Protect your investment and the security of your home, children and possessions through regular inspection and maintenance of all fencing, gates and gate hardware around your property.

Gates and gate hardware are the only moveable parts on a fence system, so they’re subject to the most wear and tear. Rust, along with gate misalignment caused by factors such as ground movement, high winds, and children swinging on the gate, are the most common problems which prevent latches from engaging properly. If the gate does not latch each time it’s closed, the entire fence is ineffective.

Selecting the right gate hardware can prevent most of these problems. An investment in quality up-front, or when replacing defective or old hardware, can mean that little or no maintenance needs to be done to the gate. Innovative gate hinges and latches by D&D Technologies are designed to prevent rust and are adjustable during and after installation, to easily correct for gate alignment issues in seconds. D&D’s products are made of super strong engineering polymers and stainless steel that will not rust and are self-lubricating. The company backs all products with a limited Lifetime Warranty.

Updating your gates so they close automatically after opening (self-closing) and the latch engages without manual effort (self-latching), improving the security and overall look of your fence, can be done in just a few minutes with these unique products. D&D latches feature built-in key locks, which eliminate the hassles and extra cost of a separate padlock or pull-string. The company’s hinges have a built-in self-closing spring that is tension adjustable for different gate weights with a twist of a screwdriver… no more dangerous and unsightly external springs.

“In our research, we found that when homeowners consider their fencing needs, rusty metal gate hardware that no longer functions properly was their number one concern. Most homeowners are not aware that rust-free and adjustable gate hinges and latches like D&D’s products are available,” says D&D Technologies’ senior vice president Jim Paterson.

If you have a pool, spa or want to prevent children from opening any gate, D&D’s Magna-Latch is specifically designed for these situations. Magna-Latch is the number one selling child safety gate latch in the world. It is self-latching, meets pool barrier codes and is endorsed by many safety experts.

Paterson recommends, “Ensure that your fences and gates are functioning properly and are protected from rust, a destructive force that can render gate hardware useless. Inexpensive gravity latches function fine when new. However, as soon as rust sets in or gates fall out of alignment, these latches no longer close without manual assistance.”

He notes that rust free gate hardware by D&D Technologies is now available through fencing contractors, pool supply retailers, hardware stores and online. The tension-adjustable hinges and self-latching latches are simple to install and many models offer both vertical and horizontal adjustment.

“For the fencing itself, rot and rust can present challenges,” Paterson notes. “Check wooden fences for peeling, splintering, mold, or rot.” Rot problems on wooden fence rails can be remedied by saturating the affected area with a preservative and mending it. Steel fences and gates must be periodically repainted with rust-resistant paint to prevent weather-related damage. Remove existing rust before painting, and use a rust-preventive primer.

“Aluminum, vinyl or wood fencing can protect against rust on the fence itself,” Paterson remarks, “but the hardware must still be rust-free and adjustable to ensure the gate will be in working order. A quick inspection, and if needed, the minutes spent installing new gate hardware, can help protect your family and property, increasing security and decreasing liability.”

See www.ddtechglobal.com, e-mail info@ddtechusa.com or call (800) 716-0888, ext. 292 for details.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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• 1 - put your mail and your newspaper delivery on hold. To put your mail on hold, you can simply contact your post office and request this from them. For the newspaper delivery hold, you will need to contact your newspaper directly. You can also ask your friend or your neighbor to pick up the mail and newspapers for you. The reason why you should put your mail and your newspaper delivery on hold if the fact that letters that pile up in your mailbox and a collection of newspapers on your doorway indicate that the owner is not at home and was gone for quite a while.
• 2 - make sure that you don’t leave a phone recording that states that you are away from home. A simple message that states that you are currently unavailable is good enough. There is no need to say that you are away for a while. If a burglar will be able to find your home phone number and call you, he or she will be able to judge whether you are at home based on the recorded message.
• 3 - make sure that you have your lights on in the evening. You can ask your neighbors or friends to stop by your house in the evening and turn your light on. Alternatively, you can purchase the automation system that will turn your lights on and off at certain preset times. If is a good idea to also turn your TV or radio on and off at preset times.
• 4 – ask your neighbor to park in your driveway or on the street in front of your house. This will create an illusion that someone is at home every evening.
• 5 - hire a house sitter that will stay at your house while you are gone. This will cost you some money, so whether to hire someone will depend on your budget.
• 6 – ask your neighbors to look after your house and to notify the police department if they see something strange. You should also leave them your emergency contact information so they can notify you in a case of emergency.
• 7 – make sure that your doors, garage door, windows and the yard gate are all locked.
• 8 - store all of your expensive items in a safe deposit box in the bank. This will ensure that these items are completely safe and secure. You will not be using them while you are away from home so there is no reason to keep them at home while you are gone. If you don’t have a safe deposit box in the bank, you can either order one or store your valuables in a safe.
• 9 – make sure that you turn your alarm system on before you leave. Installing motion detector as an addition to the alarm system is a good idea.
• 10 - sign up for the alarm system monitoring service.

