Taking all the necessary precautions to deter burglars from breaking into your home – including investing in a home security system – is important. But don’t forget to protect your guest house and other places where you store expensive equipment like lawn care tools. Here are some tips to help you secure your home’s storage units and guest house.

• Display protection: Don’t just post yard signs and window decals for your home alarm system by your house. Make sure that at least one of these home security decals is on the outside of your storage shed or guest house. It can serve as a deterrent, just as it would on your house.

• Lock it up: Invest in a good lock to place on the door and make sure the windows are secure.

• Mark your property: Tag your expensive equipment and tools, so that it’s obvious they belong to you. This can include placing a nametag on tools or writing your name and address on them with a permanent marker.

Make sound decisions while dealing with door-to-door solicitors. Protect yourself from bad business practices and potential criminals acting like salesmen with these safety tips:

• Learn community restrictions: Many communities have legal restrictions on when and where door-to-door salesmen can work. Learn and apply them.

• Advertise home security: Display window decals and yard signs for your home alarm system as a deterrent for potential intruders that disguise themselves as door-to-door salesmen.

• Report problems: If a solicitor won’t leave when you ask them to, call the police.

• Watch them afterward: Look to see what the person does after they leave your door. If they check to see if doors are locked or do anything else suspicious, call the police immediately.

• No outside offers: If someone approaches you soliciting outside of your home, say “No thank you,” go inside and lock the door behind you.

Make sure you’re not sacrificing home safety for convenience this month, and inspect your home’s biggest moving object during Garage Door Safety Month. Follow these tips to help ensure that your family is safe from garage door accidents.

• Keep controls out of reach: Hide garage door controls in a place where children cannot access them. And don’t leave them in your car where parking attendants or others can access them and compromise your home security.

• Test it: Each month, check the door’s reversing mechanism by placing a roll of paper towels in its path. If the mechanism doesn’t reverse the door’s direction as soon as it touches the paper towels, immediately contact a qualified professional to repair your door. Unplug or avoid operating the door until it is repaired.

• Unplug it while you’re away: Either unplug the opening unit or use a wall security switch made especially for use while you’re away on vacation.

Purchasing your first home is a big step, so make sure to help protect that investment by spending a little extra money on the services that can come in handy:

• Home security system: Give yourself peace of mind with a home alarm system from a leading provider like ADT, which comes equipped with window decals and yard signs that advertise your system.

• Insurance carriers: Explore and compare rates of home insurance carriers, and keep a record of your belongings. If  a disaster occurs, you’ll know what to replace.

• Repair contractors: Outsource your home repair to someone who knows what they’re doing so that future repairs will be less frequent and you can concentrate on enjoying your new home.

Little ones can get into anything, so it’s important to take simple precautions around the house to prevent compromising home safety. In addition to helping keep your entire family safe with smoke and carbon monoxide detectors that often come with home alarm systems, invest in these simple child safety devices to help keep your kids safe:

• Latches and locks: Put these on cabinets and drawers with medicine, cleaning products, chemicals or any other things that could be harmful to your child.

• Gates: Look for gates that screw into doorways and railings instead of ones that rely on pressure. Place them at entrances to stairways to help prevent falls or rooms that have hazards in them.

• Outlet covers and plates: Cover outlets with these to help prevent electrocution and be sure to choose ones that are too large to swallow.

• Door knob covers and locks: Prevent access to hazardous rooms and areas like a garage or pool with these. But make sure they lock or secure easily after area access.

• Corner and edge bumpers: Soften sharp corners or edges with these to reduce the chance of injury when a child falls.

One of the easiest ways to deter intruders from your home – in addition to installing a home alarm system – is installing affordable outdoor security lighting. Whether you choose to control your lighting manually, or with motion sensors or timers, it’s important to find outdoor lighting options that work well for you and your home.

Check out the three main types of outdoor security lighting that can help keep your family safe:

• Porch lights: You probably already have a functioning porch light at your home’s front entryway, but similar fixtures can be extremely effective in other points of entry, including the back of the house, the deck, the garage and near utility shed doors, among other places. These tell potential burglars that you are home or are expecting visitors, which creates unfavorable scenarios for a break-in. To increase effectiveness, use at least a 60-watt bulb at each site.

