Securing Your Ground Floor Apartment

There is almost nothing more personal than having one’s home and privacy invaded by an unwelcome intruder. Apartment residences differ from single family residences in that multiple residences are housed in common buildings, with residents sharing courtyards, public spaces, and parking lots. The threat of burglary is even higher for those who live in ground floor apartments. This is because of the vulnerable windows and patio doors that are easily accessible from the outside.

Doors and Locks

The first step to securing your ground floor apartment is to “harden the target” or make your apartment more difficult to enter. Remember the burglar will simply bypass your apartment if it requires too much effort or requires more skill and tools than they possess. Be sure to lock and bolt all doors and windows especially during the daytime when you’re at work and the dwelling is unattended.

Use a security bar or pin device on all sliding glass doors, especially the ones that form the entryway to the patio. Being in a ground floor apartment, the back door is one of the most obvious entry points for burglars to attack other than windows. In warm climates, an experienced burglar knows that sliding glass doors are often left standing open for ventilation or for pet access. Since they slide horizontally, it is important to have a secondary blocking device in place to prevent sliding the door fully open from the outside.

Alarms

Did you know that you can install an alarm system for your apartment? While most apartments allow to do so, it’s always good to check with your leasing manager to see if they’ll permit it. Oftentimes, your leasing manager or apartment manager just wants to know if you have one or not so they can put it on your account. Burglars know apartments are less likely to have an alarm system, all the more reason for you to have actually have one. 

Lights

Interior lighting is necessary to show signs of occupancy inside a residence at night. Seeing a dark apartment night after night sends a message to burglars that you are away. Light timers are inexpensive and can be found almost everywhere. They should be used on a daily basis, not just when you’re away.

Moving

Brinks Home™ understands that you may move if you are currently renting an apartment. We are happy to help you with a customized security system when you are in your new home.

Brinks Home offers different packages for every price point, with multiple monitoring options, all of which include stickers. You should place your stickers on windows visible to the outside in order to deter burglars from considering your ground floor apartment as a potential target. And remember to always lock your doors and windows for maximum safety.

Lauren Slade is a Dallas-based writer and editor.