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Many common sense tips are well known by now. Stop the mail, stop the newspaper or have a neighbor pick them up. Lock up the house and leave a light on. But even these common techniques could use improvement.

Stopping the newspaper could just look like you decided not to have it anymore, so that’s fine. But, stopping all mail delivery is also a signal to thieves, since everyone gets at least some, if only junk mail. Better to have it picked up daily, then taken inside the house by a neighbor, who then exits out the back.

Leaving a light on is fine, too, except when it burns all the time. Then it looks unnatural and staged. Better to have at least a simple timer that turns it off during the day and on at night. Better still is to have one that will turn it off and on at night several times, as you would if you were home. Putting the stereo or radio on a timer is a good idea, too.

If you don’t have a home security system, vacation time might be a good time to consider installing one. Plan ahead, so you have plenty of time to get the right one without being pressured. But ensure that you get one that is not only regularly monitored, but offers neighborhood patrols by your house.

If or when you do get a home security system, be sure to notify them that you plan to be away. Provide them with dates. Most companies will pay a little bit better attention if they know there’s no one at home.

A friendly letter to the operations manager doesn’t hurt and does improve your odds of extra service during your vacation. Everyone likes to be thanked for positives, since complaints for poor performance are so much more common.

Best of all is to hire a house sitter that will stay there at least part of the time. It adds a cost to your vacation, but having a person in the home – especially at night – will ward off all but a small minority of criminals. Sometimes you can work out a trade with a neighbor or responsible teen friend of your own kids. You cover their home on vacation, they cover yours.

If you have a neighborhood watch program, as is very helpful, be sure to let the one near your home know your plans. There are times when surprises are best left to birthdays.

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It’s reasonable to take proper precautions, at home and around town or abroad, even if you’ve never experienced a crime. It isn’t healthy or necessary, however, to live in perpetual fear. After all, those statistics are the result of millions living in close proximity and there’s no breakdown according to location.

But there is a genuine need for personal security. In order to feel and actually be safer, the first thing to consider is location. Stay away from high crime areas whenever possible. When you’re on the street, don’t project an attitude of vulnerability. Studies show that criminals choose their victims by subtle clues based on body language. Project an air that you are not to be messed with.

Be prepared. Carrying a concealed firearm is inappropriate for most people. They don’t have the training and they would hesitate to use it anyway, exposing themselves to increased risk of attack. But pepper spray, loud whistles and other personal protection devices are a low risk, yet highly effective option.

Ensure that your cell phone is charged at all times. One of the most frequent reasons people cite for having one, even when not required for business, is use in an emergency. But that value is lost if you neglect to keep the batteries up.

Vary your routine. Don’t leave or arrive home at the exact same time every day. Don’t take the same route to work, to shop or other activities. Very few people are followed at any time in life. Most lead lives that are much more anonymous. But during divorce proceedings, romantic breakups, conflicts at work and other common human experiences the motivation for stalking is higher.

Don’t travel alone, especially to strange areas, if you can avoid it. There’s safety in numbers, even if the two or more persons in the group are not physically imposing. It’s much more difficult for attackers, whether they be single muggers or a small gang, to subdue multiple people. One can usually delay the crime while the other phones the police. That will often lead to the criminals just leaving to seek easier victims.

