October is Home Security Month, and time for a quick audit of your home security measures. Your first ports of call are the entry points to your property, and for most of us this means doors and windows. Windows should be lockable and kept closed as a matter of course. Upper floor windows can be left open while you’re not in the room, but ground floor ones ought to be left closed if you are upstairs, or outdoors. Of course, this is also influenced by the crime rate in your area and the relative safety of your local surroundings, but we advise not to routinely leave ground floor windows open as they present a huge temptation to burglars.
When you are away from the home it’s a good idea to lock the windows, and ensure they are covered by sensors integrated into your home alarm system. Window sensors can either detect if the window is open, whether a window has been broken, or both. We can add either of these functionalities, or both, to an existing home security system or build them into a brand new one designed around your family and lifestyle.
Doors are an obvious point of entry; a staggering 34% of burglars gain access through the front door (with a further 22% accessing through the back door). Sometimes this is due to the door being left unlocked, so it ought to be the priority for anyone leaving the home to ensure that rear doors are locked before the alarm is set. It is also wise to invest in 5-point deadlock doors for the front and back, and a letterbox cage or letterbox restrictor plate to prevent anyone inserting a wire through the letterbox to grab keys. If keys are left in the back door, stop this practice immediately and keep your keys away from the reach of burglars.
For those with front gates, private driveways or even garden gates out to fields and footpaths, extra care should be taken that these don’t present an invitation to thieves. Electric gates for the front of your property are a must, simply because if you have a concealed drive this is a prime place for burglars to drive a vehicle up to your home and relieve you of your property. Gates to the rear of the property should be secured with a lock and inside bolt.
Check fences for points of weakness – bad autumnal weather can lead to broken panels. Fix or secure any gaps in perimeter boundaries as soon as possible, and consider planting thorny or prickly shrubs around the outside boundary of the home as an extra precaution. Outdoor lighting should be addressed too – blown bulbs provide darkness which is a boon to burglars wanting to lie low.
Look at the date your intruder alarm was last serviced, and if you’re due for a maintenance call get this booked in ASAP. We can service and maintain systems we didn’t install, so if your current provider is hard to get hold of, or doesn’t give you the service you deserve then switch to P&R Alarms for speedy local service.
Check the date you last tested your smoke alarms and change the batteries, if they need replacing – a top tip for batteries is to use a permanent marker to write the installation date on the battery itself, so you know how long it has been in there. As we get to the time of year that central heating is needed, it’s also a good idea to do the same for your carbon monoxide alarms.
P&R Alarms are your number one local West Midlands security provider, so if you need extra security products, upgrades to your existing system or you’re starting from scratch, we’re your new best friends.