How Outdoor Improvements Can Make a Home Safer for Families

Want outdoor improvements to keep your family safe at home?

Thousands of easily preventable accidents occur every year right outside of back doors up and down the country. Fallen tree branches, slippery patios and hazardous fences are more commonplace than many homeowners realise.

The good news is most of these hazards can be eliminated through some simple outdoor improvements. Best of all…

Home outside safety upgrades are:

Affordable
Easy to prioritise
Able to protect your family immediately

What you’re going to learn:

Why Outdoor Safety Around Your Home Is Important
Remove Diseased Trees To Prevent Heartache Later
Improve Safety With Smart Fencing And Boundaries
Add Lighting For Visibility And Repair Slippery Paths
Create A Safer Play Area For The Kids

Why Outdoor Safety Around Your Home Is Important

Safety when you’re outside of your home shouldn’t be something you overlook.

Statistics from RoSPA historical data suggests that every year roughly 300,000 people in the UK are injured in their gardens. Of these injuries, over 100,000 are children.

That’s a LOT of injuries in the place you should feel safest.

Here’s the problem:

Homeowners don’t think about the safety of their gardens until an accident happens. Taking the time to make outdoor improvements could prevent thousands of these accidents every year before they happen.

Your home’s exterior should be just as safe as the interior when it comes to keeping families safe.

Remove Diseased Trees To Prevent Heartache Later

This may come as a shock…

Trees are one of the biggest hidden dangers found in gardens across the UK.

Not just any tree. Diseased trees.

Trees with disease can look perfectly healthy on the outside. But, inside they may be completely rotten or hollow. When windy weather hits that tree will come crashing down. And it won’t care who’s under it.

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Having diseased trees removed is one of the first things homeowners should be considering when it comes to outdoor safety. Dead trees, diseased trees and dying trees are much more likely to fall over in high winds.

They’ll drop large branches without warning which could damage property and hurt people nearby.

Here’s the tricky part…

Most people aren’t qualified to spot diseased trees. That’s why you hire professionals for tree surgery work. A tree surgeon will notice signs of disease that others would never pick up. Everything from cracked bark, fungus at the base of the tree, unusual sounds when you tap the trunk and dying branches are all clues.

Every year falling branches and trees cause over $1 billion in property damage. And a large percentage of these damages are caused by trees that homeowners knew were dead or dying.

Don’t be that person.

Remove diseased trees before they’ve got the chance to fall. Not only will you save yourself a lot of stress but you’ll protect your home and family from potential injury.

Improve Safety With Smart Fencing And Boundaries

A garden fence serves more purposes than just marking out where your property begins and ends.

It keeps your children and pets safe.

A secure fence is one of the best improvements you can make if you have young children or pets. Without it, your kids could run into the street or neighbours garden without you even realising.

Safety fencing should have the following features:

Tall enough for kids to be unable to climb over.
Gates should be self-closing and automatically latch.
Vertical gaps should be small enough children can’t squeeze through.
Made from a sturdy material that doesn’t rot easily.

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You should also check the condition of your fencing. Ensure there are no rotten panels and lose fencing posts. These can easily fall in windy weather or drop onto a child or pet if they climb on it.

Check your fencing twice a year to catch issues early. Repair or replace any damaged fence panels as soon as possible.

Add Lighting For Visibility And Repair Slippery Paths

Here’s a home improvement for outdoor safety most people don’t think about…

Poor lighting and slippery pathways cause countless injuries each year. Tripping over obstacles in the dark is far more common than you think.

By installing outdoor lighting you’ll:

Be able to see steps and changes in ground level.
See toys, tools or other hazards on the floor.
Feel safe walking to and from gardens and garages at night.
Keep an eye on kids during dusk playtime.

Consider pathway lights, motion sensor security lights and some subtle accent lighting for steps. This allows you to create a well lit garden that doesn’t look like a prison.

But that’s not all…

Walking paths should also be safe to traverse. Uneven paving slabs, damaged stepping stones and slippery moss are all slip hazards. Treat your paths with an anti slip solution. Replace any broken paving slabs to ensure paths are safe to use.

Keep paths debris free and ensure they drain properly so puddles don’t build up.

Create A Safer Play Area For The Kids

Kids love playing outside. But it’s up to you to keep their play space safe.

Designating a play area for kids is one of the smartest improvements you can make if you have children. Not only does it give them somewhere safe to roam it also lets them enjoy the outdoors.

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Your kids play area should have:

Impact soft surfaces like rubber matting or bark chippings below climbing frames and swings.
Boundary fencing to prevent them wandering off into dangerous areas.
Checks every month to ensure play equipment is safe to use.
Clear visibility from the house so you can see what they’re up too.

Swings sets, monkey bars and slides aren’t maintenance free. They will deteriorate over time from use and weather exposure.

Inspect play equipment once a month. Better yet, get the kids involved. Teach them about upkeep and safety from a young age.

Oh and keep the play area clear of obstructions like garden ponds, gardening equipment and…. Diseased Trees!