees, etc.
- Mount spotlights or floodlights in any spots around the house that could provide a hiding place for burglars or prowlers.
- In most cases you can wire spotlights or floodlights directly into the wiring system of your home. Wiring for floodlights can be tapped into the nearest outlet box.
- Before tapping into any line or circuit in the house, be
sure to disconnect the power. To do this you will need to trip the
circuit breaker or remove the fuse serving that circuit. For extra
protection, cut off the current at the main switch while working on the
wires.
- First, remove the plate over the outlet box. Attach the black wire to the black wire, the white wire to the white wire and the ground wire to the ground, as illustrated.
- If solderless connectors are code approved in your area, use them to make your electrical connections. They are much faster and easier to use.
- The wiring from the outlet box to the floodlight can
be extended as far as necessary. As a rule, #14-3 wiring is adequate for
lighting installations. You should check your local code for the
requirements in your area. Some areas still require #12-3. The three
conductors will allow you to ground any circuits that might be exposed
to the weather. Securely attach the new wiring run over the entire
distance from the outlet box to the location where it is mounted.
SIMPLE NON-ELECTRIC SECURITY DEVICES
- To help protect against window break-ins, you can use a steel bolt or rod.
- First, drill a 1/2" or 3/4" hole
completely through the lower sash, raise the window 3" to 4"
and drill through the lower window sash hole into the upper
sash. Attach a steel bolt or rod to the window casing with a
long wood screw and a short length of chain.
- With this arrangement, you can raise
the window slightly for air at night without the danger of
someone opening it completely while you are asleep. The bolt
prevents someone from raising the window rapidly against
the bolt, breaking the window frame and gaining entry.
Caution: Don't use a wooden dowel. They may shrink in warm weather
and expand in wet, causing them to loosen, fall out or weaken.
Use only a steel bolt or rod.
- This simple device provides a lot of
security against break-ins at practically no cost while
allowing in air at night.
- Use a piece of 2x4 with felt or
sponge glued on one end and a metal T screwed to the other end to
provide protection from forced entry through a hall door.
- Saw the 2x4 to the required length to
reach from the closed door to the wall in the hallway. The
felt on one end prevents the 2x4 from damaging the wall
while the metal T on the other end prevents it from slipping
out from under the door.
- Although this bar is obviously
unsightly, use it during the night or when you are away from home and
can leave the house through some other exit. It is simple but extremely
effective. When this bar is in place, the door simply cannot be opened
without a complete break-in.
- This same device can also work where
there is a wall across from the doorway. Simply cut the 2x4 ends at
45-degree angles to fit across to a corner wall. Install a regular
doorstop at this point along the wall to prevent the 2x4 from slipping.
This gives additional security.
- Sliding glass doors offer an inviting entryway for burglars. Use a simple piece of 1x2 or a steel rod in the entryway.
- When in place, the piece of wood or steel makes
it impossible for the sliding glass door to be opened. Since there is a
danger that a steel rod might accidentally break the glass, a 1x2 strip
of wood is recommended.
- You can use aluminum rods with crutch tips for a similar type of protection for wood sliding doors.
- The aluminum rod makes it impossible
for the sliding doors to be opened until the rod is removed. Screw 1"
round head screws into the edge of each door to provide holding power to
prevent the aluminum rod from slipping out of place.
- One-way viewers allow you to observe any caller before you open the door. Various types of one-way viewers are available.
- Invest in a top-quality viewer. The
basic difference between viewers is the range of view they
provide. Low-cost viewers have a limited range while
better-quality viewers provide clearer and wider ranges of
vision.
- One-way viewers are easy to install. Simply drill a hole of the proper size, insert the viewer and tighten it.
ELECTRICAL AND BATTERY-OPERATED SECURITY DEVICES
- Various types of battery-operated door alarms are now available and can be installed on any ordinary door.
- Battery-operated door alarms operate
on one single principle: When the door is opened or forced, the alarm
goes off. The noise will awaken you and may scare off the burglar.
- If you install a battery-operated
door alarm, get a good-quality one that will work for a long period of
time. Keep strong batteries in the alarm so it will function properly. A
dead battery totally disconnects the system.
- Ultrasonic alarm devices are also available. They can be quite expensive but are highly effective.
- The ultrasonic alarm system is set up
in one corner of the room. The system contains a solid-state
transmitter-receiver that saturates the area with ultrasonic sound
waves.
- The sound waves bounce off walls in
all directions. If the sound waves are broken, the system
can turn on the light, sound an alarm or both.
- Wireless intercom units provide a
means to hear noise from key points around the house. These systems
usually require no wiring–they are plugged into an electrical outlet.
- Wireless intercom sets allow you to
communicate between various rooms in the house and also make
it possible for you to listen to noises in locations
throughout your home.
- Various intercom units are available. Some are wireless while others require a wiring system.
IMPROVING SECURITY WITH LOCKS
- A typical lock offers little
protection against break-ins. A professional burglar can usually enter
the house with no more than a plastic credit card or a thin screwdriver.
- Cylinder deadlocks provide a great deal of extra protection when used as a supplement to the regular locks in your home.
- A tubular deadlock adds protection without an unsightly appearance. Double tubular deadlocks can be installed in any door.
- Double tubular deadlocks generally
require a key to open the door from either side. This could present a
problem exiting the house in an emergency. But some tubular deadlocks
can be opened without a key from the inside.
- Surface-mounted cylinder deadlocks are easy to mount on any door.door.
- The deadlock has a bolt in the lock
that come down through the holes in the strike. This offers far more
protection against jimmying than an ordinary surface-mounted cylinder
deadlock.
- The basic disadvantage of
surface-mounted deadlocks is their unsightly appearance, but designs are
available in decorator styling.
- Examine the locks in your home carefully. If they are old, worn or fail to give the needed protection, install new or supplementary locks immediately. It is well worth your time and effort.
TOOL AND MATERIAL CHECKLIST
- Spotlight Bulbs
- Automatic Timer
- Rubber Cement
- Folding Rule
- Stepladder
- Short Pieces of 1x2
- Outlet Box
- Plug-In Timer
- Hand Drill
- Felt or Rubber Sheeting
- Junction Box
- Electrical Wire
- One-Way Viewer
- Battery-Operated Door Alarm
- Crutch Tips
- Handsaw
- Spotlights
- Power Drill
- Screwdriver
- Wireless Intercom System
- Steel Rod
Check your state and local codes before starting any project. Follow all safety precautions. Information in this document has been furnished by the National Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) and associated contributors. Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy and safety. Neither NRHA, any contributor nor the retailer can be held responsible for damages or injuries resulting from the use of the information in this document.
