Episode 025 1995 - 96 Season

| Concrete Block Retaining Wall | Home Security Checkup | Handy Hands | Internet Homepage | Replacing A Plug | Mateflex Flooring | The People Behind the Loan | |

To order a Video Tape, call 1-800-TO-BUILD and ask for Episode #025.


Home Security Checkup

Al Carrell: It's a frightening statistic, but it is true. In this country a burglary occurs every ten seconds. Now there is something that you, the home owner, can do to make your house more secure, and the first thing you ought to do is contact your police department. We've got Officer Beale to help us.

Joyce Beale: For one thing you want to make sure that all your hedges are trimmed below the window length, on the ledge and coming up from the ground probably about 12 inches from the bottom up.

A.C.: Why is that Joyce?

J.B.: When you come home at night, when your car lights shine on your hedges as you drive in, you'd be able to tell whether you had someone hiding behind the hedges.

A.C.: The homeowner suggested that we take a look inside and see if there were some suggestions there.

J.B.: Sounds great. Al, I tell you one thing that this Plexiglas out here is great because it helps a lot, but one of the things that I want to point out, is the fact that this is a glass door. Anytime there's glass within 40 inches of a door, you want a double cylinder lock. Because of the fact that a lot burglaries occur where a burglar will break a small piece of glass, just reach his hand in and unlock the door and then he's into the house.

A.C.: So it should be keyed on both sides...

J.B.: Right.

A.C.: ...and the key not left in there.

J.B.: Right. Windows are another problem area Al, so we might want to check these out. These look good, because you do have the burglar alarm contacts on 'em, but this type of lock will pop really easily from the outside. All it takes is a little pressure inward and it'll pop up. So even though the burglar alarm's on here and it'll go out, uh, burglars know that they do have a few minutes to get inside the house and grab some things before the police are going to show up. So the best thing to do on these is to...at any hardware store you can buy the little auxiliary locks that will slide into this channel right here...

A.C.: Ah-huh.

J.B.: On either side of the window. And actually, you're really better off if you do put 'em both sides of the window. Some people like in the Spring to open their window, that kind of thing. So you can do it in increments and literally still be able to open your window a little bit. Uh, I wouldn't leave it open any higher than maybe two or three inches at the most.

A.C.: Yeah, some of those burglars are pretty skinny.

J.B.: That's right.

| Concrete Block Retaining Wall | Home Security Checkup | Handy Hands | Internet Homepage | Replacing A Plug | Mateflex Flooring | The People Behind the Loan | |

To order a Video Tape, call 1-800-TO-BUILD and ask for Episode #025.