How to Make Your House a Hard Target for Burglars

I recently attended a community safety meeting in my neighbourhood. One of the speakers was Gordon van der Grinten, a former OPP officer and current owner of a home security company. Here are his tips to make your house a “hard target” for burglars:

1. If you go out town, make your house look lived in i.e. ensure the garbage cans are removed from the curb, clear and shovel snow in winter, mow the lawn in the summer, have a friend/neighbour bring in the mail or newspapers.

2. Install motion sensor lights on all sides of your house to light up areas of compromise. Light should be installed no lower than 9 ft above the ground. Lights should be caged or protected and not contain an unscrewable light bulb.

3. Install indoor lighting timers that go on and off at different times each day as opposed to the same time every day. Don’t have all lights go on at once.

4. Ask a trusted neighbour to visit the house every 1-2 days, which also may be a requirement for your home insurance.

5. Eliminate areas of concealment for criminals. Some homeowners like installing fences but they provide a great hiding place. Also, trim trees down to 6 feet and shrubs/bushes down to 3 feet. If the shrub or bush is within 3 feet of the house, trim it down to 2 feet.

6. Dogs are a great deterrent. Even if you don’t own a dog, buy a dog bone and bowl and have a friend or neighbour’s dog chew them up and leave them outside to give the impression that a dog lives in your house.

7. Never let a stranger into your home. If you’re alone when someone knocks on the door, pretend someone else is home by yelling “it’s ok, I got it” but never open the door unless you know who’s knocking.

8. When you enter your front door always be aware of your surroundings so you are not surprised from behind as you enter.

9. Panic buttons: purchase a panic button from your alarm company so they are notified immediately if there’s a security issue.

10. Lock your doors!

11. Doors and locks: You don’t want a $100 lock on a $10 door. Install a steel door preferably. All doors should have a deadbolt. A double dead bolt, while not legal everywhere, is the best solution. If a burglar smashes the window and tries to stick their hand in to unlock the door, they can’t! They’d need a key to do so. For fire safety purposes, ensure the key is close by. Also, ensure the door hinges are on the inside otherwise the pins could be popped out easily and the door opened. Finally, purchase a long strike which requires several screws thus making it harder to break.

12. Keys: If you lose your keys or they’re stolen, rekey your locks immediately. Consider high security keys like Abloy keys which cannot be copied easily.

13. Garage doors: Old garage remote control codes can be easily duplicated. If you leave your garage door open, someone can come in and press learn button on your door opener and create a remote for themselves. When you are out of town, unplug the garage door opener. For even more security, put a padlock above a wheel on the track of the opener while you’re away. This is especially critical if there’s a door to your house in the garage.

14. Windows: low cost protection – cut to size and jam an old hockey stick for old sliding windows.

15. Ideal security strategy: Locks – Alarms – Video. A monitored alarm system is better than just a local alarm.

16. Safe: If you have a safe in your home for your valuables, ensure it is hidden, bolted to the floor and fire rated.

17. Video door bells: Ring and Skybell are good choices. You get what you pay for when it comes home security cameras. Some of the low cost video cameras won’t last.

18. Vehicles: If possible park your car in the garage. Always keep your car keys away from your front door, or if need be, then in a metal box to prevent the car keys’ signal from being stolen by car thieves who have the latest technology.

19. Keep a list of your personal property or better yet video your property and save it (outside the house). In the event of a break in, you’ll have documentation of all of your possessions.

20. When it comes to protecting your home, the key is to balance convenience and security.