Experts agree that you’ll never be able to stop a truly dedicated burglar from breaking in.
Fortunately there are a number of simple ways you can make your house more secure.
Have you burgled your own home lately?
Ask yourself how you would get inside if you were locked out. Try thinking like a burglar. A thief would start by looking at the front gate.
- Is there a dog?
- Will high fences or shrubbery offer cover while you sneak in?
- Are there any windows or doors ajar?
- Are there any tools lying around?
- Is there a deadbolt on all the doors?
- How close are the neighbours?
- Does the property look lived in?
Five common property weaknesses
1. Doors are not all equally secure
Quite often the front door has fairly good protection, while back or side doors have less secure locking mechanisms.
2. You leave your keys in the same hiding place
Even inexperienced burglars check under door mats and pot plants, and will rifle through you’re belongings to find the spares once they’re inside.
3. Windows are left open or unlocked
Windows are an obvious place for thieves to test, since they often have inadequate locks and are are left open in hot weather. Children are known to be used to get in small windows and open doors for thieves.
4. Tools are left lying around the yard
Gardening and trade tools should always be locked away, as they can be used to jimmy a window or otherwise cause damage to your property.
5. The garden is overgrown
Not only does your house not looked lived in – which is particularly attractive to would-be thieves – overgrown shrubbery by the windows or drive can hide a burglar at work. So it’s best to trim them back.
If you can break in, so can anyone else.
Bottom line – if you can break in without too much trouble, so can a thief.
How to Protect your home with old style locks or the latest technology
Here are three locks for single-entry doors that most of us know.
1. Mortise locks
Mortise locks are concealed by fitting into the edge of the door and the mid-point of the door frame. This concealed fixing means they can’t be forced away from the door, but it does make them a little more difficult to install.
2. Deadlocks
For top security, choose a double-cylinder deadlock, which can be locked from inside and outside. This ensures that once the door is locked, it cannot be opened from the inside or outside without a key.
3. Rimlocks and entrance sets
Rimlocks are popular because they’re easily installed by the home handyperson – you simply mount it on the surface of the door. For obvious reasons though, the rimlock does not offer the same level of security as more expensive locks.
What about protecting your home with the latest technology?
Here is a great post on realestateview.com.au on the latest locks available
click here to read the complete post
Technology has progressed in every aspect of life, from smart phones to car navigation. Lock technology is no different. Gone are the days of simple locks where it was a just a barrel and key to lock up your home. Technology has enabled connected homes and as part of that Smart or High Tech locks are becoming more sophisticated and more commonly used.
While safety of your worldly items can never be guaranteed, there are measures you can take to keep your items exactly where they below. Here is the technology we think you should keep an in mind when replacing your old locks or upgrading to a more secure solution to ensure the safety of your family, pets and valuable items:
1. Touch Screen
Just like accessing your smartphone, use a PIN to enter your home for additional security and do away with needing a key, though these systems can be paired with keys
as well in case of emergency. It is easy to change access with them by simply changing a code, and they are usually backed up with strong, deadbolt kind of locks.
2. Bluetooth
Bluetooth locks enable you to unlock your home via a Smartphone app. The Bluetooth interface is combined with high tech encryption to provide a secure solution for your home. There are multiple ways that this can be used to your advantage:
- Grant access to friends and relatives as needed when you are away from home
- Create dedicated entry codes for when you are showing a house, for staff or tradespeople
- Use one-time codes that have an expiry date.
- Some versions have doorbell cameras so that you can see who is at your door before you grant access from anywhere, on any device.
3. Low Energy Blue Tooth
Your home or office could feel like an episode of Get Smart. A device such as a Smartphone is paired with the lock, they connect from a few feet away and the door will unlock. When you touch the lock with your finger, even if your device is in your pocket, the door will unlock because it is heat activated. It also lets you create multiple users with different levels of access that can be configured.
4. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
Cards, tokens, wristbands and even jewellery can be used to open a RFID lock, as long as there is a RFID chip inserted inside. RFID technology just needs a single touch with the inserted chip to unlock. It is being widely used in commercial applications and is expected to also have significant impact on the residential market.
5. Multi Use
Multi use locks can combine a key fob deadbolt, touch pad or pin pad for people that are not comfortable with Smart or high tech locks. They look like a regular deadbolt yet give you a variety of access options for your home.
Choosing the Best Lock for You
Picking the best lock for your property is not as easy as it used to be. With the wide range of different locks available with varying capabilities, it can be difficult to choose what you need. You also need to take into account, with all High Tech locks, the added security you need to ensure they cannot be hacked via the Internet.
A security specialist can assess your premises and give you advice on the locks that suit your needs and your budget.
But don’t just lock the door
If an intruder can’t gain access to your house through the door, they’ll try the windows.
That is just some ways that you can improve the security of your property, we hope it can help you think of what might need done at your place to give you peace of mind when you aren’t at home.
All the best the team at Geraldton Property Inspections.