When you’re at home, even if you live in a very safe neighborhood where you know all your neighbors, keep your doors and windows locked. Again, paranoia is unwarranted. But a little caution never hurts. Rapes, burglaries and other crimes do occur during the day and at night when people are home. It’s less common, but far from unknown.

Be aware of your surroundings at home and on the road. Don’t leave your belongings far from you and don’t let children wander off. Taking a few simple precautions can leave you in a position to relax and enjoy your life. Then you don’t have to worry as much about those horrifying statistics, since your risk of being among them is much lower.

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One thing that is safe to say about most professional burglars is: they avoid getting caught. In order to do that, they minimize the odds by looking for vulnerable targets.

Some amateurs will simply smash and grab, taking something from the garage or entering an unlocked home when you’re away. But the professional applies a little more thought, in order to up the haul and lower the risk.

The first thing to notice is that they have to approach the house by stealth. That’s why, not surprisingly, many burglaries take place during the night. Lighting your home well can help shift the odds. Look especially for those corners and windowless areas that lead to a point of entry out of sight.

Secure best those areas where a burglar could enter unseen. In most homes that will be on the side, but not always. It depends on how the house is constructed and how the houses nearby are situated. Those will need at minimum a good strong wooden or metal dowel for sliding glass windows.

But that form of protection will offer no more than a two second delay if your window can be easily lifted out of the frame. Preventing that is simple and inexpensive.

Just drill a small hole through the metal or wood window frame into the wall frame holding it. Insert a small dowel into the hole, or better still obtain a small kit that contains a spring loaded mechanism, similar to some screen door kits. The kits screw into the frame.

Depending on what they think your home holds, and who or what is nearby, some professionals will risk breaking glass to enter. A set of wrought iron bars in front of the windows may be called for. Your last, but not necessarily least, line of defense is an alarm system that senses vibration or breaks in the glass.

Look for areas where you can trim back bushes from the home that thieves can use to hide behind. Having an easily visible perimeter around the house makes it less likely a thief will want to enter.

Burglars more often commit their crimes when no one is home, again for obvious reasons. Having someone watch the home while you’re away, ideally from the inside, will motivate the professional to seek a different victim.

Nothing will prevent the truly determined, but if you fortify your home, they are more likely to pick an easier target.

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In a complex of any size, management often takes on the responsibility of providing security, at least in general. They will sometimes hire private guards. But even when they don’t, in the majority of cases they take some efforts to see that the grounds are secure. That helps them, of course, since a secure environment makes the complex a more desirable place to live.

But most will not concern themselves with individual security as, realistically, they can not. There are typically simply too many units to protect one-by-one. They may have fences, even alarm systems, but only for the perimeter and selected buildings. They can’t afford to look after each apartment or condo.

That means the responsibility for security rests on the shoulders of those who are most directly concerned: the tenant. Fortunately, there are a great many things that can be done inexpensively to do that.

The obvious involves such things as keeping windows and doors locked. Most complexes won’t allow installing an individual alarm system, but fortifying entrances with proper locks, window bars and so forth can certainly be done. Sometimes the expense will be a joint effort. Other times it is up to the tenant alone. But the expense and effort are well worth it, since it’s the tenant’s possessions and safety at issue.

Behavior plays a large part in personal security, and that can be carried out in a complex at least as easily as in a neighborhood. A neighborhood watch program can be developed within an apartment or condo setting. In many cases, this is easier to carry out in that situation than in a housing tract. There are more people around during all hours, typically, and the view is often more open.

Personal behavior plays a part, too. Don’t admit strangers through the gate, ‘as a favor’, even if they give you the name of a neighbor. Walking to and from the garage or parking area at night or when there is no one else around is a concern. Walking with keys or pepper spray cannister in hand is a reasonable precaution for most women. Being aware of the surroundings is wise for everyone.

Just as with a house, don’t admit strangers unless they’re from reputable companies you do business with regularly. They may decide to come back later when you’re not there. Or, worse, when you are. Take a peek through the peephole and require identification. Thieves may go to the trouble to disguise a vehicle, but they rarely carry proper ID cards, since they don’t expect to be asked.

