Securing Your Home

 When owning a home you want to know that your house is safe and secure while you are away. One of the easiest ways to do this is with door locks and deadbolts. Technology also offers options to think about when considering ways to secure your home. Let’s explore the top options for securing your home with locks and technology.

When to Rekey Your Home

When buying a new home it is always a good idea to change out your locks and deadbolts or at least get them rekeyed. Just because you get keys from the old home owner doesn’t mean that there aren’t still keys in the hands of friends or relatives of the previous owners. Updating out of style locks, unifying all of the locks in the home and replacing broken locks are also good reasons to rekey a home.

How to Rekey Your Home

The cheapest option is to rekey the whole home as long as you have the same brand locks and deadbolts. An easy way to know if you have the same brand is if: 1). All the doors to your home can be unlocked with the same key and 2). The keys and/or locks display the same brand. To get locks rekeyed you will need to remove them and take into a key smith to have the pins changed in each lock and deadbolt. Then reinstall and test to make sure they are working.   

If changing one or some of your locks on your home it is always best practice to get the same brand as what you have already. When buying locks, ask that they get keyed to one of your pre-existing keys. This way you can still have one key for your entire home. This also applies when replacing all outside door handles and deadbolts.

Technology

Technology is changing how locks work. Key coded entry has been around now for a little while and is very reliable if you forget your keys or don’t want to carry a key on you. You can also get fob key locks so there is no more need fumbling for keys. In the last few years WIFI enabled locks have hit the market. Such locks can lock from any place with internet access. These locks have features like setting times the house can be unlocked for repair people, notifications when someone enters the home, and so much more.    

Last of all, whether you choose traditional locks or newer technology, you want to make sure to get a good quality lock. Do your homework. Industry leaders in locks are Yale and Schlage locks while Kwikset and Baldwin might be affordable but are on the lower end when it comes to qulaity. This is not to say that some Kwikset and Baldwin locks are not good but, you should remember that the cheaper the lock, the easier it is to break and get into your home. Quality does matter.     

If you need help with securing your home contact me for any of your lock needs.