It’s summertime and families are gearing up for summer vacations, but burglars could also be waiting to break into an unattended home. Before you head out the door, make sure your home is protected with these 3 tips to prevent summer break-ins.

Image Source: Flickr

Prepare before Vacation
Residential crime spikes during July and August as people set off on summer vacations [source: Olsen]. As mentioned earlier, if you are going out of town for an extended period of time, call your local police and let them know. Also, alert neighbors you trust about your trip and ask that they keep an eye on your property during that time.
More importantly, when you leave town, don’t leave signs of an empty house. That will only make your house look like a giant bulls-eye to a thief. First, if you have a home phone, don’t change your message to alert callers that you have left town. Also avoid having piled up mail, overgrown lawns and newspapers strewn about your yard that send surefire signals you’re miles away.
Have a friend house sit or at least pick up your mail and newspapers. Ask them to move your car periodically to make it look like you’re still around. During the winter if you live in a cold weather climate, consider having someone shovel snow from your driveway. In the summers, arrange for someone to cut. Source: Home.HowStuffWorks

Secure Doors and Windows
With your kids at home for the summer, you may be less inclined to keep your doors locked, as they will likely be running in and out, alternating between playing outside and occupying themselves inside. However, having a lax attitude toward basic security, such as locking your doors consistently, is exactly what burglars are counting on. Fact: Many break-ins involve no “breaking” at all; for the most part, burglars identify an unsecured door or window and let themselves in. Fix it: Lock your doors. Do this each time someone enters or exits the house. It may be annoying to constantly lock and unlock doors, but your mild annoyance is probably preferable to being burglarized. Source:ProtectYourHome

Trick the Burglars
– When leaving for vacation, home owners should maintain a “lived in” appearance at their home. Having the mail and newspapers stopped before will create a presence that people aren’t away. It is important to also let trusted neighbors know you will be away so they can keep an eye on your home.
– Place a security bar, sometimes referred to a “Charlie Bar,” between the patio sliding door and door jam. Don’t assume that the latch on the door is secure enough to ward off a thief. Source:SafeWise

Customers and Friends, join me again this year for Canada Day this Friday July 1st 2016 at Kitsilano Beach. BBQ hamburgers and hot dogs (tofu burgers too but I don’t know why anybody would eat one) , all my friends invited 8am -8pm. Just look for the flags. Drop by anytime. See the Fireworks at 10pm.

Terry from Mr. Locksmith Vancouver Canada Day 2015.

Randy Bath Mr. Locksmith Automotive Canada Day 2015

Alan Mr. Locksmith Vancouver West Canada Day 2015

Yes, its a Welsh Flag. Mr. Locksmith Vancouver Canada Day 2015.

Basement windows can be easy entry points for intruders. However, there are a lot of security measures you can take that will make all the difference in deterring potential burglars.

Image Source: Flickr

Below are 3 tips to secure your basement windows:

Install Window Bars
Security bars are a great way to make sure that a burglar rules out your home immediately. Security bars will deter criminals, and create a physical obstacle to prevent them from breaking in. Window bars come in many shapes and styles. Permanent bars are often the safest, and are for long term use, however, there are other types! Swing-away bars are locked down by a mechanism internally, so they cannot be unlocked from the outside, or often they can be secured by a padlock. The bars can swing open to provide egress in emergencies, or access the window. Removable bars let you secure the window when you’d like- you can use it just at night, or when you’re on vacation! They’re quick and easy to install, and act as a great layer of protection for your home. Source: SimpliSafe

Reinforced Glass
There are several methods of reinforcing your glass windows with secure materials. The first is with tempered glass, which is much more durable than traditional glass and therefore more difficult to break. It is also one of the least expensive options for reinforced glass, although it is still expensive when compared to traditional glass panes. Laminated glass, also known as safety glass, is another excellent option for your home’s windows. Laminated glass usually consists of a layer of vinyl sandwiched between two sheets of regular glass. To break through safety glass, a burglar would have to strike repeatedly in the same spot, creating a lot of noise – and thus proving to be an excellent thief deterrent. Source: SafeSoundFamily

Use a Home Security Monitoring System
A good home security system can deter a would-be burglar or alert neighbors and authorities in case of a break-in. Place glass-shatter sensors near the basement windows and have cameras around the basement windows area — or install an entry sensor on the window. Source:TopTenReviews

Though you may not realize, many of the steps you take as part of your daily routine may actually make you more susceptible to burglaries. Here are 3 ways you unknowingly invite burglars into your home.

