Life can overwhelm you with unpleasant surprises and frustrations no matter how careful you try to be. On days that are seemingly smooth, you are suddenly caught off guard, greeted by circumstances that can pose physical and financial threats. Despite this, you find ways to work around tricky situations.
Life’s Unpredictability
Accidents are reminders of people’s flawed and far-from-perfect nature. This is already a disheartening fact as it is, but some situations are far worse compared to yours. Whether or not you’re the one at fault, the guilt over the problem and its impact is just as intense.
Ordeals that damage property, especially houses, can range from but are not limited to these three situations.
1. Car Accidents
When you hear about car accidents, you may automatically think of drivers colliding with one another, pedestrians, animals, or things on the road, speeding-related incidents, and other vehicular mishaps. They can be avoided by making sound decisions while behind the wheel, though it is not always exercised and may result in houses being wrecked.
2. Home Robberies
Home robberies speak of imminent danger. In these instances, it is not just you and your loved one’s safety that is compromised, but also your house’s contents and structural components. Once a burglary is initiated, the chances of stolen valuable items, personal injury, and your home getting damaged are significant.
According to Reader’s Digest, “if your front door seems impenetrable, a burglar might move on to other doors, which tend to be weaker than the front one.”Clearly, thieves are extremely persistent in finding entrances to a house to do the crime. These are the areas that are most vulnerable if left unattended and exploited.
3. Natural Disasters
Natural disasters are dreadful experiences because you have zero control over them. At certain points, most, if not all, have experienced earthquakes, hurricanes, and other calamities. Their magnitude and scope determine the extent to which people and infrastructures—specifically homes—suffer in the process.
The aftermath of Mother Nature’s acts often equates to properties destroyed and lost. Hurricane Katrina is the perfect example of a lethal storm that cost many lives. In the United States and other surrounding territories such as Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands, this behemoth of a hurricane amassed a total of $161 billion in damage, leaving more than 850,000 homes either damaged or destroyed.
Earthquakes are also responsible for people becoming displaced. A recent one, specifically the magnitude 7.0 Abra earthquake in the Philippines, left 21,890 houses tremendously affected. All these ended with horrifying results, leaving people wondering how to be more prepared for the future when managing disasters.
Wrecked homes are unsightly. More than that, it takes considerable money to repair them, though the emotional and mental toll can be immeasurable.
Whether the one at fault is Mother Nature’s overwhelming wrath, intruders that barge in, or reckless drivers that disregard the safety of others, all of these are burdensome since they rid you of your peace and security.
Ways to Secure Your Home’s Exterior and Improve its Safety
On the brighter side, it’s good to know that any problem follows a solution. Keeping the environment at home safe is a daily task and challenge to work on. This begins with how well you enhance your home’s security levels and constituents.
A good house is not just one that exudes comfort and safety but is also regularly maintained and modified. Taking extra steps to improve your home means it will keep you safe, too, in the long run. The effort to provide you and others a sense of relief comes at a cost, but it is worth the serenity it can grant.
Provide yourself some peace of mind, especially for your housing needs. Here are some ways to secure your home’s exterior and improve its safety:
1. Utilize technology as an extra set of eyes
Watching over every single area of your house with only one set of eyes is obviously impossible. There are too many places in a big or small house for a single person to monitor alone. Of course, there will be times when you may not even be at home to watch over it.
Thanks to an abundance of advanced technology available for purchase, consider adding security cameras and video surveillance equipment to your house for enhanced protection.
Whether at home or someplace else, monitoring the premises and activities of your place is made easier with security and video surveillance equipment at your disposal.
This is possible thanks to the camera being connected to the internet. You only need a mobile device similarly connected to the internet, and you can watch over your property wherever you are.
The best part of these devices is that they collect and store visual evidence, which can be presented to the authorities should any crime or intrusion occur.
Another piece of home equipment worth installing is a video doorbell camera. This kind of camera is beneficial to have at home since it enables you to see those waiting by your door and communicate with them, helping you determine if they are friendlies or potential criminals.
2. Install lighting outside your house
Burglary is an opportunity seized by intruders during the night. Even though residents are usually back in their houses from work or school at night, they are often just asleep and unaware of their surroundings.
It is also harder to see what happens when burglars break into your home while it is dark all over. This signals the need for areas of your house to be illuminated at night.
To minimize theft and keep intruders far from your house, outdoor lighting can be a solution. Motion-sensor lights are also good for detecting movements that can take intruders by surprise. As an effect, outdoor lights pressure intruders to remain on the move since they can be easily detected if caught.
It is a big help to have outdoor lights installed and used at night for extra surveillance. Strategic placements of these lights around your house mean extra difficulty for burglars to snoop around without getting caught in the act.
3. Double-checking doors and windows
Even the littlest of things should be treated with utmost priority. Leaving doors and windows opened or unlocked, even if just accidentally, already invites trouble. The next thing you know, a handful of your valuables have suddenly vanished, and parts of your home have been vandalized. Checking your doors and windows is crucial.
Double-checking your doors and windows to see if they are locked is your first layer of protection. If this is checked off your list, you are off to a good start in preventing intruders from invading your home.
Smart locks are good investments, too, since they can automatically lock opened doors and windows at set periods during the night or when you leave home.
4. Keep your garage locked
Your garage can be a port that permits intruders easy access to your home if you overlook it. Even if all the home doors and windows are closed and locked, your efforts are rendered useless if your garage is left open.
It would help to lock your garage with a smart garage door opener since it allows you to set when your garage should be locked.
5. Make your home appear occupied
A vacant house is an exact opportunity burglars are looking to take advantage of. Zero people inside a house means easier infiltration for criminals and more valuables to loot. This does not mean you cannot trick burglars into thinking that there are people in your home even though no one is in it.
The trick here is to make your home seem occupied while you are out elsewhere. To do this, you can leave your television on for extended periods or even request family members or friends to fetch your mail for you. For better effect, you can also use smart lights to go on or off at set times to suggest that a resident has returned.
6. Switch to better locks
Although it is a good and common practice to lock all your house’s doors and windows, this may sometimes be insufficient. Consider factors, too, such as the functionality level of your hinges and door locks, signs of deterioration, door frame stability, and the like.
For safety measures, you can replace current locks and hinges with new ones of better quality and stronger.
Prevention Promotes Optimal Security
You do what you can to give yourself and your loved ones the best quality of living as much as possible. As cliche as it may sound, it is always better to be safe than sorry. Preventive measures taken are more preferred than searching for fixes.
Watching over a house requires understanding the risks that come with it. From here, it is vital to know the ins and outs of your home. This basically means assessing your house in terms of its strong and weak areas and thinking proactively about maintaining consistent safety.
Checking doors and windows, locking garages, outdoor lights active at night, and surveillance equipment pave the way for a strong home exterior. A well-equipped home is one that fosters a safer and more serene environment.
