While the act of settling into your new home may not entice you to belt out the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein show tune bearing the same title as this column (though don’t be surprised if you do feel so moved), the idea itself is certainly good advice, especially from a safety & security aspect.
Years ago my sister once lived in an apartment for over six months before she realized that the chain lock on her front door was secured to the door frame with double-sided sticky tape, which, while undoubtedly providing the previous owner with an easier installation, probably also reduced its effectiveness somewhat.
One of the first things every new homeowner should do is to make sure that their home can actually be secured. While any dwelling can be entered if someone really wants to get in, there’s no reason to make it easy for them. This means, among other things, no double-sided sticky tape.
Unless your home is brand new (and maybe even then), I always recommend changing out the door locks. They may be beautiful and in great condition, and yes, you got a bunch of keys from the previous owner, but did you get ALL of the keys, or is there possibly a remote family member, good friend, babysitter, or trusted neighbor of the previous owner out there who might still have a way to enter your home anytime they want?
You just spent a whole lot of money for your house. Buy new locks.
Along with that, beef up all of your latch plates by installing them with 4” screws instead of the shorter ones they are commonly supplied with. Again, it won’t stop someone from kicking in your door if they really want to, but it will make them work for it. Worst case you gain some extra time; best case they go away discouraged and limping.
Now check all of your windows to make sure that the locks 1) exist, 2) are securely fastened, and 3) are operable. If your house doesn’t have a storm door, consider installing one, not only for the energy efficiency & beauty of it, but also for the potential barrier of razor-sharp glass shards it will provide to anyone wanting to kick through it.
Hopefully by now you’re done laughing about my sister’s earlier security predicament, but if so, I should share with you that my first house (new construction) included a sliding glass door, the sliding door of which worked just fine and locked securely. The non-sliding door, however, was ill-named, because one day, after having lived there for over a year and suddenly finding myself locked out, I realized that the aforementioned non-sliding door did in fact slide, a phenomenon made even easier by the fact that no locking mechanism for it had ever been installed.
These kinds of things are either far more common in the real world than we would expect, or they simply run in my family.
If your home has a pet door, check it to be sure it doesn’t provide an easy access point to your home, and remember that criminals are not at all opposed to using small children in their endeavors. Remember too, that even if the door is too small to allow a person ingress & egress, it may not be too small for other life forms, like, say, a possum, for instance.
Don’t ask.
One other entry point that I’ve never seen prior to moving to N.C. is what appears to be a crawlspace door into the garage. I don’t know how common these actually are, but I have seen a couple now and neither one was locked. Depending on what you keep in your garage, this could be a bad thing. Depending on how secure the door from the garage into the house is, it could be even worse.
In addition to checking out what you already have in place, be sure to consider too what you can add to your home, from high-tech items like motion sensor lights, video doorbells, & timers, to lower-tech solutions like thorny bushes under windows and the tried & true canine security system in both singular and plural models.
The underlying theme with all of this is simply to get familiar with your new home and make it as safe as possible for you and your family. So be sure to check the things mentioned here, but also keep your eyes open for other security issues that may be specific to your home.
As a final note, be aware that the New Bern Police Department provides an incredible service for our community in that they will perform a security assessment of your home absolutely free of charge. All you have to do is call 252-633-2020 and schedule an appointment.
And that, ladies & gentlemen, is a song worth singing.
Please let me know if you have any questions by calling 252-876-8267 or sending an email.
By Contribution Author, Blaine Staat, Weichert Realtors At Rivers Edge, 220 Front St., Suite A, New Bern