DIY security for your home will give you some simple tips on how you can properly secure your home without paying too much for it. Many security companies offer complicated security and alarm systems for your protection. While these are good, not all families can afford what they cost. Besides, with a few precautions of your own, and some well-placed deterrents, you can keep your family, yourself and your home protected. The warmer weather is arriving and people are beginning to take their annual vacation (holiday). This is the time of year in which burglary increases, so before you go away make sure you have done the following:
DIY security for your home 1: CCTV Security Camera
You can install a CCTV security camera yourself. No criminal wants to take the chance of being caught on camera, even if it’s a home-installed one! Besides, if you hide the VCR (where it’s being taped) in a good enough place, they’ll have to spend the first half hour of the burglary trying to find it so they could take the tape out of it. This is not a good investment of time – even for a burglar.
DIY security CCTV cameras move around too. People in my neighbourhood have theirs panned onto their car, which is parked in the drive. I always keep my distance when I’m passing by in the mornings to take my daughter to school. The last thing I want is to be filmed too close to the car – and I’m a law-abiding citizen doing nothing wrong.
DIY security for your home 2: motion sensor lights
DIY fitted motion lights are very simple to fit. They’re cheap and easy to obtain from any DIY shop. The hardest thing is fitting the bracket to the outside wall. All you need to do next, is find a suitable place to plug your light in. Burglars hate bright lights. If you have one just above your front and back doors (which come on with motion) anyone who approaches will be flooded with light. Burglars love to work in the dark, and they can spot these motion sensor lights a mile off. Security for your home have never been easier. I’ve installed these lights on the outside of every house we’ve lived in.
DIY security for your home 3: have secure windows
You may not be able to fit your own windows, but the life of double glazing is prolonged if you take care of them properly. Every 6 months you should clean off the dirt from between all the working, metal parts, then oil them with WD40 to keep them working well. It’s terribly hard to break into double glazed windows, especially when they’re locked shut. If you’re away a lot, or before you go away on holiday, lock all your windows and keep the keys hidden out of sight. For secure Window-Openers that offer safe ventilation visit Rocburn today.
DIY security for your home 4: have secure external doors
The condition of your external doors can make the difference between a burglar attempting to break in or not. Your doors should look secure, even from the outside. Take care of all rotten wooden parts or broken glass etc. You may not think it’s important, but when you come to claim insurance (in case of a burglary) your insurance company will make it very important indeed, and may even refuse to give you the payout you ask for. Always treat wood to keep them in good condition and check that there are no broken panes. A door that looks like it’s taken care of appears more secure from the outside.
DIY security for your home 5: side gates and sheds
Purchase good, sturdy locks for your side gate and shed. It may seem like a chore to open them each time you need access, but wouldn’t you rather do this than run the risk of being burgled? A house (and surrounding) that look secure, often are. This is the message you want to give to a potential burglar when they eye-up your property. You don’t want to invite them in by showing how unconcerned you are with security. Someone who opens a gate and walks through can be mistaken for you (by your neighbour). Someone who climbs over a gate attracts attention from even a casual passer by. Make burglars have to climb over and out themselves.
You also need a lock on your shed so that burglars can’t access your tools and ladders and use them to break into your home. More on exterior care at the link.
DIY security for your home 6: fences and hedges
When it comes to security for your home, fences play a key role in keeping your property safe. It’s advisable to plant prickly plants near your fences as deterrents. A high fence with a trellis at the top is also ideal for stopping prowling burglars. They won’t want to climb over a trellis because they can’t hold an adult’s weight. In addition to this, if your trellis has got a prickly plant growing from it they know you mean business. If you have a hedge with no fence, make sure you have adequate thorny plants that hurt.
DIY security 7: burglar deterrents
Burglars don’t like hard work. It’s one of the reasons they won’t get a proper job. Therefore, making your home harder to break into is a sure way of making it less attractive to potential burglars. If you have an alarm system from a company like Safemart, use it. However, if you don’t there are other little things you can do to make your home a more difficult target for breaking into, especially if you’re away. Here are some deterrents you can use. I’ve also put a link (at the bottom of this page) to an affordable alarm system you can hook up yourself.
