To check your home security, walk the house the way a burglar would: try every exterior door and window, look at the frames and locks, walk the outside after dark to spot shadows and climbable spots, then audit who has keys, codes and app access. Do a full walk-through once a year, and again after moving in, losing a key or a housemate moving out.
Most of what you'll find is cheap to fix: a loose strike plate, a dead porch bulb, a spare key under the mat. Sort those out before buying another gadget.
Exterior doors#
Start at the front door and work around the house. For each door:
- Lock it and push hard on it. If it shifts in the frame, the problem is usually the strike plate (the metal plate on the frame that the bolt slides into) or the hinges.
- Check the deadbolt. The National Crime Prevention Council's advice, republished by the US Department of Justice, is a well-made deadbolt with a throw of at least 1.5 inches on every exterior door, fitted to a solid wood or metal door.
- Look at the strike plate screws. If they're short, swap them for long screws that go through the door jamb into the wall framing behind it. That's a cheap fix that makes a door much harder to kick in.
- Check the hinges on outward-opening doors. If the hinge pins are on the outside, they need to be the non-removable kind.
- Check that you can see who's there, through a wide-angle viewer, a window or a doorbell camera, at a height everyone in the house can use.
If you have a uPVC door with a multipoint lock, closing it isn't the same as locking it. The Metropolitan Police's lock advice is that these locks only work when you lift the handle and turn the key, then take the key out. If you're replacing the cylinder, it suggests a 3-star TS007-rated one, which is built to resist snapping.
Don't forget the door from the garage into the house. It's easy to overlook, and it deserves the same deadbolt as the front door. Our garage door maintenance guide covers the opener and the door itself.
Windows and sliding doors#
Open and close every window you could reach from the ground, a flat roof or a deck. Each one should lock, and the locks should actually be used. A window latch that's been painted shut in the open position is common in older houses.
Sliding patio doors can often be lifted out of their track. A wooden dowel or security bar cut to fit the bottom track stops the door sliding, and anti-lift blocks in the top track stop it being lifted.
Security and fire safety pull against each other at the windows. Every bedroom needs a way out in a fire, so don't screw windows shut or fit bars without a quick-release on the inside. Ask your local fire department if you're not sure what's allowed.
Walk the outside after dark#
Go out once the sun's down. You'll see your house the way someone casing it would.
- Is every entrance lit well enough to see a face? Motion-sensor or dusk-to-dawn lights over doors are cheap. Replace dead bulbs.
- Are there shrubs or trees near doors and windows that someone could hide behind, or climb to reach a second floor? The NCPC advice is to trim them back.
- Are ladders, wheelie bins, garden furniture or tools lying around that would help someone reach an upper window or pry one open? Put them away or lock them up.
- Is the shed locked? Its tools are useful for breaking into the house.
- Do side gates latch and lock?
Write each problem down as a specific job, like "back gate latch doesn't catch", not "improve garden security". If you rent, send the list to your landlord.
Keys, codes and who still has access#
This part takes ten minutes and gets skipped the most.
- Where's the spare key? Under the mat, in a fake rock or on top of the door frame are the first places anyone checks. Leave one with a trusted neighbor instead.
- Who has a copy? Former housemates, an old cleaner, a contractor from two years ago. If you can't account for every key, rekey the lock.
- Change door, garage and alarm codes if anyone who shouldn't have them still might.
- If you've just moved in, rekey or replace the locks. You don't know how many copies the last owner handed out.
Smart locks, cameras and alarms#
Connected devices need the same audit. Open each app, check the list of users and remove anyone who shouldn't be there. The FTC's advice on securing home devices is to change default usernames and passwords, turn on two-factor authentication, install updates, and switch off features you don't use, like remote management. Your router counts too. If it still has the password printed on the sticker, change it. Our password change guide covers how often to rotate the rest.
Test the alarm using its own test procedure, and warn the monitoring company first if you have one. Check that notifications actually reach your phone, and that camera views haven't been knocked off by wind or overgrown by a hedge.
How often to do a home security check#
Once a year for the full walk-through. The fall works well, when the evenings are dark early and you're already outside doing winter prep. Also do one after:
- Moving into a new home
- Losing keys or having them stolen
- A housemate, partner or tenant moving out
- A break-in nearby
- Work on the house that involved handing out keys or codes
Put the annual walk-through in ChoreLists.com as a yearly reminder, and fix the small stuff the same weekend. While you're checking doors and windows, test the smoke alarms too, since escape routes are part of the same walk.