Home Safety Checklist – 10 Facts You Need To Know (And Why!)
When it comes to home safety, ensuring a safe and secure living environment always takes top priority. Do you know if your home is truly a safe place to live for you and your family? Today more than ever, it’s essential to double-check key areas of your home.
Thankfully, you can use our checklist below to ensure your home safety concerns receive top priority. As you know, there are many areas of your home to check, but today, we will cover ten essential areas of concern.
Your Home Safety Should Always Take Top Priority
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At any given moment, something can break down in our homes, causing us a lot of grief and money. Your home’s health is just as important as your physical health and requires the same care and attention. Regardless if you own a home or rent, your home safety is equally as important.
Whether it’s winter, summer, spring, or fall, it’s essential to make sure your home passes crucial safety checks. The last thing you want to deal with is something you could have avoided in the first place.
A few weeks ago, our washer and dryer finally gave up, and we decided to replace them. Before delivery, we knew it was a good idea to have our vents cleaned by a professional service. Of course, this included the dryer vent too. I admit the last time we cleaned them was over three years ago.
Low and behold, the amount of lint they removed from the vent astounded me and clearly dangerous as well. More so, this prompted me to think about home safety as a whole. I knew it was time to grab my home safety checklist to ensure all the other vital areas of our home passed the test.
With that said, let’s review our home safety checklist below and do our best to make sure our homes are safe.
1 – Home Safety Checklist – Air Duct Cleaning
Since we already touched upon vents in our home, it makes sense to start there. When it comes to your HVAC system, your air ducts play a crucial role in your home safety.
When I spoke to the professionals, they told me that air duct cleaning should take place every 5-7 years. And your dryer vents required cleaning every 2-3 years. Remember, your air ducts can harbor infestations of vermin and excessive amounts of dust and debris. More so, because your dryer vent can clog, it can cause a dangerous house fire.
Needless to say, the amount of lint and debris cleaned from our dryer vents astounded us. Moving forward, we will clean our dryer vent every year or less! We thought by merely cleaning the dryer vent with a good dryer vent brush and cleaning behind the machine would suffice. Obviously, we learned a good lesson!
Logically, it makes sense to clean your air ducts cleaned as often as you feel necessary. If you do decide to have your air ducts cleaned, take the same consumer precautions you normally would in assessing the service provider’s competence and reliability.
2 – Ensuring The Foundation Of Your Home Is Structurally Sound
Once again, this home safety area brought our attention to this matter. Recently, we inspected our unfinished basement for foundation issues. We discovered two cracks that definitely require repairing. Companies like JES Foundation repair are essential for helping you to make the most when it comes to the structure of the home. Of course, they scheduled repairs for small cracks as well, so they don’t develop into more significant issues.
As you may know, cracking in the foundation of your home can lead to serious home safety issues. Vertical cracks can cause flooding in your basement and other serious problems. Also, horizontal cracks often mean heavy soil pressure. If you have cracks in your stairs, this can also indicate foundation problems as well.
There are many types of causes for cracks in foundation walls, and it’s always a good idea to research and find out what requires repairs. If you ignore or neglect them, they are likely to become more severe over time.
3 – Installing Carbon Monixiod And Smoke Detectors
Recently, while visiting a friend’s home, I happened to notice a lack of Good Carbon Monoxide and Smoke Detectors. Of course, this is a serious home safety issue, and regardless if you own or rent, your home needs them.
Bewildered, I openly asked my friend why she didn’t have them installed. She said she rents, and the owners never installed them. After researching, we discovered landlords must install smoke detectors in almost every state. Carbon monoxide detector installations are mandatory for residential properties in 26 states as well.
More importantly, the landlord must ensure smoke detectors installation, but the tenant also must ensure they stay in good working order. The tenant should always notify the property owner immediately if the detectors malfunction. This way, repairs or replacements can take place. Nor, should they remove the smoke detectors and make sure they replace batteries every year.
Whether you rent or own, always make sure your carbon and smoke detectors are in good working condition. Install them on each floor of your home, in each bedroom, living room, and hallways close to bedrooms as well. You also want them installed at the top of your stairways and the bottom going into any basement area.
Above all, experts recommend changing the batteries two times a year. Typically, when the clocks change in the fall and spring, folks use those dates as reminders. And make sure you test your detectors every few weeks to ensure proper working condition.
3 – Make Sure You Have A Fire Extinguisher In Your Home
When it comes to home safety, it’s so important to make sure you have an excellent working Fire Extinguisher in your home. Every home and apartment should have one in the kitchen or near your fireplace or both!
