Home-improvement expert Lesley Carlson leads a tour around a house to show some handy and ingenious tips to help keep your home and valuables safe.
- Put a deadbolt lock on every exterior door. If the door is glass or has glass windows in it, be sure it has a keyed deadbolt, so that an intruder can't get in by breaking the glass and turning the lock. Remember not to leave the key in the lock, since it defeats the purpose of having a deadbolt. Put the key somewhere handy, but out of any intruder's reach.
- Standard garage-door openers will open most garage doors unless the door's opening program has been changed. Change both the handheld opener and the ceiling mounted unit to match, according to manufacturer's directions.
- Remove tools around the outside of the house that could be used by an intruder to gain access.
- Plant thorny and prickly bushes around the house's foundation, especially under the windows.
- Attach a flashlight to each bed frame with hook-and-loop tape. Put the soft side on the flashlight and the other on the bed frame.
- Take photographs of all your belongings. Write the serial number of electronic equipment and appliances on the back of the photos as well as a description of furniture pieces on the back of those photos. Put developed photos in an album and store in a fireproof box or safety-deposit box.
- Use an engraving device to mark belongings with a personal-identity code such as a driver's license number.
- Hide valuables in something like an inconspicuous place, like an old paint can.
- Use appliance timers on your lamps, stereo and television to make it look and sound as if someone is home.
