Our home is more than just a place where we lay our heads at night; it is a sacred place where we feel most secure. Home should be the place where we never need to worry about outside danger or our precious things being stolen. ‘It’s better to be safe than sorry’; a philosophy that fits perfectly when it comes to home security. We need to ensure any and all weaknesses & mistakes in home security are eradicated to ensure that our home remains what it was meant to be; a sanctuary.
1. Lax Mentality
The biggest mistake people make in home security is to take it lightly. Regardless of whether you live in one of the best residential areas in Dhaka or not, your home is still at risk of being broken into. You need to take all the necessary actions and precautions for a secure home. This means having locks in place, hiring security guards, and installing cameras among other things. Neglecting home security makes you and your home very vulnerable.
2. Going for Cheap Items
Being serious about home security is certainly a right step toward home safety, but you also need to invest. One of the more common mistakes in home security people make is the quality of items they buy to protect their homes. For example, a padlock can cost anywhere between a few hundred bucks to a few thousand. The cheaper ones won’t be as sturdy as the more expensive ones, and thieves will be able to easily break them.
3. Leaving Hinges Exposed
When we are securing our home, we rarely give a second thought to one of the most common mistakes in home security people make, door hinges. To us, they are nothing but a metal plate and a few screws. However, to criminals, exposed door hinges are an invitation to breach our home. They can quickly take apart any door from its hinges and easily walk in. So by exposing the hinges, you are leaving a major vulnerability that can be exploited.
4. Carelessness
Do you ever wonder how many times we’ve left our front door open for a few hours straight? Almost everyone has forgotten to lock the doors at night a few times throughout their lives. We are very lucky to have rarely experienced a break-in or some other unfortunate situation. Carelessness such as this can easily be avoided if we maintained a checklist of sort to follow every night before going to sleep. This is one of the most common weaknesses in home security that’s easily avoidable.
5. Not Using Smart Security
We live in an age where home security is unimaginably advanced. Smart home security gadgets have enabled us to drastically improve our security measures. Items such as motion detectors, smart cameras, and video doorbells allow us to monitor our home from afar. Unauthorized access can be reported to proper authorities immediately and doesn’t require any action from you. Criminals would have second thoughts about invading a home that has smart security in place.
6. Ignoring Maintenance
Even the sturdiest of home security systems can fall prey to time and bad maintenance. Whether it’s analog or smart security that you have at your home, it is vital that you perform periodic maintenance. Most of the time, this maintenance is nothing more than just a little bit of cleaning and what not. Furthermore, it’s not usually needed on a daily basis; maybe every other week or once a month.
7. Opting Not to Upgrade
There’s a reason why more security-concerned people upgrade their system when available. When a security system becomes old and common, thieves know how to breach it. They have time to practice and learn what the flaws and weaknesses are. By upgrading, you set their efforts back and reinforce your system.
Making your home as secure as possible should always be a priority, no matter where you live. With a little effort, care, and maybe some investment, we can have a home that is impenetrable and secure. So it’s time that we take the necessary steps to eliminate the common weaknesses and mistakes in home security.
