You Need to Protect These Exterior Areas of Your Home

With home security, the emphasis is often placed on the inside of the home. We install smart locks to ensure the home is secure more easily, arm alarm systems to scare off intruders and notify us of break-ins, and hang cameras to help us identify the intruders. In your effort of making sure your home is safe and protected, don’t neglect the rest of the premises. Not only do outdoor security measures further deter burglars from targeting your home, but also you may have areas outside that you need to protect. Here are a few of those exterior areas and what you can do to protect them.

Driveway and Cars

As a would-be burglar comes up to your home, one of the first exterior areas they will see is your driveway. The best way to prevent them from stealing anything from your driveway is to limit what you put there. Do your kids leave their bikes and other outdoor toys out front? Help them get in the habit of storing them in the garage instead. If you don’t have a garage, they can use a bike lock to secure their bike to a post of the carport or another area.

Cars in the driveway can be a good way of signaling people are home, which can deter a burglar from attempting a break-in. However, you want to make sure your cars don’t become the new target.

1. Always lock your car.

Often, this simple deterrent is enough. It’s easy to break a window, though, so limit the reasons they might want to do this.

2. Don’t leave things in your car.

As the saying goes, “Out of sight, out of mind.” If the burglar sees nothing in your car, they’ll be more likely to leave your car alone. Why bother breaking a window if they won’t get anything out of it?

3. Use a steering wheel lock

If the burglar is out to get the car itself, an empty car won’t be as much of a deterrent. By using a steering wheel lock, even if they do break your window, they won’t be able to hijack your car.
A broken window is still an annoying, expensive problem, though. What else can you do to make your car less appealing? Start by making your driveway less appealing. If a burglar sees signs of a home security system, they will be less inclined to target your home. If you have security cameras and one that has a good view of where your cars are parked, this will discourage the burglar from taking an interest in your cars.

Backyard

Perhaps a burglar isn’t interested in your driveway or cars. As a result, they may instead look for a way of getting into your backyard. You may want to consider getting your yard fully fenced if it isn’t already. An easily accessible yard is a better target. If you have a fence with a gate, keep it locked when not in use.

Patio

If the burglar does get past your fence, they might next reach the patio. As with the driveway, you will want to avoid leaving things out and have cameras with a clear view of the area. It’s probably not feasible to haul your patio furniture, grill, and fireplace in and out whenever you need to use them. You can take measures to prevent burglars from easily making off with these, though.

Get some steel cable and run it through the frames of your patio furniture. After you’ve strung it together like beads on a heavy-duty necklace, put a lock on the ends to secure it. You can put it all on one cable or spread it out over multiple cables. This way, a burglar would have to take everything on the cable at once or cut through the cable or lock. Since most burglars are out to make a quick score, they likely won’t think it’s worth the time and effort.

Shed

As with your car and gate, be sure to lock your shed. A smart lock can help you quickly check if you remembered to lock up, and you can remotely lock the shed you forgot.
Is your shed tucked away in the corner of your yard or off to the side and out of the way? Chances are, there’s an easy path a burglar could take to get to the shed and back virtually unnoticed. The edges of a yard are the most common places for flowerbeds, bushes, and trees, and these can provide cover and hiding places for burglars. That’s not to say you should tear out your plants, but you will want to ensure they aren’t overgrown and obstructing the view of your yard. If the burglar sees there’s not an easy way in and out, they will be less likely to target your shed.