Being a homeowner is something that many people are proud of and can be a life-long accomplishment for many others. Houses big and small, we hold them dear to our hearts and experience several different events within them, both good and bad.  

While this is the case, we spend a large majority of our time inside our homes too. None more so than in the last year. And what a year it has been! On the contrary, as we have spent more time indoors than ever before, we would not be surprised if people have begun noticing aspects of their homes which may require some attention.  

If this is the case, then what better time than now to potter about in your houses. While spending more time at home and away from loved ones is not ideal and is undoubtedly isolating for many reading this and beyond, it also gives an opportunity to address any repairs that you may have ignored until now.  

Furthermore, while your mind may be on the repairs that you can do to your home, considering how safe your home is, is also of importance. The last thing you want is for anything bad to happen to your home, the belongings, or those inside it. And that is where we come in! 

We have compiled a helpful list below of safety tips for modern homeowners. Read on for more!  

• Ensuring Windows and Doors Are Securely Fastened: This is probably the first thing that most homeowners think of when considering how they can ensure the safety of their homes. Entry points to a property are places where burglars and other unwanted guests are entering your home without authorization. By regularly checking that the locks on windows and doors are always in full working order, you minimize any potential burglaries from taking place. Keeping any windows or doors that are not in frequent use, always locked, will further deter burglars from entering your home. Consider investing in some sort of alarm that fastens to the window also; you would be alerted of any movement in these areas and able to act quickly and accordingly. With the FBI estimating that windows and doors that are left unlocked account for 33% of overall burglaries, this should be considered highly. Using video doorbells are a great way of monitoring the comings and goings of invited and unwanted visitors to your property. 

• Proper Storage for Items You Don’t Want to Get in the Wrong Hands: Mainly for those who own a firearm and other weapons, alongside the appropriate gun ownership licensing too. The last thing that you want as a responsible gun owner is for your child or any other dependents in your home to find your firearm and to injure either themselves or someone else. By ensuring that the gun and any associated ammunition are stored in an appropriate manner, you can minimize the chance of this happening. In line with guidance issued by groups such as the United States Concealed Carry Association, responsible gun owners are advised to store their firearms without ammo loaded inside. Not to mention that the case which is holding the gun should be locked and stored in a location that children and minors cannot easily access. Truck bed storage is a way of storing any firearms outside of the house and while on-the-go, and are provided by companies like Decked, who offer other methods of firearm storage also. Ensuring that this is taken into consideration when first purchasing a firearm will ensure your continued responsibility as a gun owner and minimize any harm coming to those who happen across your weapon.  

• Conduct Regular Checks of Appliances: It would be a bit of an understatement if we were to say that household appliances were of little help to our day-to-day lives. They cook, clean, and maintain other aspects of our busy lives, to ensure that we can focus on other, more essential things in the home and beyond. While they certainly add value to our lives and are worth the price that you pay for them over time, some checks should be done regularly on these appliances to ensure their continued working order. We have seen manufacturers releasing various statements and news reports about specific devices experiencing issues and malfunctions in recent years. As a result of these issues, the devices in question have caught fire themselves and damaged people’s homes. I think we can safely say that this is not something that any of us want to experience in our lifetimes! By conducting regular checks on your appliances and ensuring that any dust or debris is cleared away from cooling vents where applicable, you can rest assured that you are doing all you can to ensure that your appliance stays in tip-top condition. While regular checks apply to household appliances, they are not the only thing that requires checking over on a regular basis. This leads us to the next point.  

• Checking Alarms Are in Working Order: The term alarm here can be used and applied to various alarms you may have in your house and outside of it. Smoke alarms are a staple item in any household and have been estimated to minimize the number of injuries from fires by around 50%. Ensuring that the smoke alarm in your home is to full working standard can ensure the continued safety of yourself and other members of your household. Not to mention, you will be minimizing the cost of damages to your property, which is what you want as a homeowner, of course. Smoke alarms are not the only staple of a home, mainly if you have a home that receives both gas and electricity as energy. Carbon monoxide alarms are crucial within any home; they can notify you if there has been a gas leak in your home and can minimize injury as well. Carbon monoxide can be deadly if left undetected, so it is crucial that you pencil in regular checks of these alarms in your diaries.  

• Protective Equipment and Conducting Repairs Safely: When considering safety tips for modern homeowners, many people may overlook the idea of other aspects of the home, outside of the physical. However, it is crucial to ensure your safety when you are conducting elements of DIY and repairs in the house, which is why it is worth the mention in our detailed list! Particularly, if you plan on pulling down any walls within your home, you will want to protect your eyes and other parts of your body from bits of debris and shrapnel that might be floating around. While it can be easy just to want to pull at the wall and hammer straight through, you want to ensure that you do these things in the right way; the last thing that you want is to cause more damage to your home or for something to go drastically wrong. The temptation to conduct jobs by yourself is also something that we can recognize as something that a lot of us do when faced with situations like these. The stubbornness takes over, and we are reluctant to let other people in to help. While we understand this can be the case – trust us, we have been there! – it is also crucial that you know when to contact an expert to help deal with any issues that your home might be experiencing. This leads us to the next point.  

• Ensuring You Use a Licensed Repairman: This is, once again, something that could easily be overlooked, particularly when wanting to get a problem with your home addressed and fixed as soon as possible. While this is very much the case, and that time is of the essence for some people and some issues, it is crucial that you ensure the person you are hiring to attend to the problem holds the relevant qualifications and licensing. The last thing you want is to pay out to get an issue with your home fixed, only to discover you have hired someone who is not qualified and who may make the problem worse. This could cause you to spend more money in the long-term, so doing your checks before exchanging any money or details is the right way to go about it.  

Baby or Child Proofing Your Property: While we are confident that any parents reading this have already gone about doing this to their homes, there may be some people out there who are in the process of preparing their home for any children. Mainly if you have not looked after or housed children before, you will most probably be looking for some guidance, and that is why we are here to help! The first and most important thing is to ensure that any weapons – as mentioned previously above – are locked and out of the way of any tiny hands. You don’t want the child to injure themselves or anyone else who might be in the household, so this is worth doing before they are in the home. This can guarantee that their curiosity won’t get the better of them, and they won’t follow you to the place where you have locked away or stored any firearms and other weapons. What’s more, you will want to move any harmful chemicals and related products from their eye line or from within arm’s reach. This can include everyday products like washing tablets, bleach, and other related cleaning products. While these items will generally have some sort of child’s lock on them, nothing stops you from being that little bit more careful.