Lastly, whenever possible, consider security when selecting an apartment to rent or condo to buy. After moving in it is usually too late to get the owners to change locks, improve lighting or repair a gate lock. But beforehand, you may have some leverage. It may require going with another choice. Weighing the options of where to live can be difficult, but security considerations should be high on the list.

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But whether cheap or dear, your home and its possessions – and most of all, the safety of your loved ones – is paramount.

Start by thinking of your home from the perspective of the potential thief. Walk around the outside and try to spot weaknesses, possible points of entry, areas where a housebreaker can gain undetected access. Scale back bushes that can serve as camouflage. Think about the unprotected glass that is low to the ground.

Then, perform the same review at night. Consider the lights and shadows around your home. Think about any pathways that a stranger can walk down unheard and unseen. Consider the curtains and shutters that are open, allowing a well-lit view of the interior downstairs.

Start inexpensively by addressing the basics that cost little or nothing. A sturdy wooden or metal dowel can bar a sliding window. Good bolt locks won’t keep out every professional, but they’ll slow down many amateurs seeking that status. Make reciprocal arrangements with the nearby neighbors to watch their place, while they watch yours.

Burglars look for easy targets. Targets are much easier when there’s no one home. Fooling them into thinking you’re home can be as simple and inexpensive as installing a few timers around the house. A light on all the time, especially during the day, makes it obvious that no one is home. But lights, stereos and TVs that go on at random times simulate normal use. A dozen can be installed for under $100 dollars and often much less.

There are many home security systems that cost about a dollar a day. That’s pretty low ‘insurance’ against what could be a very expensive loss. Having one will also sometimes lower your actual homeowner’s insurance premiums. Many can be installed without professional assistance. Several have low-cost battery backups so they still function during a power outage (natural or burglar-induced).

Go a step beyond the minimum. Many security systems will alert when a door or window is opened while alarmed. But a cheap glass cutter could make the whole system useless. Consider a type that has a vibration sensor or cut detector. Look into an upgrade that offers motion detection.

No system is foolproof. But making the effort to implement some simple, low cost solutions can improve your odds tremendously.

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The ideal, as with many purchases, is to get a recommendation from someone you know with high standards. But even good word of mouth is no substitute for first hand interviews. Companies usually have salespeople that will tell you what you want to hear. Seek out the operations manager and try to find out, instead, what you want to know.

When you find that person, don’t be shy about asking some probing questions.

Length of time in business is important as are good references from satisfied customers. In that respect, home security is an ‘old-fashioned’ business that still rests on reputation. In another way, home security is one of the latest innovations and the company should have a range of state-of-the-art systems to offer.

The contemporary aspect of home security is the adoption of the latest technology for your needs. The use of thermal imaging, motion detectors, wireless devices that can be easily added to an existing system and other aspects will give you clues about their forward-looking viewpoint, or lack of it.

The installation personnel should be more than just carpenters or car stereo installers between jobs. Special licensing applies to the implementation of a home security system. Inquire whether the installers have the training and certificates to prove it.

The old-fashioned aspect of the business entails the use of reliable, competent staff. Grill the operations manager on things like licensing, firearms training (if the guards are armed), experience (ex-police officers?, former airport guards?) and more.

Arriving quickly when an alarm is triggered is important, but they should perform well once they’re there. Sometimes there are false alarms. But companies have protocols to minimize those. When the real thing happens, the guards need to be prepared to act somewhat like police officers would.

At the same time, security companies and guards need to have a good relationship with the local police. They’re not authorized to carry out all the same functions and it’s not in your self-interest to have them stepping on one another’s toes or pointing fingers. You will invariably wind up in the middle of a bad situation that way.

But possibly the most important aspect is day-to-day monitoring, since that’s what they’ll be doing, well, day to day. When you call, you should get someone efficient and courteous on the phone. They should know who you are, where you live and be able to provide you with the status of your system at any time of the day or night.

Your home security company is providing a valuable function for which they get paid good money. Apply high standards that go well beyond selecting the lowest bidder. The alternative is not pretty.

