Home Security Check List
| Yes | No |
Item |
| Do trees and shrubbery obscure doors or windows? | ||
| Are any entrances to your home unlighted? | ||
| Are any openings to your home (sky-lights, crawl spaces, vents) unprotected? | ||
| Are any entrances unlocked, including the garage and inside doors? |
If you answered YES to any of these questions, you may have a problem to correct. Now let’s look at your house from the inside.
| Yes | No |
Item |
| Are exterior doors secured using a dead bolt lock, Minimum one-inch throw? | ||
| Does the basement door have extra protection, such as a padlock? | ||
| Does the garage door lock? | ||
| Does the garage entrance to your home have a dead bolt lock, minimum one-inch throw? | ||
| Are all exterior doors (including the garage) strong enough to withstand excessive force? | ||
| Are all strike plates and frames for each door strong enough to withstand excessive force? | ||
| Are sliding doors and windows secure against forced locks and/or lifting out or their frames? | ||
| Are hinges pinned to prevent removal? | ||
| Is there a peephole viewer (180 degrees) on the main entrance door? | ||
| Are double-hung windows secured with a pin for extra lock to discourage jimmying? | ||
| Are panes on louvered or jalousie windows well fastened to the metal retainers? Are they reinforced with metal screening on the inside? | ||
| Do the casement window latches work properly without excess play? | ||
| Are you acquainted with your neighbors and do you let them know when you are gone? |
If you answered NO to any of these questions, you may have a problem to correct.
If you should have a fire or similar disaster, you will need to identify all the “stuff” you had in your home before the disaster. There are two software packages that you can download for free. These are not just a trial version but fully operational ones with no strings attached. Both operate under the Windows operating system and both have fields for item identification, when purchased, cost, condition, etc. What’s the catch? You need to complete the inventory before the disaster!
Here are the products and download instructions. Since both are free, you might want to download both and try them out to determine which best suites your situation.
MYSTUF: www.contactplus.com
Scroll down to “Home Inventory Software”. To download the free version, click download. Note that this version of the software is free, but the deluxe version is not.
HOME INVENTORY: www.iii.org
Scroll down to “Download free home inventory software” in the middle of the page. This software is also free.