garage door

Garage Door Safety & Locks: Everything You Need to Know

Securing our home is top of mind when we first buy the home and every time we pay the service charge for our alarm systems and monitoring. If you value your possessions and want to have the ultimate protection from unwarranted access by thieves, having all the bells and whistles to protect your property is important.

Even with all of the latest technologies arming your location, there is still room for error. Sure you locked the front door and you made sure all the windows were closed before you left the house, but what about the garage?

Garage doors present an issue in home security simply because they are an afterthought when checking that everything is locked. Here are some practical tips for garage door locks and safety.

Outsmart the Thieves

One thing thieves are infamous for are the sneaky tactics they use to gain access to your property in the least obvious methods possible. Even if they don’t have superb skills in breaking into windows and locks you could be helping them to commit their crimes if you’re not thinking like a thief and protecting yourself from the ideas they try.

Statistics show that a large portion of burglaries happen in broad daylight and even while homeowners are still inside their homes. These criminals could walk nonchalantly right into an unlocked door or they can pose as a local business and scope out the location when you answer the door.

Make Safety a Priority

The key is to always be alert and ready to act quickly in situations. Not answering the door, having emergency officials on speed dial and locking any possible access areas (including garage doors) is vital.

A number of new technologies exist to increase security in your home but they won’t work if you’re not vigilant about their use. To truly protect your home you’ll need to make safety and security a top of mind priority.

All American Locksmiths provides locksmith services to the Connecticut and Westchester County. From prompt lockout services to new locks and more. Contact us today to keep your peace of mind and family’s safety intact.

 

locked door

Why You Should Care About a Broken Lock

Locking the doors to our homes is a common step we take every time we leave the house. This preventative measure keeps thieves away and gives us peace of mind that whatever we own behind the door will still be there when we return. Other security measures could include video monitoring, alarm systems or deadbolts and keypads for secure entry.

While you may not have to lockup as importantly as a business would, leaving the door wide open is exactly ideal either. One thing that could be putting you at giant risk for theft is a broken lock.

You know every time the door gets jammed up? Or that little trick where you can wedge something in and it opens the door? Those are all indicators that your door lock is broken and not working properly.

Home Break-Ins Happen in Plain Sight

A burglar can enter your home without any issues if you leave a broken lock in place so it’s important to take the possibility of burglary a seriously in these conditions.

Statistics show that one burglary happens every 13 seconds. That results in thousands of homes being broken into every year – roughly 2.5 million with 66% of those being the result of a home break-in. Most of which happen right in plain view, during the day.

The other issue is that you’re not just leaving the door open for an intruder, but you’ll also likely lose valuables that are hard to get back in the process. According to the research, property crimes in 2015 resulted in an estimated at $14.3 billion in losses.

What to Do About a Broken Lock

As a responsible homeowner, it’s critical to address lock issues as soon as they are discovered and to be vigilant about checking that locks are always working properly before leaving your home unattended.

Even if a lock and door knob look to be in perfect condition, there can be failures happening within the mechanics of the lock itself, such as the springs, that cause it to not keep your property protected.

If you’re unsure if your lock is putting your valuables in jeopardy, a professional locksmith can come out and have a look to see if the lock is working properly as well as perform fixes or installations of new locks as needed.

All American Locksmiths services communities throughout western, southern, and central Connecticut, as well as Westchester County, NY. We provide prompt service for emergency situations, as well as non-urgent locksmith services and treat our customers like family.

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Hallway

Property Managers & Locksmiths Go Hand-in-hand

Property managers have a number of responsibilities when it comes to keeping tenants and physical locations safe and secure. To say their jobs are hectic would be an understatement. Keeping track of who is coming and going and what needs attention and staying on top of payments is certainly a job for the headstrong. But luckily they don’t have to do it all alone. When it comes to access control, a professional locksmith can be a property manager’s best friend.

Better Access Control

Access control is one of the main jobs of a property manager. Ensuring those who need to get in have access while keeping out those who shouldn’t, is important. Having a trusted relationship with a professional locksmith means services like re-keying, lockout help and new installs are only a call away. Whether it’s a business or residential location, having the right type of locks and access control in place can all help keep theft down and insurance prices from soaring.

Remain Compliant

Legal liabilities around lock changes vary by state, but if a property manager is obligated to change locks under certain conditions, then it’s in their best interest to have a locksmith on speed dial to handle these requests and remain compliant without risking liability. Likewise if it is a commercial property, there might be a need to restrict access for terminated employees or other security requests that having a locksmith ready to help handle will ease the burden of the process for property managers.

Convenient Preparations for New Tenants

One of the biggest parts of the job when it comes to being a property manager is helping to get new tenants into a vacancy. Changing the locks is an important first step in this preparation process and a locksmith can help easily rekey and make those changes for the location as needed. Doing so with ease means more time to focus on other important matters as well as possible reduced turnover rates since tenants will be pleased with smooth experience and professionalism.

Need help with replacing locks in your home or business? All American Locksmiths employs experienced, professional locksmiths in Connecticut & Westchester County. Unlike other locksmith companies, we actually care about Connecticut businesses and residents. We believe in treating our neighbors as we would like to be treated. If we were renting one of your apartments, and we had to deal with a lock that was stuck or broken, we’d like to know that our management company could resolve our issue quickly.

That’s where we would come in.

Because we are real people, we know that your tenants’ time is important; therefore, we make ourselves available to all of Connecticut 24/7. It doesn’t matter if you’re in Greenwich, Stamford, Fairfield, New Haven, or Hartford–if you or your tenants need us, we’ll be there right away to bring normalcy back to everyone’s lives.

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