Do you lock your doors when you're home?

[kiana2015]

My husband has a habit of not locking the door behind him when he leaves for work if I'm up, this morning I was in the kitchen washing DD's bottles when he left, I spent a good 30 minutes in the kitchen before I came out and realised the door was unlocked whilst DD was upstairs asleep, I panicked and was rather annoyed with him. It got me thinking, when you're home do you lock your doors? Since DD came I've had this awful anxiety about the door being locked and someone comes strolling in, the way the world is now it wouldn't surprise me if this happens, does anyone else have the same fears?

It's the idea of this happening in the day that also makes me keep the doors locked.

Most people we know who live on large plots don't because the houses tend to have lots of exterior doors. Ours has 5 and the kids/DH/dogs come and go all day.

Porch door left open for deliveries but inner door is locked. During the summer I leave my back door to the garden open so my cat can pop in and out but when it's shut, it's also locked. You could only access my garden if you climbed over a fence panel.

Of course. Your husband is an idiot and your insurance won't pay if you're burgled.

Always. Both DH and I do this, it’s like a basic instinct.
Re fire risk. The advice is to leave keys in so you can easily escape.

Always. I'm not particularly paranoid or nervous, but I work from home upstairs so it would be easy for someone to come in (especially the back door w/o me noticing). And I have pets who I don't want to accidentally escape.

Our front door and back yard gate are locked unless there's a very specific reason for them not to be (comings, goings, visitors, deliveries) and our back door into the yard is open on fine evenings for air and to let the cats wander in and out. But we don't have children; when I was growing up, my poor Dad was regularly exasperated by the constant in and out and the fact that an external door was always unlocked!

It locks by itself when I shut it

Fire risk shouldn't be as much of a worry if you have several smoke alarms. You should know if the toast burns, let alone have an actual fire blocking your exit route.

I've watched burglars vaulting a back fence in a split second, they don't send old blokes out to break in, they're in and out in seconds. My back door is also locked if the kids aren't all out the back.

We never used to lock the front door when I was a child until I found a strange man fast asleep in my bed. I was 9 years old and wasn't scared, just annoyed that he'd been sick on the pillow.

My parents called the police and they took him away. He turned up a few days later with flowers and chocolates full of apologies and explained that he'd been to the pub and got drunk and mistook our house for his!

We do, but only because my husband does. I thought it was weird when we first moved in together, but I always lock it now.

Nearly everyone who visits us and notices we have the door locked will comment on it as if it's odd. So I'm surprised to see so many fellow door lockers here!! Maybe it's because we live in a village that many people around here have never bothered.

Always. There's a well known woman in our area that walks in and helps herself to purses and handbags.

No. We live fairly rurally in a very low crime area though, and I don't think many people there lock their doors if they're home.

DH sometime forgets to lock up at night though which annoys me.

No but tbf we have a dog who lets us know if someone even so much as walks on the drive (we’re rural and you can’t just wander past our house/drive). His bark makes him sound vicious as fuck - he’s not, he’s a lab, but he isn’t friendly on our property. At night we lock up though.

If he keeps forgetting, you could change your front door handle and lock. No push down handle on the outside to open the door; key only to open it. Once your husband goes out and closes the door, it's locked to everyone from the outside.

No, and I live alone.

Yes, mainly to keep DD in when she was little but I've twice before had delivery drivers just let themselves in to drop off a parcel when I've not answered the door (if out the back) and it felt really invasive

Don't most front doors have the sort of lock that automatically locks when you pull the door shut?

As you were up and downstairs with dd asleep upstairs i would not lock it on way out as it is freezing or i am rushing. I would assume you would lock it when you passed by.

If dd is a toddler/preschooler i would lock as I leave. Or if you were asleep and possibly not likely to pass the front door soon I would lock it.

I do. Just habitual.

My front door is locked but we use our side door and that’s only locked at night. We have a very noisy dog who would alert us if anyone approaches our house.

The key word being 'most'.

I just don't get the numbers of non-door lockers, it doesn't seem to correspond at all to what I see of modern housing.

Yes. Even though the house is well set back from the road , and it’s not busy.

Policy confirmed when I found our slightly batshit neighbour in my kitchen having let herself in the side door which was unlocked while the carpenter was rehanging one of the doors. I don’t know who was more shocked , him or her (though he had the chisel in his hand).

Yes it's habit and I leave the keys in by accident also. There have been times I've forgotten to lock it but not an issue, just check next time.