For example, First Alert EZ Fire Spray, Extinguishing Aerosol Spray makes extinguishing fires easy with just a push of a button. Personally, I prefer this type as the cans are easy to store, and you can have several around your home for quick access. This portable Fire Extinguisher discharges 4 times longer than a traditional fire extinguisher, providing 32 seconds of firefighting time.
Often, we forget how vital fire extinguishers are for our homes, RVs, kitchen, dorms as well as any area we spend lots of time. It’s incredible how often we forget about the importance of these tools in our home. Always make sure your home safety comes first and have several fire extinguishers handy!
4 – Buglurproof Your Home
Today, home security is more important than ever before. Luckily, home security cameras are affordable and easy to install. Most times, you can install outdoor security cameras and indoor home security cameras for a fraction of the price as a professional.
Once you install security cameras in and around your home, you’ll have the peace of mind knowing you and your family have the protection you need. And you don’t need technical skills to operate them either. You can view your home and property on easy to use apps on your phone. And monitor your family and treasured possessions 24/7.
It’s also a great idea to install motion-sensing floodlights in your back and front yard as well. These lights will keep burglars away from your home and put the spotlight on them if they dare to enter your property.
If you have sliding glass doors, you should consider installing a metal security bar on them. These security bars will deter any unwanted visitors and keep your home secure as well. Remember, you can never take security lightly because your home safety means everything!
5 – Home Safety For Your House Location
You always want to make sure your house number is clearly visible from the street. Doing so means that any emergency vehicles can see it in case they need to find your home. You can always use a large numbered stencils kit and spraypaint the numbers on your mailbox for easy visibility, or use metal numbers as well.
Additionally, if you love creative DIY projects, you can make a beautiful garden sign displaying the letters of your home as well. Find yourself a large block of wood and attach some large metal numbers to it, and there you go! Display the sign in the front of your garden, so it’s visible and looks pretty too.
6 – Always Have Flashlights And LED Lanterns On Hand
Regardless if you live in the city or country, power outages happen quite frequently. Therefore, it’s essential to have excellent quality LED flashlights or large lanterns in your home or apartment.
Last year, we bought several Battery Powered LED Lanterns for our home. And they remain one of our favorite and most essential purchases for home safety. Aside from enjoying them when camping, these lanterns will brighten up any room and for extended periods. You can also use them for your safety when camping, hiking, fishing, and even walking the dog.
Either way, ensure your home has plenty of alternate light sources is a good idea. You don’t want to experience a power failure or emergency without them!
7 – Light Switches For Home Safety
Many of us don’t think about the importance of light switches in our homes. Did you know you should have them at the bottom and top of all staircases in your home? If you don’t have them, you should consider installing them. Always make sure you use a licensed electrician for any electrical work in your home.
Speaking of light switches, don’t forget to keep them clean. Now more than ever, our home safety requires proper cleaning of light switches, doorknobs, and other everyday household items we touch daily. Also, disinfecting groceries and boxes is equally as important.
8 – Examine Your Landscaping For Vulnerabilities
A few months ago, a new neighbor moved into our community. Little did he realize, the shrubs in his backyard were the perfect hiding spot for unwelcomed visitors. When he discovered a backpack hidden among the bushes, he immediately called the police, reported it, and had the shrubs removed.
Now, we don’t need to run out and get rid of all of our shrubs and tall bushes, but it’s a good idea to keep them trimmed and of course, position a home security camera nearby.
For example, you should always mow your lawn, install floodlights with a camera and timer, and prune tall limbs that make it easy access to upper levels. Don’t make it easy for burglars to access your home. Keep your backyard trimmed and in good shape.
9 – Deadbolt Your Locks
The front and back doors of your home should always have secure deadbolt locks installed. And to protect your home, don’t forget about your garage as well. Deadbolt locks deter thieves and keep your home and family safe. Some deadbolt locks won’t open even with 100-pound steel battering rammed against them. I’d say that’s pretty good security, don’t you?
10 – Always Create An Escape Plan
In short, a good escape plan is essential for everyone, whether you live in an apartment or a house. Also, make sure you practice it at least twice a year. Line up your family and make sure they know the escape plan well.
Escape plans are necessary for fire practice as well as any home security issue you face. Head on over to nfpa.org for more details on how to plan one.
Remember, these are just some of the home safety practices you need to consider. Always research the best possible ways to protect your home, family, and valuables. You can never take home security for granted.
Don’t Forget To Pin Your Inspiration!
Don’t forget to read 5 Burglar-Proof Measures for Home Garage Security too!
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