woman enjoying vacation

Don’t Head Out on Vacation without Protecting Your Home

The height of vacation season is upon us. You’ve earned it. The kids are out of school, you’ve made it through one too many staff meetings this year and a break can’t happen soon enough. Before you plant yourself on a beach chair to soak up the sun, don’t forget that your home will be abandoned while you do and that can be a welcome sign for burglars.

Here are tips to protect your home while you go on vacation.

1.      Make Sure the Locks Work

Your first line of defense to protect your home from burglars are locks. You should always be sure the locks on your doors and windows are working properly and in use when you leave your home. Before vacation it’s especially important to check your locks. If you discover that locks are not keeping the door protected, you can call a professional locksmith to come and change or fix the locks at your home.

2.      Assign Someone to Check Up

Another great way to discourage criminals while you’re away for an extended period of time is to keep activity constant at the home. It’s easy to achieve this by assigning someone you trust to come and check up on the home. Having someone pull into the driveway, grab your mail and packages and turn on lights even just for a few minutes can easily deter thieves.

3.      Don’t Socialize the Absence

Regardless if you have someone who can keep an eye on the house while you’re away or not, it’s smart to keep knowledge of your absence to a minimum. Plastering across social media and telling large groups of people that you’re heading out and exactly when you’ll be gone is an open invitation for potential crime.

While enjoying vacation is certainly important, you can do so with more peace of mind by taking these precautions in advance. Keep you valuables protected back home while you relax this summer.

All America Locksmiths offers a range of residential solutions when it comes to your locks. From repair to installation, rekeying of cylinders – and more. We serve western, central and southern Connecticut as well as Westchester County.

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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.

Get in touch today!