A safe home is a happy home—at least that’s what my gram used to say. She’d walk around her small Dallas home surrounded by unfinished construction projects, boltless doors, and windows that hadn’t locked in years. Despite the fact that the line was delivered surrounded by chaos that no one would consider safe, I still believe that home safety is paramount to personal safety and financial security.
What Can Personal Safety Do For You?
For the unconvinced I present 3 monetary reasons to invest in home safety projects and accessories. Home safety projects will:
- Protect your family from excessive hospital bills due to preventable injuries.
- Decrease the chance of burglar successfully stealing expensive and important items.
- Decrease your monthly home insurance premium. When I contacted my Dallas insurance agents after improving the safety of my home, I received a 10% discount.
Home Improvement Projects to Consider
Now that you are convinced or at the very least interested in potential safety projects, I will focus on home improvement projects that you can use to improve your home’s security and safety.
The doors.
Doors are vulnerable areas of your home. You can improve the safety of your home by replacing old, worn wood doors with a stronger steal door. You can increase the safety of your steal door by installing at least one dead bolt instead of relying on the lock.
The windows.
Safe windows should have the ability to lock. An old or faulty window can be the difference between attempted and achieved forced entry. You can increase the security of your new window or solid old windows with security window film or window stoppers. Window film will prevent the thief from shattering the glass and window stoppers will prevent the window from opening past a certain point even if the thief manages to get past the lock.
You can save money by installing safety accessories.
For the best savings, you should install smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors on each floor of your home. Fire extinguishers can also increase your personal safety and prevent financial disaster from a fire. Be sure to place one in an easily accessible place near the kitchen—if you don’t have a place—purchase one.
A final way to increase safety is to install a wireless home security system. Security systems have motion sensors that are triggered when someone attempts to break into your home. If you pay an extra monthly fee, a security company will monitor all activity and report all potential break-ins to the police. Without the monthly fee you will have to rely on your neighbors to report the break-in and the alarm to scare the burglars. Either way, you could be looking at increased home safety and financial security.
