With Halloween just 20 days away – and counting – the streets will soon be filled with Superheroes, Princesses, Star Wars characters, Witches, Zombies, Ghosts, and Goblins looking for treats. However, Halloween isn’t just for kids, or treats. Teenage and, yes adult, pranksters also fill the streets looking to deal out a few tricks. If you’d like to prank-proof your home this Halloween, and/or keep your property vandal-free all year long, follow these important Halloween prank-proofing tips.
Keep Your House Lights On
This Halloween, keep your interior and exterior lights on all night long, whether you’re actually there or not to discourage pranksters from vandalizing your home. If it looks like you’re home, you – and your house, are less likely to be a target of tricks that have the potential to damage your property. If you have LED lightbulbs installed, you won’t see much, if any difference in your next month’s energy bill.
Install Motion-Sensor Lights
A motion-activated light system is one of the most basic elements of a good home defense. These systems turn on the lights as people walk around your property. This often discourages pranksters. If they don’t do the job, consider purchasing a few motion-activated sprinklers, which can be staked into the ground. These sprinklers will have invading pranksters running for cover in order to avoid getting drenched.
Nowhere to Hide
An outdoor security camera will allow you to hand out candy to the costumed kids while deterring pranksters as well as capturing them in the act. The market is flooded with quality night-vision cameras that enables you to live stream security footage to your Android or iOS smartphone or tablet so that you can easily respond to toilet-paper wielding pranksters.
Safeguard Your Car
You might want to think about finding a secure place to park your car Halloween night. Personal vehicles are twice as likely to be vandalized on October 31st than on an average day, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. What better way to safeguard your vehicle from pranksters than parking it in your home garage? Is your garage malfunctioning? Contact Sun Devil Garage Door today!
Bring in Your Jack O’ Lantern
After the costumed kids have gone, bring in your Jack O’ Lantern for the night, unless you want to spend the morning cleaning up smashed pumpkin. While you’re at it, you may also want to consider bringing in loose toys, lawn equipment and your mailbox. By doing so, you’ll avoid having to clean up or replace these items, thus saving you money.
Sit Outside During Trick-or-Treating
Sitting on your front porch when receiving trick-or-treaters is a great idea! Instead of waiting inside for the doorbell to ring, get outside and greet trick-or-treaters, and neighbors on the porch. It’s a good way to meet new people if you’re new to the neighborhood. We don’t recommend just leaving a bowl of candy out because teens often don’t follow “please take one only” rule.
