March 2008
Prevent home break-ins
- Make sure your doors are as strong as your locks. Our report on entry doors rates wood, metal, and fiberglass doors, and includes tips on security.
- Place a sturdy bar in the track of any sliding door in your home to make it more difficult to force open.
- Reinforce windows and glass doors with transparent window-security film, security glazing, or roll-down security panels, or
install burglar-resistant glass. Consider adding bars or grating on windows located in secluded areas of your home. And never
leave doors or windows unlocked.
- Make sure the door from your home to the garage is equipped with a good lock. To reduce the odds that a burglar can get into
the garage by stealing the signal code off your garage-door opener, install an opener that uses rolling-code technology to
change the code after each use.
- Use landscaping as part of your defenses. Prune shrubs so they won’t shield intruders from neighbors’ view. Trim trees so
they don’t provide access to second-floor windows. And never leave a ladder outside—a crook could use them to gain access
to an upper floor or onto a section of roof.
- Install motion-detecting lights outdoors to ward off nighttime intruders.
- Put timers on lights and radios (tuned to an all-talk station) to give the impression that someone is home. The best electronic
timers have battery backup in case power is lost, provide several on/off cycles, and are easy enough to operate that you will
use them.
- When you’ll be away from home for an extended period, arrange to have your lawn mowed or snow cleared from your driveway and
sidewalks. Also ask a neighbor to bring your mail and newspapers or cancel delivery. If possible, leave a car parked in the
driveway.
- See our free report to learn five ways to make any door more secure against break-ins.
