How to Secure Your Basement
One of the easiest ways to get into your home is through your new basement door. The basement of your home may be used as a storage area, laundry room, or perhaps just an empty space for crawling. While it is true that a basement can be accessed from the outside, you need to be able to secure your basement from more than just intruders.
Basements are rarely as secure as tightly as main level doors and windows are, and if you’re in a flood prone area, you might have to think about waterproofing as a method of security as well. Below, we’ve got some great tips for you so that you can learn how to secure your basement properly.
- Keep your windows visible. It seems like a counterintuitive option considering most homeowners think that hiding all entry points will protect the house. But if you let the shrubbery overgrow the entryways, burglars can also hide behind them. They can use them as hiding places while they make their way into your property, and this is not a good idea. Instead, you want to be able to ensure that burglars can’t hide behind that so that people can see them. With your windows in full view, so will possible intruders.
- Protect your entryways. Both windows and doors need to be protected from intruders, and while you’re clearing up the area by the windows you also need to make sure that your basement windows can’t be kicked in. Adding bars to the outside will prevent this from happening because even if they do kick in the glass they still can’t crawl through. Never give a burglar an easy way into your home’s foundation, not when you can help it. Bars don’t have to be ugly, either; you can always ensure that they are in different styles, colors or shapes and have an eccentric pattern on the outside so they can be in keeping with the style of your home.
- Invest in cameras. A good security system that extends all the way to the basement is an excellent way to secure your home. Put the cameras on the property near your basement windows as well so that you can let thieves know that you’ve installed a security system so their faces are on candid cameras.
- Call in the pest controller. Another consideration when you’re securing your basement is ensuring there are no areas for rats, mice or cockroaches to get in. Calling a pest controller is a great idea as they will be able to ensure that all of the gaps are cleared completely.
- Don’t forget to waterproof it. You need a water detection system in your home’s basement to prevent major damage that gets involved in flooding. If you have your laundry machines down there, it’s a good idea to ensure that these are going to notify you if a flood should happen. Water detection systems and waterproofing is a great idea to secure your basement from any further damage.
