If you want to be prepared against any type of intruder, then your first line of home safety is making sure that your home is secure. Even if you live in an apartment or condo building instead of a single family home, you can still take some home security matters into your own hands. Below we’ll give you a list of home security questions that can help you make sure that you’re doing everything you can to be safe and secure.
37 Essential Home Security Questions To Ask Yourself
- Can people see any of your valuables from the street or neighbor’s yard?
- Are your windows and doors visible from the neighbor’s yard?
- Have you replaced your exterior doors with strong security doors like we suggest in our home fortification tips guide?
- Do you have adequate outdoor lighting for the home’s exterior and property, including floodlights and pathway lighting?
- Can your house number be seen from the street?
- Do you have a wide-angle one-way peephole that lets you see who is outside your door?
- Do you have a cell phone instead of a landline in the house that you can use?
- Do any neighbors have keys to your home?
- Do you stop newspaper delivery when out of town?
- Do you get your mail held at the post office when out of town?
- Do you display home security system signs in your yard or windows?
- Does your family have an emergency escape plan in case of a break-in?
- Are there easily-accessible fire extinguishers in your home?
- Do all exterior doors have keyed deadbolt locks?
- Are motion-sensor lights installed around the house and property?
- Are sliding glass doors reinforced with a dowel rod or secondary locks on the track?
- Do all windows in the home have secondary locks?
- Do you have timers on your lights for when you’re out of town?
- Are you keeping an inventory and photos of your personal effects in the event of a burglary?
- Are prescription medications stored out of sight to prevent break-ins by drug addicts?
- Are valuables stored in a fireproof safe or safety deposit box?
- Do you know who your neighbors are that surround your home?
- Do you have a spare key under a mat or fake rock by the front door?
- Are the gates for your backyard and around the home locked?
- Do you lock up lawn equipment, grills and bikes to prevent theft?
- Do you always lock all of the doors and windows in your home?
- Do you shred all personal documents before putting them in the trash or recycle bin?
- Do all of your doors fit securely and tightly in their frames?
- Do you live in a community with a neighborhood watch program?
- When you moved into your home, did you get all of the doors re-keyed?
- Are there any recent break-ins in your neighborhood?
- Are pet entrances, mail slots, dryer vents, and any other entry points secured?
- Do you have a monitored home security alarm system or your own surveillance system installed?
- Do you live on a well-lit street?
- Is your home equipped with working carbon monoxide and smoke detectors?
- Are your ladders stored in a locked shed or garage?
- Do you have prickly bushes or other landscape deterrents under the ground level windows of the home?
If you can adequately answer all of the questions above, then we are confident that you have your home as secure as possible against any type of intruders. However, it is still important to have an emergency escape plan for you family just in case someone manages to break-in while you are home.
More resources:
- Las Vegas Metro Police Department, Home security checklist
- San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, Residential security checklist
image credit: informedmag.com/ / Flickr
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