It seems like guards are down during the holidays. Everyone sets aside their diet plans to live a little and enjoy home-cooked meals with the family. Presents go around, and stories from years back are unearthed. It’s a good time to let loose.
However, when your guards are down, that’s also when you’re at your most vulnerable. And if your home’s vulnerable, problems start to happen. Remember these before it’s time to go back to your work life.
Lock Cars and Garage Doors
Break-ins happen even during the day. All it takes for a burglar is to find an opening. Leave your car and the garage door in your Provo home unlocked, and you’ve pretty much given them the go signal to come in and take whatever they want. That means those new gadgets you got for everyone can disappear without a trace. Any cash you have on your wallet will also be gone.
If worse comes to worst, someone might get hurt. Avoid all these by making sure your garage door is locked and working properly. Even if you think it’s locked, if it’s jammed, burglars may still be able to pry it open.
Clean Up the Driveway
Snow in Provo might not be as bad as you remember from last year, but it could still damage your driveway if you let it accumulate. If there are existing cracks on the concrete, melted snow can seep in, freeze, and make cracks bigger. Snow may also cause accidents in the driveway; someone might slip and fall, or the car might not brake properly because of slippery surfaces.
Even if you use a de-icer spray, its residue may interact with salt your car tires picked up on the road, leading to a scaly driveway surface. Moreover, that pile of snow can hide burglars hiding from corners or behind cars.
Install Alarms
You should already have a home alarm system in place. This is not something to be stubborn about. Burglars know that during the holidays, families make a lot of purchase and not all of those may be covered by insurance just yet.
The goods they expect to find are worth the risk, and their task is made easier by you not protecting your home. Don’t settle for fake alarms, either. Burglars know how to differentiate the two, and your fake system won’t deter them.
Leave a Light On
It’s not unusual to be out late during the holidays. Even in early January, people might still be on vacation mode and trying to squeeze in a couple more parties before they go back to work. You can do all that, but leave a light on at home. This makes it seem like you’re home.
Burglars pick the easiest target, which means an unlit and unguarded home is more attractive to them. You may also turn the radio on to a low volume, just so the house doesn’t sound unoccupied.
Every year, burglaries can be expected at the tail end of the holidays. After you’ve received your gifts and have partied to your heart’s content, lock the doors and protect the family like you would any day of the year.