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Driveway alarms can provide those benefits.

Most work by placing infrared sensors at appropriate spots on the house, beside the driveway entrance, on the gates, or in the yard. Those are connected to a transmitter that sends a signal to a receiver in the home. Other types emit a dark green light. In either case, a ‘light wire’ is tripped when a vehicle or person interrupts the beam. Still others use a pressure-sensitive tube in the driveway surface. A magnetic probe type can signal the arrival of a large metal object, such as a car or truck.

But whatever the underlying technology, the purpose and function is the same: to alert on the arrival of someone at the home. That allows detection long before the visitor has reached the house. That can be useful for more than just intruder detection, since it can alert residents to innocent package deliveries or workmen.

Contemporary systems are often accompanied by a motion detector. That enhances the system, adding the ability to detect human movement, even when someone may step over the driveway beam. The range varies from about 800-1200 feet from the transmitter, providing coverage for a wide area.

Systems come in a variety of levels of sophistication and features. It costs a bit more, but many have an intercom system. That makes them more useful for distinguishing between expected visitors and those who arrive unannounced.

Adding a video camera, a much less expensive option today than in the past, adds yet another useful layer. Seeing the person and their vehicle makes possible the safest level of discrimination between friend and (potential) foe. It can also provide identification in case an intruder is apprehended and tried in court.

Additional useful features can be added to some systems. When you arrive at home, tripping the alarm, it’s possible to have the garage door open, or house lights come on or even the front door unlock automatically.

Some systems come with a battery backup option that keeps the system functioning during a power outage. That’s beneficial when an intruder disables your power system before driving a vehicle past the alarm.

There are several other features one might look for, such as waterproof transmitters, sound volume control, do-it-yourself installation, connection to a home PC network and others. But the most important is the ability to discriminate objects well. False alarms, such as children riding bicycles, dogs running by could drive you crazy very quickly. That would make the system useless.

Check out the many available driveway alarm systems available today. You’ll wonder how you ever got along without one.

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Everyone is familiar with the image of a trained Doberman Pinscher or German Shepherd police dog as a guard dog. Certainly, those breeds make excellent guard dogs, when properly trained. They have the size, the temperament and the teeth to keep anyone out. There are others, such as Bull Mastiffs and Rottweilers.

German Shepherds and others can be taught to discriminate between those who are allowed in the home and those who are not. They operate by sight and smell and distinguish not only family members but ‘authorized’ visitors. Friends are greeted with a friendly tail wag, strangers receive a warning growl. Continuing advances by strangers get a bark, followed by a nasty bite if they persist.

Though any dog can be put down by poison or a gun, very few burglars are going to go to that extent. Most, once they become aware of the presence of a guard dog, will simply pick an easier target. There are, after all, plenty to choose from. Larger dogs represent, at least psychologically, a bigger threat and you increase the protection with a specialized dog.

But even much smaller breeds can serve well as guard dogs, provided they’re trained properly and their environment is correctly arranged.

It’s useless to have a dog that barks at everything. Though it might make some burglars nervous, if the owner is used to ignoring the warning because of too many false alarms, the basic purpose is defeated. Training can solve that problem with most breeds. Most dogs can be taught to bark only at likely threats.

Arranging the environment to maximize your guard dog’s effectiveness is equally important. Some stay outside almost all the time. Some are predominantly indoor dogs. Both methods have their pros and cons. But a dog that is allowed both inside and out can cover the entire area.

One key is making access available to the dog, but not potential intruders. Some doggie doors make home intrusion ridiculously easy. A doggie door can allow most breeds access to the outside, for bathroom breaks and to patrol. At the same time, they can usually be made large enough for the dog, but too small for most men.

If you can’t place them far enough away from the door handle to prevent unlocking, consider a two-sided key system deadbolt. That locks the door from the inside, requiring a key to unlock it, not just a twist.

Finish off your guard dog implementation with good signage, properly illuminated. Place clear and well-lit ‘advertisements’ that your home is protected by a guard dog. It isn’t always necessary for the potential thief to see the dog to be warned away. The sign tells them they will encounter one soon enough. Most will take the hint and seek another victim.

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