Over the last few weeks, Greatwood and Sugar Land have been gripped by a wave of home theft, from stealing equipment in garages to kicking in doors to aggravated night robberies. Although the people and the reasons may be different, there are a number of simple things that all of us can do, without hiring a contractor, to improve the safety and security of our homes.

It amazes me that, when we visit expensive houses to do home improvements, many times these neighbors of ours have the most sophisticated, high-end security systems, laser motion detectors, security cameras, etc, but they are never used! Families have spent fortunes only to not use them because they become an inconvenience to set or turn-off on a daily basis. So many of our neighbors have had previous accounts with Brinks, ADT and other home security monitoring companies but don’t have an active account. My suggestion is if you can afford them and the security companies work as they claim, then use them.

Today, I wanted to briefly suggest a number of practical things that homeowners and renters can do to improve the safety and security of your family and home. But before I begin, I would please ask that neighbors of ours here in Greatwood and in Sugar Land start telling their friends about this website (www.greatwoodtoday.com & www.sugarlandtoday.com) as a resource so that people can become more involved and informed with what is happening in their community. Please spread the word, as a more active local community becomes a safer local community.

So let’s quickly start with some simple things to do, starting on the outside of your home working our way inside. First, our premise is that the more deterrents or inconveniences you can create to discourage a potential burglar from entering your house, the less likely they will want to break into your home. Thieves, generally, are looking for the easiest way to get into a house and the quickest way to get out with your valuables. They do not want to sit down on your couch and watch “The Young and the Restless” while you are away. We’ve talked with a number of constables and many have said that we would be surprised with the number of neighbors here in Greatwood and Sugar Land who simply forget to lock their front or back doors, leave their garages open or leave cars unlocked with windows down. First, just simply make sure your doors are locked! I know this sounds silly, but a good portion of the Greatwood thefts was due to the above-mentioned reasons!

Secondly, in our family we have dogs at our home. They are extremely lovable pets, but are extremely territorial and are fearlessly willing to defend their families and homes. They are not Rottweilers or German Shepherds, but they are very, very good guard dogs by nature. We recently heard a statistic that approximately 9 out of 10 potential burglars will leave a house if they hear a dog in the house. My suggestion would be to either leave your pets inside, if you can, or maybe even think about getting a good dog as a pet. Even a good mutt or a good golden retriever can act as a great deterrent.

Whether or not you have a dog, I suggest that you think about putting up “Beware of Dog” signs on both sides of your fence. They are very inexpensive, maybe $1.50/sign. That sign may make these people think twice before entering your home.

Lighting: One of the biggest problems I see when driving home in Greatwood and around Sugar Land in the evenings and nighttime is that many, many houses are either not well lit or not lit at all. Some of these houses look like deep, dark dungeons at night. That is a perfect inviting environment for a would-be robber, for no one can see his or her activities! I strongly suggest that you invest in a new porch light that emits a brighter light. You can get lights at Home Depot or Lowe’s that range from $15/light to $300+ for an entryway light. They are fairly easy to install if you have an existing light on your porch. First, turn off the power to either the entire home or the breaker that affects the front porch area. Then simply remove the existing porch light and use the same wiring and mounting, assuming that they are still in good condition. Be sure to install the proper wattage lighting since installing a higher watt light than is recommended for your new light can blow out the light bulbs frequently.

Although some people have well lit front porches, they oftentimes forget to light the sides and backyards of their houses. Some of these robberies in Sugar Land apparently happened by entering from the back of the house. Make sure that you install either a motion-censored light in the back yard or a fully lit, dusk to dawn light. We have installed a dusk to dawn light that you manually turn on and off at the switch that lights over 19,000 square feet! Now that’s enough light in a backyard to keep the grass growing at night! If you want to get a light that lights your entire backyard, just make sure that it is not too bright that it interferes with your backyard neighbors. We are lucky in that we have no neighbors behind us, so we can get away with installing a brighter light. We bought our lights at Lowe’s and this dusk to dawn light only cost us around $40-$50, a cheap investment considering the possible alternative. The name of the light is a “Regent” � Dusk to Dawn with a 10 year warranty and uses an energy efficient mercury vapor light. Third, you may want to think about installing a motion-censored light either for those dark corners where the house meets the fence or a light that can be installed on the face of your garage if you have an attached garage. We have used a “Surveillance Details” motion detector light that has a 180-degree range. If you are installing this light on the corner of a house, you may want to buy the 270-degree light for more covered area.

