Home Security Checklist: How To Know Your House Is Secure

When it comes to home security, there are certain areas anyone can miss. Then there are areas we shouldn’t miss, but we still do. Either way, these are blind spots that can’t be addressed unless you look for them.

To give you ultimate peace of mind and ensure your house is secure, follow this checklist to check the most vulnerable and overlooked areas of home security.

Yard/Lawn

First, we’ll look at your lawn. You might not think there is anything you can do to improve your home’s security from your lawn, but you’d be surprised. Lawns that aren’t maintained properly are a signal to thieves that no one may be inhabiting the property. (Or, that you’ve gone on vacation and forgot to take care of it.) Another security/safety issue related to your yard is that overgrown bushes or excess foliage can impede paths and prevent residents from escaping or emergency personnel from responding. (They’re great hiding spots for thieves as well.)

Lighting

Next, do you have proper lighting around your home? Criminals love working in the dark, where they won’t attract curious eyes or be seen by surveillance cameras. Fix this by ensuring there is lots of light around your doors, windows and garage. Also, burglars look for security systems when scouting a property, so make sure your system is well-lit and place signs from your security monitoring company in your front and backyard.

Access Points

Lock the door and it will make it more difficult for a thief to enter your home. Add a deadbolt lock and you further increase the difficulty. Add another reinforced lock or stopper on the inside and it will be a pretty tough task for someone to gain access to your home through the well-secured door. Whether it’s doors or windows, check for weather stripping, gaps and lack of structural integrity. Adding an alarm to windows and a doorbell camera to the front of the house is another way to improve security for access points.

Key Access

Finally, who has access to your keys? If your spare key is in a fake rock that’s easy to identify, everyone will. Be smart about where you keep extra keys and get to know your neighbors so they can help you with key access if needed. Finally, whether you have a spare key with a friend, family member, neighbor or in a hidden location, make sure you know where all copies of them are at all times. (If you don’t, it might be time to rekey your home.)