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Whether you’re an experienced home defense guru or a complete amateur, the best way to prepare against a burglary or home invasion is to prevent it from happening in the first place. But no matter how watchful you are, sometimes you have to sleep, and some thieves know how to get around the standard home security measures. In case that happens, there are many unusual methods to protect your family and valuables–methods that don’t involve moving out of your 3-bedroom house and into a fortified castle.
1. Use Dowell Rods in Sliding Glass Door Tracks
You’ll be hard pressed to find a home that doesn’t feature an aesthetically pleasing sliding glass door. They provide a great view and allow natural light to flood the house. However, they’re not very secure. A well-prepared and knowledgeable burglar has ways of getting around the average sliding glass door. And if the door is improperly installed, they can easily lift it off the tracks, so be sure to check your sliding glass doors for base line security.
The best way to secure a sliding glass door is to put a dowel rod or something similar on the tracks, and lodge it between the door and the wall. If a burglar manages to unlock the sliding door, they still won’t be able to slide it open if a dowel rod is in the way.
2. Move Your Alarm Keypad
Installing a home security system is a fantastic way to deter potential burglars, but it’s not fool-proof. Most alarm pads are placed by common entrances, such as the front door or back door. This is done because it’s convenient and because you’re only allowed a brief amount of time before the alarm goes off and the authorities question you for living in your own home.
Because the front and back doors are such common places for a keypad, burglars know exactly where to look. An observant thief will scope out the place and watch the numbers you enter into the keypad. A would-be burglar can also glance through the window to see if you engaged the alarm system before leaving the house.
Be mindful of who might be able to view your keypad when you arm or disarm it, and move it somewhere out of sight. Or at least block the keypad when using it. Another option is to have multiple keypads, one by an entrance and one in the master bedroom in case of a suspected break-in when you need to act fast.
3. Use a Key Lock Box
Everybody knows someone who keeps their spare key in an extremely common place—under the mat, in the mailbox, under a potted plant, or in a fake rock, just to name a few. Don’t be that person. If you want to leave yourself a set of spare keys somewhere, install a key lock box somewhere on your property–the kind realtors use. Backup keys will be just a simple combination away, and only you will have access to them. Just like with your security system keypad, make sure nobody can see you enter the combination.
4. Use Mother Nature’s Help
Mother Nature has had eons of time to develop the perfect home defense system: thorns. Consider planting bushes, vines, or trees in areas you don’t want strangers access. For example, you could plant a thorny shrub underneath the windows of your bedrooms so no one can climb through them without getting torn up.
Some great examples of thorny bushes, vines, and trees are:
- Many mesquite varieties
- Honey Locust
- Pyracantha (fire thorn bush)
- Climbing roses
- Catsclaw acacia
- Oregon grape holly
5. Don’t Hide Valuables in the Master Bedroom
The master bedroom is one of the first places burglars look after entering a house. Master bedrooms are typically easily to access, which is part of the charm for burglars.
Take a quick inventory of what you keep in your master bedroom. Is there jewelry, electronics, cash, or credit cards? Anything of value that can easily be moved should be relocated to somewhere unexpected. And what’s more unexpected than jewelry in the laundry room? Or an emergency fund stashed in your toddler’s bedroom? Few criminals would think to check for valuables in these places. Doing the unexpected can save you in the long run.
Related article: 5 Home Security Tips for Honeymooners
