Now that you’ve weathered the winter, the door is open for you to focus on the maintenance of your home-not only the inside of your home but outside, too, making sure the house is safe and properly maintained. Doing this will help to prevent safety risks and costly repairs in the future. Dan Steward, president of Pillar To Post, North America’s largest home inspection service, offers these suggestions:

Inspect the deck: Wooden decks can become damaged and corroded from the harshness of winter. See if nails or screws are popping up. Clean the deck and seal it.

Check electrical outlets and extension cords: Replace any loose-fitting plugs or frayed extension cords to prevent a fire hazard.

“Degrease” the garage: If the family car has been leaking oil or other fluids onto the garage floor all winter, now is a great time to clean it up. A greasy garage floor is slippery and potentially a fire hazard. Use nontoxic, nonflammable, biodegradable degreasers such as Simple Green. Pour the concentrate on liberally and scrub with a nylon brush. Cover the area with about an inch of kitty litter and let it sit for 24 hours. Sweep away the kitty litter for a clean floor at low cost.

Improve the yard with size in mind: Look to see how plants and trees have grown during the past year. They may be too large and could cause damage to the home’s structure. Leave enough space between the house and those baby shrubs you’re planting to allow 12″ between the plant and wall. This provides adequate ventilation and reduces the risk of future damage.

Clean the A/C: Use your garden hose to rinse off the evaporator coil fins on your A/C condenser unit.

Check the garage door: The garage door can weigh up to 400 pounds. Springs and balancing mechanisms can fail over time, which can cause great damage to the door and harm to people around it. Now’s a good time to take a close look at the springs.

To avoid safety risks and expensive repairs down the road, it’s always a good idea to get a complete home inspection from a reputable and established company such as Pillar To Post.

Inspect smoke, radon and carbon monoxide detectors: Test them and change the battery every three months or as needed. Be certain there is a detector on each floor of the home.

Today’s technology has made setting up security precautions such as security cameras a cinch! You no longer need to be a millionaire to set up one. You could even install one yourself! Security cameras provide a means for its owner to watch over his or her propery from the safety and convenience of any area he chooses. This type of system is a great deterrent to thievery and unwanted entry. Most organizations that have sensitive items or are off limits to the general public employ these cameras to help keep their places safe.

Purchasing and implementing such a system may save your business from the terrors of illegal entry. Investment in such could save you a whole lot of trouble.

Before purchasing a system, you will want to consider the following factors.

Your needs
Study your needs. The type of security measures installed will depend on your specific security needs. For example how large is the area you would like covered? How many cameras will it take to monitor this area? You must make sure the security camera system you will purchase can accommodate enough slots for expansion.

Do you need audio too? Some camera systems have audio recording equipment as well so you can not only see what happens, but hear it as well. This is important in cases when you would like everything documented. However, this may be costly. Many establishments only require video records of their security.

Also, you must ascertain whether you need to have your security cameras record in color or black and white. Color cameras are, of course, more sophisticated and show a clearer picture. However, they tend to be pricey. Color cameras might also not work in low-light situations.

Consider the location of the cameras. Will the location be hard to set up a wiring system in? In that case, you may want to consider wireless security camera systems. However, these cameras must be in a place that is conducive to high quality broadcast. There must be no interference. They can, though, be moved around the area. They are a bit more flexible than their fixed-wire cousins.

Will the camera system be for outdoor purposes? Cameras that monitor outdoor locations need special weatherproof housings and may not be recommended for extreme temperatures and various elements. Also those that may be vandalized must be protected against such.

Also, you must take in consideration the lighting for an area. If your camera cannot record a scene due to bad lighting, you will end up with muddy images that won’t help in your surveillance activities. Choose a security camera that has a good sensitivity to light. Also, try to illuminate such areas with external lighting.

You must consider where the power sources will be located. Make sure they are well protected against the elements and from tampering.

Consider the available methods for recording the images. You may use a variety of backup media. And with the advent of computer storage media, even the use of hard disks, compact discs, and DVDs can prove to be an inexpensive way to store your data.

Installing a Security Camera System
Most home security cameras require little wiring, but installation differs according to model. Here are the basic steps:

1. Survey the area to be monitored. Follow the instructions/manual that comes with your security camera product. Install the camera at a proper distance from the area to be surveyed. Cameras vary in the distances from which they focus, so it would do well to pay notice to such.

2. Secure the camera using proper mounts, etc. Make sure that if the camera you are to install should not be moved, its placing should be secure and tamper proof.

4. Connect the camera to the monitor according to the manufacturer’s directions. Make sure the wiring is as hidden and as secure as possible. This will make it harder for vandals and thieves from damaging your wiring.

5. Fine tune your system. Make sure you optimize the images you receive from the camera. Set a maintenance plan and fail safe plans to employ in case your cameras break down.

6 Organize an archival system according to your needs. Backing up and recording your images are implemented here.