The holidays are just around the corner. Colder temperatures and harsh weather conditions are already here and more is yet to come.
With that, did you know that the holiday season is one of the most notorious times of the year for break-ins and theft?
Why is that?
There are a few reasons why the winter months and the holidays are so awful when it comes to theft and break-ins. With many families traveling for the holidays, there are a lot of homes that are left empty of unattended to for days or weeks at a time. With so many homes left empty while we travel to visit our family and friends, this is the prime time for burglars and thieves to break in and take what they want.
Thankfully, there are a lot of different options that you have at your disposal when it comes to securing your house for the winter months. Whether it be for preventing theft or just taking better care of your home, here is our security checklist for winter weather months.
Lock Your Sheds and Outdoor Storage
Do you have any type of outdoor sheds or storage around your home? If you do, what are you doing to protect what’s inside?
Outdoor sheds are great ways to extend the storage space of your home, and if you have anything valuable in yours at all, you should make sure that it is protected. A quick and simple way that you can do this is to just make sure that you get a great weatherproof lock for your shed. Whether you chose to get a combination lock or a standard key lock, make sure that you keep the combination and/or the key somewhere safe that you can remember.
Lock your Garage
In terms of security, the garage is another commonplace around the home that gets overlooked. It is also where we park our cars and is one of the top places that family’s use to store and hide Christmas presents. The traditional garage door is pretty easy to break into, but thankfully it is really easy to make it more secure too. You can hire our lock experts to add sliding door locks to the inside or outside of your garage.
Check Your Outdoor Lighting
Having a well-lit yard and perimeter around your house is an easy, preventive way to keep your home safe and stop theft from happening. When was the last time that you checked to see how well your outdoor lights were working?
If you have a few lights that are out, make sure that you get them replaced as soon as you can. If you don’t think that your lights are bright enough, you can get really bright, brand new LED lights for a reasonable price at just about any home improvement store.
Make sure that you have bright, outdoor lights outside of your house. The brighter and broader the lights are outside of your house, the better protected you are going to be against unwanted intruders.
Install Motion Detection Lights Outdoors
Though they can be a little obnoxious when you are making trips back and forth to your car to get the groceries, motion sensor lights are another great, simple way that you can protect your home this winter. With these being some of the longest evenings and shortest days of the entire year, adding motion detection lights to the exterior alone is a small step that makes a big difference in keeping intruders away from and out of your home.
Leave Lights on Indoors
As we mentioned earlier, one of the biggest reasons that your home is at risk of getting broken into is because you could be gone. When your house is left unattended, that is the perfect time for a burglar to break in and rob your home.
Leaving the lights is another small step that makes a big difference in home safety. You don’t have to leave every light in your house on. The goal is to just make it look like someone is home. Think about the rooms of your house that are exposed to the front and back. Anywhere that someone could peer into your windows. Make sure that you just leave a few lights on in these areas to make it look like someone is home.
Check the Conditions of Your Locks
We would highly recommend taking this time during the winter months to make sure that your locks are up to standard. When was the last time that you had your locks checked, repaired, or replaced?
You should be periodically checking your locks and make sure that they are working properly and that they are mounted securely. If you have doubts about the condition of your locks or if you need to get them repaired or replaced, contact our lock experts today.
Have Friends Watch on Your Home or House Sit for You
Another great, temporary fix for making your house safer during the winter is to be sure to have someone watching your home while you are gone. If you have a friend or neighbor check on your home for you when you are out of town or out of the house for a long period of time, that is going to significantly reduce the chances of having a break-in
Getting Ready for Winter
If you have any doubts about the security of your home or your locks, we can help. Contact our lock experts today so we can help.