Keep Your Spare Keys Hidden and in a Safe Place
Above all, the concept of hiding spare keys in obvious or well-known places has to be eliminated. Days of slipping a key beneath the doormat, in a flower pot, or above the door frame are long gone. First locations burglars or opportunistic thieves will search are these areas. Actually, seasoned attackers are familiar with all the conventional hiding places, hence these areas are practically useless for those who pay great attention to security.
Rather, consider hiding your spare key creatively rather than conventionally. Think about unusual places unrelated to immediate key storage. You might bury a key in a hollowed-out block that fits your house’s facade, inside a fake sprinkler head, or in a non-working outside electrical outlet. The aim is to find a spot that is discreet and wouldn’t attract attention even on close inspection.
One more smart tactic is to conceal your backup key some distance from your house. This might be buried in a certain area or concealed within a tree in your yard, a safe place. Just make sure you could quickly access and recall the spot without calling notice. Some homeowners even choose to conceal a key in a nearby public space, such as hidden under a park bench or in a covert area of a local business. Although this calls more work to retrieve, it greatly lowers the possibility of a burglar discovering the key during a deliberate attempt to enter your house.
Invest in a safe key lock box if you want a more high-tech answer. Like those employed by real estate brokers, these gadgets let you safely save a key with a combination lock. Install the lock box in a covert spot on your property such that it is not right out from the street. This approach has the benefit of allowing you to quickly vary the mix for extra security.
Smart locks offer still another contemporary substitute for conventional extra keys. By using a smartphone app, these electronic locks let you provide temporary access to trustworthy people without having a real key used. For house guests or service providers especially, some versions also let you create time-limited access codes.
If you decide to give a neighbour or close friend a spare key, be rather careful about who you pick. This individual should be someone you trust implicitly and who recognises the need of maintaining the key safe. Steer clear of handing keys to new neighbours you know little about or casual friends.
You should also give thought to whether you absolutely need a conventional extra key. Some homeowners choose keyless access devices, such biometric locks or keypads, therefore removing the requirement for a physical key completely. These systems can offer ease and improved security even if they demand an initial outlay.
Whichever place you choose to conceal your extra key, you should periodically review and adjust its position. This helps to avoid the hiding place becoming compromised over time, particularly if you have had to tell people where it is in case of an emergency.
Recall that hiding a spare key serves to give you a backup in case of lockouts, thus ensuring that this backup doesn’t turn into a security concern. Thinking creatively and giving security top priority in your approach to spare key storage will help you to preserve the ease of a backup access without endangering the security of your house.
Avoiding hiding spare keys outside your house completely is ultimately the most safe strategy. Rather, think about giving a spare to a very close and dependable neighbour or relative. This means that, should you require a spare key, you have access to it without running the danger of someone with bad intentions learning about it.
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