DIY Tips To Vacation Proof Your Home Smartly

Here we have outlined some smart ways to vacation proof your home before hitting the road with your family. Don’t you feel anxious and worried whenever you leave your home while going for a vacation? If yes, then you just took the first step to elevate the security of your home.

People get so engrossed in their packing and stuff and are so excited about hitting the road, checking in for their flight, and just can’t wait to start their vacation that they often forget to button things down on the home front. Yes, that happens! You are actually leaving your prized possessions in your home, thinking that everything will be safe behind your back.

Reality check! There are some anti-social elements out there who are actually waiting for you to leave your home unattended and want to break in to steal everything you own.

Taking official statistics into account, every 30 seconds, a burglar breaks into someone’s home in the United States. That makes up to 2 house robberies every minute and around 3,000 every single day. Woah! Certainly didn’t expect that! The motive is not to scare you with this information but to alert you about the increasing crime rate.

But don’t you worry about it, we have your back. Remember, it is better to be on the safer side than to be sorry. So, let’s try to keep your home safe from burglars and falling apart.

Keep up with the appearance

Keeping up with the appearance is crucial for those families who follow a monotonous or regular routine every day. This will create an illusion that someone is home. For instance, suppose you keep your blinds open when you are home, and closing them on the day you leave for your vacation can be a calling card for the thieves that you aren’t home.

Experts recommend that before leaving your home, try keeping the blinds partially open and switch on the interior light. This is because leaving your blinds completely open can give away the presence of the expensive stuff in the house, such as TV, computers, and other valuable items that can tempt those burglars out there. Keeping the blinds partially opened and lights on is the best way to maintain your privacy and create an illusion of your presence in the house.

Additionally, try to keep your posts and mails on hold or request a friend to take care of them for you. And don’t forget to maintain your backyard, sidewalk, shovel the driveway if it snows and if you do everything yourself, try arranging for someone who can do it for you. This way, you don’t have to come back to an unkempt yard and driveway full of weeds and leaves.

Invest in reliable alarms to vacation proof your house

One of the best ways to keep the burglars at bay is to invest in reliable alarm and monitoring systems. Installing and keeping your home armed is considered the first line of defense against burglary.

Think about it; no thief wants to attract attention while breaking into a home. According to the USA police department, most burglars agree to the fact they avoid breaking into a house with a security system as it elevates the risk of being caught.

Therefore, having an efficient home security system can help keep your valuables safe and keep a check on those unwanted guests. In simple words, security alarms and monitoring systems are designed exclusively to detect and report unauthorized intrusion into the house. Basically, it looks out for the intrusion when the residents are away.

Install smart lighting system

As discussed above, the residents must try to create an illusion of their appearance while they are away. But what if you don’t want to strain your electricity bill by keeping the lights on all the time. For instance, keeping your porch or backyard light on during the day can be a dead giveaway of your absence. The best way to deal with it is to install a smart lighting system and set timers to switch on and off the lights.

You can consider scheduling lights in different rooms at different times, which is the best way to keep up with an appearance in your absence. For example, set the timer to turn off the lights at dawn and switch them back on at dusk or during bedtime.

Getting smart lighting in the house is the best automation tool for the family who likes to travel regularly and will work at its level best to assimilate and imitate your regular living pattern. That’s indeed a safe play!

You can also go for motion detecting lights. Imagine this, a burglar is trying to break into your home sweet home and suddenly gets all the attention by a glaring spotlight. That’s what motion detectors work for. These house security elements can detect and deter intrusion and capture any unauthorized entry into your house. You can consider installing these motion detectors at different places in your home and not just at the door, such as basement windows, the second floor, or any other place that can act as a pathway for thieves. 

Last-minute quick fixes

Now that you know how to keep your house safe from thieves and all the anti-social elements, we are now going to mention some last-minute fixes before you set yourself for the vacation.

These fixes include turning off the faucets and water supply so that you don’t come back to a flooded home. Make sure your neighbor has a spare set of keys and is on board to keep a check on things. And don’t forget to check the smoke detectors before leaving. Try getting the ones that notify you about the emergency on your phone. And last but not least, clean up before you leave because you won’t like to come back to a dirty and messed up home after a long trip.

In the end you should vacation-proof your home

Hopefully, with the help of these tips mentioned above, you can easily say goodbye to your anxiety and fear whenever you leave your home for a long trip. So, enjoy your trip with a peaceful mind because your home is in safer hands.

Photo by Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash