Installing a Burglar Alarm

Purchase your alarm system. You should be able to find a kit at your local home improvement store. Carefully read the packaging to make sure the alarm contains all of the features you want. The kit should include everything you need to install the alarm (besides tools). Ask a store employee to make sure.

Install the alarm box. This is the part of the alarm system that will be loud, annoying and possibly flashing to alert you and your neighbors of a break-in. (It will also contain the battery in many cases.) You want it to go somewhere where it can be heard, such as outside on the front of the house. You can also put it inside if you're sure it will be loud enough. Either way, a couple of screws should do the trick. Just follow the directions in your kit. Make sure to place the box high on the wall so it cannot be tampered with easily, either accidentally or on purpose, but don't worry about hiding it from view. Remember, you want potential burglars to know it's there.

Decide where your sensors should go. Of course, you will want one on your front door and one on any back or side doors. But also think about windows that a burglar will be able to access your house from. If you have valuable items in your garage, you might want to put one there too. Some drilling may be required to place the magnets, buttons, etc. in their proper places. Just patch up any uneven areas with the putty knife and spackling paste.

Connect the sensors to the alarm box by running the alarm's wire through the house. You don't have to run it inside the wall if that's inconvenient. Just put it anywhere that it will be out of view and not easily tripped over, such as under the carpet or along the baseboard. Don't feed a separate wire for each sensor. Instead, attach them to one another in a continuous circuit or loop so that if any one of them is triggered, thus breaking the current, it will set off the alarm. All items should have connectors making it easy to attach the wire to them. Use the wire strippers if you have any problems.

Wire in the control panel once all of the sensors are connected to the circuit. This shouldn't be too inconvenient to do since you want to put the panel at or near your front door, which will already be wired to the alarm box at this point. That way you can easily arm or disarm the alarm as need be. If you're worried about a burglar seeing your control box, you can attempt to hide it by perhaps placing it on the wall in a nearby closet. Just make sure that all of your family members know where it is.