Unless you live in a fortress, it’s virtually impossible to keep someone else out if they have enough time and a big sledgehammer. Since they are going to break in somewhere, then it’s easiest to do what you can to convince them to break in somewhere other than where you live. I’m presenting some things in no particular order that may keep you and your home reasonably well protected.

If you lock yourself out, how do you get in? However that way is, others will find it. If you’re hiding a key someplace, hide it far from the house. If you use a screwdriver to pry a window open, get some new locks or drill holes in the window frames and insert big nails to keep the windows closed. If you can, bars on some of the windows are not out of the question, though they are expensive and must be set up so they can be opened from the inside in case you need out in a hurry. Door locks should, of course, be high quality and have several including one long throw deadbolt. Install all of these and the doors’ hinges with much longer screws than what will come with the locks so they are anchored into the door frames. Will that help? Probably not, but the sound of someone smashing the door in with a sledge will at least alert you. Steel doors, hinges with tabs that lock into each other when the door is closed and steel doorframes are better yet, but again, they are not vault doors. If I had time at a house and needed past a steel door, I’d take an axe and cut a hole through the wall. There’s little chance of protecting against that. However, big locks and heavy doors look harder to break through than your neighbor’s little door latch. That’s part of my point about making the thieves go elsewhere.

Do you have some kind of “Welcome” sign outside? I’d throw it away and get something that says “Keep Out.” While I don’t comment on legal matters, I will interject that signs about attack and guard dogs, even beware of dog, will often cause you to lose your homeowners liability insurance if you do have a dog and someone gets bitten. I know it’s stupid, but it’s policy most places. So, stick with Keep Out or something similar. Even if you do have a big guard dog – and I’ve previously addressed that. A couple of big dogs will do wonders for peace of mind and keeping idiots away from you and your property.
 

Have some floodlights outside, the motion sensor type are fair because everybody knows how they work and the sensors do not last very long. Probably better is to have them on a timer. I’ve read that one should keep landscaping cut low so the thieves can’t hide behind anything – or plant thorn bushes – but this is presuming that some sheep is going to notice your house or that the thief can’t step on the thorn bushes and go right through them. Cameras mounted on the home’s exterior can be a deterrent, they’re relatively inexpensive anymore and if you’re home, they allow you to see what’s going on outside in the event something happens. Heat sensors can be affixed to almost anything and will give you an alarm when someone comes down the driveway or walks across your lawn.

Fences, particularly chain link, give the appearance of a more fortified structure than your neighbor’s little wood picket fence. Your home doesn’t need to look like a prison, but the more it looks like somewhere a thief doesn’t want to attempt, the better. And alarm stickers can deter, but a real, professionally installed alarm system will go a long way toward better sleep at night and all the sensors and glass-breakers are visible to a thief looking in the windows. Some people think of using anti-personnel devices to catch the thief. This is a bad idea because no matter how you set one up, you will end up catching someone you don’t want caught, like yourself. Better skipped entirely. Some of us who have firearms have big steel gun safes to keep the guns away from the thieves. A bit of advice: don’t put the safe close to a window or on a wall where someone can back up to the house from the outside and be close to the safe. It’s not difficult to break out a window, wrap a steel cable around the safe and then jerk it right through the house’s wall with a truck. Just something to keep in mind.

Finally, look around inside your home and note where you will be if a thief gets inside and the fight is on. Small arms fire will go right through walls, so be sure you are behind something where you have some protection while being able to fight back. If you can increase the security of your house and property, you’ll have less concern when away and a much more relaxing atmosphere when you are at home.