12 Tips for Making Your Home Secure

When moving homes, ensuring the security of your premises is absolutely critical. At Two Men And A Truck, the protection of your property is our foremost concern. That’s why we’ve assembled a list of 12 tips for effectively making your home secure:  

  1. Create multiple layers of security. Break-ins often occur when we are out for the day, so ensuring your home is protected by multiple deterrents is key. These can include: locking all doors and windows, home security systems, and ‘beware of the dog’ signs.   
  2. Make a property seem lived-in. When relocating, you may find you have extended periods where a property is not lived in. Having people coming and going, creating what appears to be a lived-in space, is a good way to avoid the property becoming an easy target.
  3. Put Lights on a timer. Cheaper and more effective than leaving lights on the whole time, timers give the impression that there are people inside a home turning lights on at appropriate times. Sensors are also a good idea for outside lights.
  4. Manage your garden. Large plants and bushes, especially in front of a home, are ideal hiding places for burglars.
  5. Ensure post does not visibly gather. If you are away from your home, make sure that your gathering post is not visible to passers-by.
  6. Have a neighbour house sit. When you’re away from your home for an extended period, employing a house-sitter is a great way to secure your property, even if they’re only there part of the time.
  7. Dogs. Dogs, especially if they bark at strangers, are naturally a great burglar deterrent.
  8. Alarm Systems. If you can afford a home security system it’s a sure-fire way to protect your home, but installing a fake security box on the front of your home can be just as effective.
  9. Never publicly announce you’ll be away. Do not state on answerphone messages or social media sites that you will be away from your home for a long amount of time.
  10. Never leave keys outside. Even if it’s under a mat, a rock or in your car’s exhaust – never leave door keys outside your property.
  11. Leave valuable items in unconventional places. Burglars have go-to areas of the house which they specifically target. If you keep valuable jewellery in your master bedroom, consider investing in a safe which cannot be taken off the premises. Leaving all car and door keys in one unsecured place is also unadvisable, particularly if they’re left near your front door.