• Spotlights: If used correctly (and not over-used), these can highlight large areas susceptible to lurking burglars that porch lights don’t reach. Spotlights are great for backyards and driveways.

• Landscape lights: Create a dramatic effect and cast out shadows with lights placed to strategically show off your landscaping and even your ADT system yard sign at night. There are many different attractive styles that can compliment your home’s exterior.

Even the most graceful person can trip and fall over hazardous obstacles that clutter their home. According to the Home Safety Council, falls are a leading cause of unintentional home injury. Home security systems like ADT can help keep your family and home safe from intruders, so take these extra precautions to deter easily prevented accidents inside the home.

• Minimize slippery surfaces: Tape down small rugs and mats that slip and slide around so you won’t. In the bathroom, put a non-slip mat or strips in the tub and shower, and place a mat with a non-skid bottom on the floor.

• Shine a light on it: Keep stairs well-lit, especially at both the top and bottom landings and install nightlights in halls, bedrooms and bathrooms.

• Hold onto something: Have handrails from the top to bottom on both sides of steps and stairs. Install grab bars in the shower and tub.

• Keep things clear: Keep stairs and walking areas free of clutter, and wipe up any spills as soon as they happen.

Home is where you probably feel most comfortable, but it’s never a bad idea to evaluate your home’s security. Read below to see five top home security myths dispelled.

1. My neighbors will notice any lurkers: You’re busy and so are your neighbors. You may both be away from home at the same time, and you can’t expect them to stay on watch 24/7 to guard your property’s perimeter. Don’t rely on neighbors for home security.
2. My pet will deter intruders: Your friendly (or feisty) pet may not scare off intruders who make a career out of breaking and entering.
3. It’s okay to hide spare keys outside or leave them with a neighbor: Leaving a spare key in a hidden location may sound like the perfect solution. But if they’re accessible to you, they’re most likely accessible to individuals outside of your circle of trust. It’s easy for a criminal to pose as a service person and ask to borrow a key from an unsuspecting neighbor. Make sure to change your locks periodically.
4. Home alarm systems are expensive: There are many affordable home alarm systems that can help protect you and your family – like ADT – which has been helping protect American homes and businesses for over 130 years.
5. Smoke detectors are sufficient fire safety devices: Creating a family fire-escape plan is essential for helping to keep your family safe. Smoke detectors may alert you, but your exit time may be unnecessarily lengthy if you haven’t designated safe exits or a meeting place.

Just because your child is playing in the backyard – close to your home and its alarm system – it doesn’t guarantee that an accident won’t occur. And if other parents or children won’t be around to alert you of an accident, it’s even more important to take the appropriate steps to improve you child’s home safety.

Use these basic tips to help keep children safe while they’re at play:

• Close proximity: Never let children play on equipment out of your sight. Kids will more likely be careful with you around and when an accident does happen, you’ll be there to help. Also keep a mobile or wireless phone nearby in case you need to call emergency services.

• Soft landings: Cover the ground below and around equipment with soft materials like rubber mulch, pea gravel or hardwood chips so when falls happen, these materials – rather than pavement or grass – will soften the blow and help protect from serious injuries.

• “Fall zone:” Make sure soft ground coverings reach out in a six-foot radius from equipment and each piece of equipment is at least six feet apart to allow for a proper “fall zone.” If your child falls, this will ensure that is nothing in their way except for the soft ground covering.

Certain security measures that your neighbors take, like keeping a feisty guard dog to ward off intruders, may compromise your family’s safety. Children are often quick to pet strange animals and according to the ASPCA at least half of all U.S. children will be bitten by a dog before the age of 12.

So even though you know that a home alarm system is a better home security solution than an animal, make sure to help prevent bites by teaching your children these guidelines about when it’s OK to pet dogs.

1. Keep away: Stay away from chained-up dogs.
2. Don’t tease: Never stare a dog in the eyes or tease dogs behind fences.
3. Leave it alone: Never touch a dog that is eating or sleeping.
4. Stay still: If a dog comes near you stand still and be quiet. If you see a loose dog tell an adult right away.
5. Ask permission: Only pet a dog if the owner has given you permission and then the dog has given you permission by sniffing your closed hand.