Image Source: Flickr

Noticeable Consumption
We get it, you are proud of your acquisitions and your possessions. There is no shame in that as you have worked hard to obtain all these items after all. However, remember a constant stream of boxes littered on obvious places in your house such as TV boxes scattered by the trash bin outside, online shopping shipments delivered to your homes, etc. is one way to get you noticed. Remember, robbers usually scout neighborhoods and mark potential homes as targets before committing a robbery and if you are constantly leaving traces of your purchases outside your home, you may be as well as pointing a big red arrow towards your house. Source: 63RealEstate

Leaving the Doors and Windows Unlocked
Over a third of burglars enter the house through the front door. After knocking to confirm no one is home, they’ll test the door to see if it’s unlocked. An alarming number of times they’ll discover they’ve hit the jackpot and walk right in. Keep your doors locked, even if you’re just running the kids to school or walking the dog. As a law enforcement officer, I took several reports of burglaries that occurred while the homeowner was right in the backyard playing with the kids. So don’t assume your presence will scare him away.
Don’t be fooled; the second floor of your home isn’t burglar-proof. In fact, he’ll use the ladder you left out last weekend to access your home’s second floor windows with ease. Keep all windows closed and locked, and be sure they are outfitted with window alarm sensors. Should a burglar attempt to enter, you’ll know right away. Don’t overlook securing small windows, like those commonly found in basements and bathrooms. An adult might not be able to fit through it, but sadly, some burglars will force their children though, who then unlock the front door for the burglar to enter. Source: SafeWise

Lack of a Security System
When keeping your home safe, it’s important to leverage all your assets. This could be neighbors, proper gardening, and the police. But with cops on call several miles away, it’s unlikely that a law-abiding passerby will report a break-in. A security system can help automate this whole process for you, using censors to detect intrusion and reporting the incident to the security company, who can contact the proper authorities. You’ll need allies in your fight against burglars, and a security system is your Bat Signal. Source: ProtectYourHome

Reconsider your daily routine to determine whether you are unknowingly leaving your home open to burglaries. If you want to know more about ways to secure your home, contact us now!

There are many precautions you can take to boost your home security and ensure that your home is safer. In this short post we’ll cover 3 simple and effective ways to strengthen your doors, including: reinforcing the strike plate, improving the locks and securing your door hinges.

Image Source: Flickr

Reinforcing the Strike Plate
To further reinforce the doorjamb, install a new plate in place of the old lip strike plate that serves the doorknob lockset. Attach it with 3-in. screws. Make sure the screwheads seat flush with the face of the strike plate. We used No. 8 x 3-in. screws. No. 10 x 3-in. screws (used for the deadbolt plate) were too large. Remember to angle the screws back slightly to be sure to catch the framing (Figure A). Again, you may have to chisel a slightly larger mortise and predrill to drive the screws.
Remove the lockset’s lip strike plate and 3/4-in. screws. Predrill and attach a new plate with No. 8 x 3-in. screws that are angled in slightly to catch the stud. Predrill with a 1/8-in. bit. Source:FamilyHandyman

Improving the Locks
In a significant percentage of burglaries, the criminal enters the victim’s home through an unlocked door. Even the strongest locks in the world are useless if you don’t use them. Lock all exterior doors whenever you go out – even if you’ll just be gone a few minutes.
Install deadbolt locks. With the exception of sliding doors, all exterior doors should have a deadbolt lock in addition to the lock built into the doorknob. The deadbolt should be high quality (grade 1 or 2, solid metal with no exposed screws on the exterior), with a throw bolt (the bolt that comes out of the door) at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) long. The lock should be properly installed. Many homes have lower quality deadbolts or throw bolts less than 1 inch (2.5 cm). These must be replaced.
Install a dead-lock. Adding an additional lock will provide extra security when you are home. The dead-lock, sometimes called an ‘exit-only deadbolt’ is a deadbolt that does not have an external key. It may be clearly visible on the door from the outside, but it cannot be broken into without destroying the door, frame, or lock itself. While this security won’t help directly when you aren’t home, its visibility may discourage an intruder from trying the door. Source: wikiHow

Securing Door Hinges
The hinges of a door are an essential part of the door that connects the door to the jamb. Most residential doors have hinges that are inward facing, because the door opens up inwards. Most of these standard residential doors can withstand attacks against the hinges of the door because burglars and intruders cannot gain access to them. However, not all doors work in the same fashion. For doors that open outwards, the hinges are usually placed on either the left or right of the doors exterior and this they are easily accessible by whoever is on the outside. If the hinges on your door are compromised, it will be relatively easy for burglars to knock your door of the hinges and gain entry to your home.
The hinges of your door can be secured by using safety studs, corrugated pins, and by using setscrews in your hinges. These are all minor additions to your hinges, which will go a long way to help strengthen your door and keep your family safe. The additions are simple and effective but because of how important the hinges are to the door, it is best to make sure that nothing goes awry and that your doors are made as secure as possible. Source: SafeWise

Repairing Locks on a Helicopter | Mr. Locksmith Blog. For futher information go to Mr. Locksmith Automotive.

Randy had a fun job the other day repariing locks on a Bell Helicopter. The Helicopter has 5 locked compartments and 3 of the locks needed to be reparied or replaced. It is not everyday we get to make keys to a Helicopter and hopefully next time we will go for a ride.

Mr. Locksmith Automotive Randy Bath Repairing the locks on a Bell Helicopter.

Repairing the locks on a Bell Helicopter.

Repairing the compartment locks on a Bell Helicopter.

Repairing the locks on a Bell Helicopter.

Repairing the locks on a Bell Helicopter.

Compartment / storage lock on a Bell Helicopter.

One of the locks on a Bell Helicopter.

Repairing the locks on a Bell Helicopter.

If you need to make keys for your Helicopter, Plane, Car, Truck, RV, Motorcyle, Quad, and all your Automotive Locksmithings call Randy at Mr. Locksmith Automtive 604-265-4033.