Home rekey service and new home security checklist.

Home Rekey by CLT Locksmith should be the first thing on your mind after buying and moving into your new home in Harrisburg, Concord, or Charlotte. A home rekey allows you to gain key control and distribute keys only to whomever you wish to have access to your new property. After your home rekey and gaining positive key control you may want to do a full home security checklist and start to visit some of the security concerns I will discuss below.

Below are tips for safeguarding your property and possessions. Go by this checklist, and your home will be the safest on your block. As bad as it sounds the name of the game is to make the bad guys think twice before making you a target or victim. Yes, this means someone else could be victimized but when proper security is used it will protect you and your neighbours. Once thieves know a security minded person is around, it has a tremendous impact on their willingness to try a crime in close proximity to that home.

In many cases, the cost for a home rekey of locks can be less than throwing the old locks away and buying new locks. A common mistake by a new homeowner upon moving into their new home is removing the very good old locks and purchasing inexpensive less secure new locks at big-box home centre.

Let's start with your Exterior Doors.

1. Your exterior doors should be either solid hardwood or metal-clad, rather than hollow-core doors, which are designed for interior use and can be kicked or punched through.

2. Choose exterior doors with hinges that face indoors. As an intruder might be able to hammer out the pins, or cut your hinges and lift the entire door out of the frame.

3. If you have side lite glass insets around your doors you will want to glaze them and make it harder for prying eyes to look into your home and see valuables. These windows often surround a front entry door. You can also apply durable plastic, which is applied to the window and prevents the window from breaking. Double-sided deadbolts can be used in a side lite application door.

4. When installing peepholes Select wide-angle; the new peepholes should be positioned at a normal height so you don't have to bend over or stand on you tip toe to view. A peephole may be placed at a lower level for children or people in wheelchairs. CLT Locksmith can assist you with installing many different types of viewers on new or existing doors.

5. On sliding glass doors with or without key-operated locking devices always add a secondary lock such as a Charlie bar, door loop, or twist type knob lock. These locks secure the door and will not allow the door to be forced open. A temporary inexpensive alternative is a dowel rod cut to length and placed at the bottom of the sliding door.

6. When doing a home rekey it is a great time to reset any garage door opener codes, go through an entire garage door motor re learn of all openers so any openers not presant will be removed out of the system. Remove your emergency pull cord from your garage door. These cards can be grabbed and pulled with special tools to gain unwanted access to your property.

Lighting

1. Make sure that driveways, walkways, and all entry points throughout your entire property have adequate motion sensor lighting. I prefer LED flood lights for the high lumen output and opt for LED flood lights with build in HD cameras. A few brands are Ring, Nest, and Kuna floodlights.

2. Illuminate address markers or numbers so police and emergency responders can quickly find your home. To guarantee maximum visibility, choose numbers that are larger than 3 inches tall, and mount them in a well-lit and logical place, such as beside the front door, over your garage, or on your mailbox. Also, many fire departments offer reflective address signs for order. You may also find them at online retailers such as smartsign.com

My personal favourite of the new home checklist is LOCKS! We know we have done a home rekey but now let look indepth at all locking systems.

1. Get in a habit of securing all doors and windows every time you leave the house, even if you intend to be out for only a few minutes. A smash and grab can take just a few seconds and could be prevented if a hard target was presented.

2. If your doors only have a locking knobset make sure to add a deadbolt to that door. A good rule of thumb, if a residential door only has one lock it must be a deadbolt. There are two types of deadbolts the first is single-cylinder, which operates by a key on the outside of the door and a thumbturn on the inside, and double-cylinder, which is operated by a key on both sides. If you don't have a side lite concern or a window in close proximity to the door I would opt for single-cylinder deadbolt so that, in the event of a fire, you won't lose valuable seconds trying to find your key and get it into the keyhole to exit your home.

3. Install atleast a grade 2 deadbolt and opt for a grade 1 for more security when installed properly.

4. Avoid keeping spare keys in an obvious hiding place, such as underneath a doormat or in a pair of shoes. Instead, mount a lock box. If you have no choice and want to stash them somewhere on your property, be sure to choose an unexpected spot, such as beneath a stone under a bush. We also offer different hide a key products but recommend on your person or locked in a combination box.

5. Another great Investment is an alarm system that will sound a loud noise or silently alert the police if an intruder opens a sensor. Do your research and compare alarm systems.

6. Buy a quality safe and use it as intended by the manufacturer. Anchor it to the floor or subfloor to make it harder to remove.

Windows

1. First, make sure all of your windows are locked. After a home has been on the market it has a huge amount of possible buyers that have entered the property opening and closing doors and windows.

2. On loose fitting windows install sash locks or use a pin (nail) lock by drilling an angled hole through the top and bottom frame and inserting a nail or eyebolt.

3. You may want to consider safety bars for windows, especially windows on the ground floor level homes in urban areas. We know these don't look the best and can add unwanted attention and that is when you can weigh what is most important to you. You can find great looking scrolled iron grates to dress up a home.

Vacation

1. Hire a yard person or neighbourhood teen to mow the lawn, to give the appearance that someone is home.

2. Set timers for lights, and be sure to stagger when they turn on and off so the house will look genuinely occupied, and not just programmed to appear so. Another old but good idea is to keep a small TV on giving the appearance that someone is watching the tube, after all, we want to create a second thought that a person might well be home.

3. Make sure to suspend newspaper deliveries and mail service. Use usps.com to do this from your computer.

4. Inform close neighbours of your vacation or trip so they can stay alert to any suspicious activity. If they're willing, have them park their car in your driveway or atleast walk the property to ensure everything looks as it should.

5. Join a neighbourhood watch group. Get to know your neighbours! A strong network of neighbours who meet regularly to discuss crime, problems and solutions, and who keep an eye on one another's property is a powerful tool. If no group exists in your community, contact your local law-enforcement agencies about starting one. usaonwatch.org.

6. Make an inventory of valuable possessions. Include photographs or videos of the items, this can be easily done using your cell phone or smart phone. Simply slowly walk your property having all drawers opened and do through any high value areas making sure to note what is located in and around the area. Take note of any identifaction or serial numbers that may help you claim property in the event of a crime.

Thank you for reading CLT Locksmiths comprehinsive home security checklist and letting us check off your first item; home rekey.