Enjoy Your Thanksgiving Weekend… Safely

Anoth­er long week­end and many of us will be going to the cot­tage or to spend time with fam­i­ly and cel­e­brate Thanks­giv­ing Week­end. Are you pre­pared to do it safe­ly? There are some sim­ple things you can do that will increase your secu­ri­ty.

The day before you leave, take some time to cut the grass and hedges. You want your home to appear like some­body is home, and fresh­ly cut grass is a good indi­ca­tor.

While you are out cut­ting the grass, talk to your trust­ed neigh­bour and ask him/her to remove the news­pa­pers and fliers from your door step and mail­box every day. Noth­ing says nobody is home like an over flow­ing mail­box and weath­ered news­pa­pers at the foot of the door. You can also invite your neigh­bour to park a car in your dri­ve­way too.

Old fash­ioned timers may seem old school, but they can be a very cost-effec­tive way of pro­tect­ing your home. Lights com­ing on and off at nor­mal times, as well as a radio or TV, is far more effec­tive than leav­ing a light on in a room for 3 or 4 days straight. In fact, a light that is nev­er off may be a great indi­ca­tor that the house is unoc­cu­pied.

Don’t hide keys out­side your home. The floor pot beside the back door or the hook under the steps isn’t fool­ing any­one. If some­body needs access to your home while you away give them a key, and ask for it back when you return. It nev­er hurts to have your locks rekeyed peri­od­i­cal­ly. This elim­i­nates the mys­tery of who might have keys to your home.

Leave your cur­tains and or blinds exact­ly like you always keep them. Unless you have steel secu­ri­ty shut­ters, clos­ing all your cur­tains and drapes sends a clear sig­nal that the house is unoc­cu­pied. And even worse… if an intrud­er does gain access to the house, your neigh­bours and police won’t be able to see in.

And of course, don’t for­get to ARM your Alarm Sys­tem! When the fes­tiv­i­ties over and you’ve fin­ished all you Turkey left­over sand­wich­es, call us to dis­cuss how we can help you secure your home and fam­i­ly. Until then, pass the cran­ber­ry sauce and ENJOY!