Budget-friendly ways to make your home burglar-proof

Using technology to secure your home can be quite expensive; a top-of-the-range alarm system, for example, can cost several thousand dollars to buy and install. If your budget is limited but you want to take steps to protect your family and your property from intruders, here are some more affordable ways to do this.

Use deadbolts on external doors

Standard door-knob locks can be opened very easily; a determined burglar with a crowbar or a pipe wrench can pry one open in seconds. Even without these tools, they may be able to break the internal locking mechanism, simply by using a lot of physical force to twist the door knob. As such, if you're concerned about keeping your home safe, it's a good idea to purchase a couple of deadbolt locks for your external doors; these are inexpensive and highly effective.

Deadbolts extend fully into a door-frame hole, with this hole being reinforced by a steel strike plate. Because they aren't spring-loaded like standard locks, you can only open a deadbolt by turning the bolt that's located within its lock. This means that they are much harder to force open. Whilst they're not indestructible, it would take a burglar quite some time to break into a house through a door that's secured with a deadbolt. Because of this, it can act as a visual deterrent which may put off potential intruders.

It's worth noting that in order for a deadbolt to work at its best, the door and the screws to which it is attached must be strong. It is most effective when attached to a solid wood door that has high-quality, hardened steel carriage bolts (a type of screw used to connect wooden and metal materials).

Use security blinds to protect windows

Burglars typically try to enter a house through either its doors or its windows, which is why it's just as important to secure the latter as it is the former. Fortunately, there is a huge variety of affordable outdoor and indoor blinds which can provide your home with an extra layer of security.

For the purpose of deterring burglars, lockable shutters (either roller or plantation style) are the most useful type of blind. These serve as strong physical barriers which are next to impossible to pry open. Much like the aforementioned deadbolt, the sight of shutter-style security blinds on a property's windows is likely to dissuade any would-be intruder.

Some homeowners are hesitant to buy these type of blinds for fear that they may impact their property's visual appeal. However, nowadays, security shutters come in a huge range of styles, materials and colours, meaning that you don't have to compromise on aesthetics just because you wish to secure your home.

When shopping for shutters, make sure to opt for a design with a reinforced steel frame, as this will make it that much harder to break in to. For your own convenience, it may also be a good idea to choose shutters with two-way locking systems, so that you can lock them from both the outside and the inside. 


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