Now let’s quickly go to the interior of the house. Besides having a security system, there are a number of simple things that we can do to secure the home. First, many of the locks on a house that come from the builder are very standard grade locks and parts. You want to make sure that for both your front and back doors that you have use a double-keyed deadbolt lock so that a potential robber can’t simply break a window pane in your door and flip open a keyless deadbolt and walk in. Make sure that your deadbolts are at least 1-inch minimum in length. When builders install doors, they usually use a shorter screw that screws the lock faceplate into the side of the doorframe. What this means is that the screws only are secured into the surface of the doorframe. I suggest that you take out the existing shorter screws and replace them with 3” screws. This is important because the deeper screws actually screw into the frame of the house and make your door more secure and grounded into the structure of the house. Apparently, a couple of the houses here in Greatwood were entered into by prying and then kicking open the front door of the house. If you simply use more durable, longer screws that attach to the frame of the house, it is that much more difficult for a thief to get into your home.

If you have an attached or detached garage, it might be a good idea to install a deadbolt between the garage and house or simply at the garage to prevent individuals from either entering your home or stealing valuables out of your garage.

We also suggest that you install a peephole in your front door if you have a solid door with no windows or no ability to see through. There are a couple of options available, a standard one and a wide-angle peephole that allows you to see a broader view of the outside. They too are actually pretty easy to install if you have a drill and a wide enough drill bit and only cost around $8-$9.

Lastly, we suggest that you install blinds if you have open windows around your home. Many of these burglaries were due to people previously scouting out a house by looking through windows with either open blinds or no blinds. Once they see and determine there may be items of value, they target that house. There are so many different options for blinds that range from inexpensive options such as plastic or aluminum blinds ($5-$15/blind set) to custom-made draperies and blinds. However, one such popular middle of the road blinds is 2” faux wood blinds that are made of PVC. They look like wood, but do not warp, discolor or crack. They look nice and actually do a pretty good job of blocking heat from your home. They are fairly simple to install if you have a good drill and a measuring tape. When you measure for blinds, take 4 measurements, 3 width measurements at the bottom, middle and top of the window and 1 for the height of the window. Always measure from the insides of the windows and take the narrowest measurement you have. Your blinds will be ½” less than what you measure, which means that there will be a ¼” space on both sides, between the blinds and the frame of the window.

With these few common sense, realistic home security improvements, you greatly add to the security of your home and put would-be thieves on high alert that this is not a place that they should stop by. Your chances are greatly increased that your house will be passed upon and they will find easier targets. If we can all do our own small part here in Greatwood and Sugar Land, we can create a total environment that does not tolerate crime, they will choose to go elsewhere and not at the expense of your neighbor.

If you have any further questions about how to install some of the things we’ve discussed, or have other realistic security ideas, feel free to call us and/or email us and we will help you in any way we can.

Note: We can also put an entire Sugar Land security package together for you and your family (3 door deadbolt change out and install, 2 light system install, blinds, peephole and garage door openers, etc.). If you have time, take your children and say hello to the new fire station in Greatwood off of Sansbury Dr. and see the new fire engine #6!


Take care and be vigilant, but not paranoid. We can all do our small part to make our community a safer place!

If you have any questions or comments about this article, next month’s article or any other comments/questions, feel free to either call or email your neighborly, turn-key solution - Ames Home Improvements, LLC at: 281-343-5600, Garrett_Ashmore@tamu.edu.

Copyright © 2003 Ames Home Improvements, LLC
All Rights Reserved.