As many people have discovered, things going wrong back at the homestead during a long-distance vacation can cause a great deal of trauma and calamity. Already having to come home from your amazing holiday is a bit gloomy, but returning to something having gone wrong at your house can be devastating.
Don’t fear! We’ve collected a handy list of security measures for your home, in order to safeguard against criminals, power surges, broken pipes and more! Just a few minutes of preparation could save you a lot of worry, stress and even money down the line. Then you can go on holiday with peace of mind.
Secure Your Home against Invasion
You need to make sure that before you leave your house that you systematically lock every door and window, including garage doors and windows on higher floors. Once you’ve locked something, test it to ensure that the lock is in working order. If you usually have spare house keys hidden around the property for short term storage in emergencies, including in your garage or under a doormat, remove this for while you’re out of town. Would be home invaders know all of the good hiding spots. Don’t take any chances.
Once you’re outside of the secured house – do a quick walk around the house and look into your windows to see if any enticing valuables have been left out in plain sight. If they are, remove these and put them somewhere like the kitchen for a safe storage solution, thieves generally expect more valuable items to be in the bedrooms or living room.
Safeguard against the Weather
Ensure that you’ve removed the plugs from all wall sockets, particularly on all non-essential electronics. Make arrangements to put your yard furniture, and anything else you lack space to secure, in a rented storage container. If there is a major storm, you don’t want kids toys, yard décor, furniture, the BBQ grill and more being blown around the yard and possibly causing damage. Also make an exercise of checking that all of your flooding drains are unobstructed, as well as your gutters and downspouts. In colder seasons, protect your pipes by leaving the heat on low while you’re away. Finally, check all weather stripping on exterior doors, including the garage, to ensure it is intact and closes tightly.
Bring Your House to Life
It’s important to make it seem as if you’re still home, while safeguarding against criminals is one thing, teens and kids have a habit of making empty homes their playgrounds. Rather prevent this by asking a trusted neighbour to pick up your mail so that it doesn’t build up in your post box or by your front door. If you want to really get inventive, you can install timers for your interior and garden lights. You can do the same with most televisions nowadays too, this will provide the illusion that your home is indeed occupied.
Take Care of Your Privacy
It’s a big trend now to broadcast holiday fun and festivities over social media, as a way of sharing with friends and family. However, if you can, try to keep the highlights for posting once you’re back from your holiday instead. At the very least, ensure that what you’re posting is not publically visible and is only viewed by those that you trust. Not to mention, this is one way to shut off the outside world and truly enjoy your holiday experience!
