How to secure your home against a residential burglary is something every homeowner or renter needs to do. The first thing that should be done is to install an ADT home security system, which can protect the family twenty-four hours a day from burglaries, smoke, fire and high levels of carbon monoxide. Then there are other steps that can be taken to secure your home against residential burglary.
- Teach every member of the family how to use the ADT home security system. This will do two things; first it will ensure they arm the alarm system when leaving the house, because they have the confidence that they can do it properly. the second thing that it will do is to avoid having false alarms that are triggered by family members that are not using the alarm system correctly. Using a keychain remote can also make it easy to arm and disarm the alarm system.
- Survey the home, check all windows and door locks to ensure they are working properly, because if they are not then the ADT home security system cannot protect the house properly. If any of the door or window locks do not work properly replace them or if they do not appear to be locks that could not be forced open easily. Make sure that sliding glass doors and French doors have key locks installed. These are locks that can only be locked or unlocked by using a key and the bolt from these locks go into the header, which are the boards above the top frame of the door.
- Look over the outside of the home, if there are high bushes near doors or windows, trim them. This will eliminate any hiding places a burglar would use while breaking into the house, so they are not seen by neighbors or anyone passing by. If there is no lighting outside of the home there are two options, either put a low wattage light bulb in the lights near the doorways and leave them on every night as soon as dark falls or install motion lighting. This will make it too bright for a burglar, because they do not want to be seen. The homeowner can go one step further and install cameras, which is a real deterrent for the person that wants to break into a house.
- Do not leave to go on vacation and pull the drapes tight, or leave the mail and newspaper piling up. Either stop the mail and newspaper or have someone pick them up. Instead of closing the drapes tight, leave them as normal and use timers on the lights, television and radio. This will make it appear like the family is at home and that will deter the burglar, because they want the house empty when they come in to steal the family’s possessions.
- Put the ADT home security decals on the windows and doors, because this can make it clear to anyone thinking of breaking into the residence that it is protected by an alarm system that calls the monitoring center when triggered, not just blare an alarm.
This was a very good blog you have put a lot of information in this blog that I did not know and there are a lot of tips that I can follow to make sure that my house Is secure. The part about teaching your family members about safety is an excellent idea and one that I never thought of. Thank you for posting this article it will be very helpful in the future.
Stopping your newspaper and mail delivery while you are on vacation is a great idea and I have always put a lamp in a room that had an outside window and had it on a timer that would come on at night so it looked like someone was at home. And eliminating the hiding places is something that I never thought of but that is a great point.
I think that surveying your home every once in awhile is a great idea and checking your windows is a very good idea because the window is a very easy way to get into the house. I have put simple boards and things in the windows that are fire escapes so that they are easily removed from the inside but you can’t open it from the outside.
Since video has become such an effective form of marketing for any web site, I think it would serve the sellers of ADT Home Security Systems very well to provide an embedded video clip of films which depict home invasions or burglaries. One movie which has some good scene you could entertain the readers with is the film Trespass. This would not only entertain the viewers for a few minutes, but also impress upon them the need for a security system.
The lock that you are talking about, that require a key to lock them or unlock them, does that also include a dead bolt lock or is that all together different? Do these locks that you are referring to take a key to unlock them if you are in the house or is it just a knob? We have dead bolts on all the doors and I was wondering if that was enough.
Getting rid of hiding places like big tall bushes is an excellent idea. People don’t think about someone hiding in their bushes and waiting on them to come out because most of the time people go in and out through their garage doors. But it could happen if they have watched your house for awhile and know that you take your dog out at a certain time or something.
I am quite impressed by the vast number of feature options of the ADT Home Security System. It seems like a veritable command center in your home. Guys who love high tech gadgets (not to mention safety and peace of mind) must relish the thought of being able to view the perimeter of their home and control functions from their mobile device. It is a nerd’s dream and yet, it is a great gift for both men and women.
I think I have seen the locks that you are talking about that require a key to lock them or unlock them on a commercial site, that is an entire mechanism that runs the length of the door isn’t it? Are dead bolt locks any good for stopping a break in? We have dead bolts on all the outside doors so I was wondering if that is good enough since you can’t pick them.
My father always told me locks are for honest people, deadbolts help but if someone is determine to get in the deadbolt will not stop them….. doors can be broken and door jambs can split if the door is hit with enough force. The best doors are steel with steel frames, but you really don’t see that type of door on a residential building.
I cannot believe that I didn’t think of getting rid of hiding places like big tall bushes before I planted them so close to the house. That goes to show you that aesthetics is more important than practical or safe function. People don’t think about someone hiding in their bushes and waiting on them to come out because most of the time people go in and out through their garage.
Some of the safety tips you had in your article are really common since things that I just never thought about like getting rid of hiding places like big tall bushes. People don’t think about someone hiding in their bushes and waiting on them to come out because most of the time people go in and out through their garage doors. But in all honesty it makes a lot of since.
The idea you have about the locks that require you to have a key to open or close them is actually a very good idea. Even if you’re talking about using them for the safety of your young kids not being able to get out of the house while you aren’t looking. We have dead bolts on all the doors and the kids can open them easily so I would imagine the burglars can to.
I think these home security systems are great for stopping break ins but they are also good for the protection against carbon monoxide and things. I can’t believe that they have actually come out with one now that detects when there is flooding.
You have some very helpful tips in your blog. I am going to look a little more seriously at a security system real soon because I will be working third shift leaving my family at home alone. I want them to be able to tell when someone is at the front door before the bell rings so I am seriously looking at motion detectors like the one that rings the doorbell.
I always thought we were basically safe because we have a Police officer that lives beside us, but the other day I noticed that he has an ADT Security System, so if he has one then I guess it would be a pretty good idea if we got one as well. After looking around the neighborhood I noticed that we are one in a few that don’t have a system, not good odds.
You made some very valid points in your blog post and I appreciate the kick in the pants that got me to thinking about the safety of my home and my family. It is not nearly good enough, I am going to research these security systems a little more seriously now and have one installed by the end of the week. Thanks again for the eye opener.
Is it really true that some people just get the signs and stickers for their yard and windows so that burglars think they have a security system? Can you tell from the outside of the window or door that there really isn’t one? I do know that I will be investing in some motion detector lights around the house that is for sure.
Yes it is true, and no you can not tell from the outside if the doors or windows have alarm contacts.
I have an ADT system that I have had for a few years now and it doesn’t have any of this new stuff that has come out lately on it. Is there a way to add some of these things to my existing system, like the CO detection and the flood detection? I was also wondering about the medical monitoring part as well because we are talking about having my mother come stay with us.
Yes, you can add any feature to your alarm system.
I have noticed a lot of the ADT signs in our neighborhood lately that I never noticed before, I wonder if something has happened lately that I am unaware of that calls for people getting security systems. I will have to talk to some neighbors but I think I will be going down to ADT to see what they have to offer this weekend. Thank you for the information it gives me a starting point.