A home alarm can improve security in your home quickly and easily, immediately alerting you and even emergency personnel to a potential intruder in the home, as well as to problems such as basement flooding, carbon monoxide, and the like. However, home alarms can be expensive and complicated, and may also be "overkill," or unnecessary if you feel relatively safe in your neighbourhood. To improve home security without a complicated alarm system, note a few simple and affordable alternatives.

Garage entryway door

The garage door you use for your car may be very heavy and secure and difficult to pry open, but if the home's garage also has an entryway door for foot traffic, this door's frame may be thin and lightweight and easy to kick in. This can allow someone access to the items you store in the garage, as well as to the home itself, if you have an attached garage.

If you can't afford to have an entirely new door and doorframe installed, and don't use that entryway door, you can nail some thick boards over the width of the door, to each side of the frame. This will keep the door secure and make it virtually impossible for someone to kick it in.

Visual access

Being able to see outside your home without having to open a door can help to keep you secure, as you can easily note if there is someone on your property and if emergency personnel need to be called. A small, outdated peephole in the door may not be enough to give you a full view of the front porch, so consider replacing it with one that offers a wide angle view. Glass inserts in the door or beside the door can also give you a view of the property from the safety of your home's interior, so consider replacing the front door or having a contractor add these glass inserts as needed.

Screens

Adding security screens to the doors and windows can be a good choice for any home, as these screens are thick and difficult to cut or bend, or pry away from doorframes  and window frames. You might also add them to garage windows, as a thief or intruder can break those windows for access to the garage or home. Security screens can be installed on actual hidden hinges so they're a permanent part of the home's framework, with thick deadbolts that add to their security but allow for an easy exit from the home in case of emergency.