Sunday, May 6, 2012

Moving Into a New House? Here's Some Things to Do

Now that we have finally moved into our new house (thus the lack of posts here recently), I have been busy setting things up to my liking.  Here's many of the things that I've done/am doing to make the house more secure and ready for any eventuality:

  • Installed lights (interior and exterior) on a motion detector system.
  • Installed a security system (video/audio) on the interior and exterior of the house.
  • Installed hidden "hidey holes" between the studs in each room.
  • Took the name off our the mailbox and stuck on only the house number.
  • Replaced the smoke alarms.
  • Installed a carbon monoxide detector.
  • Put a new fire extinguisher in the kitchen and one in the garage.
  • Creating a safe room (in the master closet).
  • Creating an escape from the safe room (through the attic and down the side of the house).
  • Make sure there is a way to escape from each bedroom (other than the door).
  • Setting up reserve water tanks (this is Las Vegas after all).
  • Setting up a solar power system (ditto).
  • Bought a new freezer and stocked it.
  • Set up a clothes line in the back yard.
  • Stocked the over-sized pantry and will set up a secondary food storage area in the garage.
  • Determining how to best store extra fuel (the difficulty being that is is regularly 100+ degrees in the summer here).
  • Changed all of the locks in the house (interior and exterior).
  • Replaced the garage door openers.
  • Checked out a number of evacuation routes from the house, out of the neighborhood, and out of the area.
  • Drove (and walked) the neighborhood to get a feel for the place.
  • Studied alternate food and water sources in the neighborhood (there aren't many).
  • Took a concealed carry class so I can get a Nevada CCL (FYI The Gun Store offers this class for free).
  • I've been checking out local shooting ranges (indoor, outdoor, as well as recommended places out in the desert to practice).
  • Sometime in the future I will take a desert survival course.
  • Walked around the neighborhood both during the day and at night in order to check it out.
  • Setting up a garden area.
  • Made sure the doors, windows, and sliders can all be secured.
  • Met a few of the neighbors.
There will be more to do int he future of course but for now, I am already starting to feel a bit more secure in our new home.

3 comments:

  1. I'm curious why you choose the Las Vegas area? As DH and I consider areas for semi-retirement (we live in the northeast--too expensive), two of the things we consider are stability and sustainability. The desert is a harsh environment to try and be self-sustaining, and we wonder if the housing crash has brought too much instability to the area.

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  2. I should have added congrats on getting settled in the new house. It was good to see your post. You were missed :)

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  3. Thanks jennypenny. And your question is a good one... it will be answered in today's blogpost.

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