Home Security Tips to Keep Your Family Safe

The purpose of any home security system is to keep your family and your property safe. Whether you choose a full-featured monitored home alarm system or a simple burglar alarm, though, there are other steps you can and should take to ensure your family’s safety. These tips from law enforcement professionals will make sure that you and your family are doing everything you can to take advantage of your home security system.

Replace Hollow-Core Doors with Solid Doors

Hollow core doors are inexpensive, but they’re easy to break through. Likewise, inexpensive paneled doors, even those marketed as exterior doors, may not be thick enough to deter a break-in. Choose 1- to 2-inch thick solid hardwood doors, and make sure that any glass sidelights are unbreakable safety glass.

Install High-Quality Locks

While an alarm system may alert you or the authorities that a burglar has attempted to break into your home, but it can’t keep thieves out. Evaluate the locks on all of your exterior doors, including the door leading into your house from the garage. If necessary, replace them with heavy-duty deadbolt locks and install a heavy duty strike plate in the door frame to prevent your door from being kicked in.

Clear Away Obstructions That May Hide Intruders

Keep foundation plants trimmed below window level so that they don’t provide a hiding place for thieves attempting to break in through a window. If you have a secluded entrance, consider installing a home security system with a camera trained on that door, or a motion-sensitive light and alarm that will alert you if an intruder attempts to get in through that door.

Always Lock Your Doors and Windows

The best locks in the world are useless if you forget to lock them. Lock your doors even if you’re home, especially if you’re in the back yard, upstairs or in the back of the house. Likewise, always arm your security system, even if you’re on the property, and teach your entire family to do the same.

Choose the Right Home Security System

A home alarm system can be an important part of your home security, but it’s only one part. When deciding on the best security system for your home, consider all of your family’s needs. Today’s systems include locks with remote key access and monitoring, monitored home alarms and personal alarms. Most Houston home alarm companies will work with you to customize your security package to best suit your family. For information about all the options available in home security packages today, schedule an appointment with a Houston home security specialist.

Houston Home Security Options for Apartment Dwellers

Living in an apartment shouldn’t relegate you to second class home security systems. Apartment dwellers often leave the task of providing security for their possessions and loved ones to the owners of their buildings. That can be a big mistake. While your apartment building may have decent front door security, more often than not, it’s easily defeated by pressing doorbells until someone presses the catch release and unknowingly lets a burglar in. Once inside the building, multi-family dwellings offer very little in the way of a home security system. Houston police estimate that a large percentage of burglaries and home invasions take place in apartment buildings for exactly that reason. If you’re one of the many H-Town residents who lives in an apartment in Houston, home security is your responsibility as well as your landlords.

An apartment home security system will usually cost you considerably less than a security system for a detached home for one simple reason—there are nearly always fewer entry points to protect. If you’re considering installing a home alarm for your apartment, keep these tips in mind to help you choose the right home alarm system.

Install alarms on all entry points in your apartment. That includes your front entrance door, patio door or back door and any window, even those that are sealed shut.

Consider a wireless alarm system that doesn’t require any damage or alterations to your apartment. Your landlord will have far less reason to object to a wireless system that can be installed with no holes or other alterations to his property.

Keep your neighbors in mind when choosing between alarm systems. Generally, a loud perimeter alarm system is poor etiquette, especially if you’re prone to accidentally setting the alarm off yourself. Your neighbors wont’ thank you for waking them up at 2 AM when you’re sneaking in from a night on the town. Instead, consider a monitored alarm system that alerts someone at a remote location rather than sounding on the property.

Motion sensor alarm systems are especially effective for apartments, because there is so much less square footage to cover. Many apartment security systems also include fire and smoke alarms so you’re doubly protected.

If you’re living in an apartment, take security into your own hands. Contact a Houston home security specialist and ask for their recommendations on protecting your property. You’ll sleep better knowing that your home is protected.