When you’re going to be away get timers for your lights so that your house isn’t completely dark (or the lights aren’t on all the time).
Set your TV on a timer to come on the usual time you watch TV. The noise and flashing blue lights from the screen gives the impression someone’s home.
Some people also play barking dogs’ tapes. I haven’t tried this so can’t vouch for it. It would be a bit weird if you haven’t usually got a dog, though. 🙂
Keep all keys hidden out of sight (not visible from the windows).
Tell the neighbours you’re going away and when you’re coming back.
Cancel milk and papers deliveries.
Ask a friend to come by and change the appearance of your home – open curtains, pick up mail, park in your drive etc.
Do you have any other DIY security for your home we may find helpful here? Have you ever been burgled and what was the point of entry? If you liked ‘DIY Security for your home’, please share it on your favourite social networking sites. Thank you.
This is true, burglars go for the “easy in”. These are all good ways to keep them out. Making sure your security updated is key. I personally have bushes under each of my windows.
CCTV is truly a necessity nowadays instead of viewing it as an extra expense with no direct benefit. We will never know when will those ill-willed individuals will attack us. Thus, we should be ready anytime.
The tips can prevent crimes at first place! And alarm systems will do the rest. Maybe people would like to know how to install alarm systems as well.
excellent DIY and Home Improvement blog, some good sensible tips here on DIY home security, thanks for sharing
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Barry.
I have heard a good tip for keeping burglars from getting in your windows is to plant spiky bushes underneath the windows. As you say buglers don’t want to work to hard hence that is why they are stealing your hard earned goodies.
Thanks, Elena. This is another great tip. No one wants to step into spiky bushes in order to access a window. Deterrents do work. They make them think twice.
All the tips that you mentioned are very useful and should do to keep our
home and family safe. We can not say when the bad guys to attack so it’s
better to prepare at all time.
We have never had a burglary any place we lived but have had damage done to a vehicle when we lived on the other side of the state. We have done all the things you mentioned above in our current home. We are also very lucky to live in a very low crime area.
Of course, this is the best deterrent there is – live in a low crime area. Sadly, we’re not all that fortunate. 🙂
You can also buy some cheap-o alarms that get triggered every time a door or window is opened and install them quickly and easily. The down side is that they’ll go off even when you enter the door! I’m also a fan of the light timer. Even though a burglar could “figure it out.” They’d at least question whether or not someone is there and every deterrent helps!
Definitely! They may suspect the lights are on a timer, but only the stupidest of burglars will actually want to find out. One may argue that they’re not sensible in the first place, if they picked a life of crime 🙂
“Burglars don’t like hard work. It’s one of the reasons they won’t get a proper job.” That made me laugh, so true! I really enjoyed reading this article, I am constantly leaving my house for long periods of time. I tried the video tape thing; however, it only let me video tape one hour so I didn’t have the best luck. I am going to try the TV timer, and lights timer! I use the time to shut off my TV after a few hours, so I am sure there is a way to turn my TV on. Another tip I would suggest to others, is purchasing a fake surveillance camera in hopes that may scare a robber a way or perhaps those fake security stickers or signs to put on your front lawn. Usually people know that some are fake, but sometimes its not worth the risk!
Thanks for posting! I know people who have just had their houses recently been broken into. This might give them some comfort.
I haven’t heard of the lawn signs, but the TV timer that turns it off should turn it on too. My in-laws go away a lot to their holiday home and use this method all the time. They also have a friend drop by and stay around when he can.
These are very helpful tips to secure our home. This may be costless but an easy way to safely secure your house when your away.
vow,these are some really good stuff for house security.
This has been interesting, I had always assumed that security was something that you had to spend a lot of money on in order for it to work properly! I’ll bear your thoughts in mind here.
Hi again, Harriet. Many people put off securing their homes because they think it will cost them too much. I wanted to show that one can be careful and still not overspend. Thanks for your visit and comment. For some reason your comment always goes into my spam box and I have to fish them out 🙂