Do you lock your front door?

[BuildingHope]

Hi I've an ANCIENT front door desperately needs replacing, some lovely new bifold doors with my extension and I always leave the keys in the locks of the new ones even when locked. I never double lock my front door - which you can't from the outside anyway, it's just Yale..

I just realised yesterday [I promise I'm not normally dim] that basically unless the front door is double locked it's perfectly possible to smash the glass and just reach the front door lock albeit a stretch. Ditto the bifolds but if you broke the glass you could basically walk in regardless.

It occurred to me because I was thinking about switching the front door out for a stable door I already have in the garage, but the reach to handle is easier with smashed glass. I would always be a bit wary of locking myself in and not being able to get out in a fire etc in the night.

What am I missing... or perhaps overthinking, or locks do funkier things these days? Do you double lock stuff overnight?

Just curious really

I can't believe how complacent some people are. If you were unfortunate enough to be burgled would your home insurance pay out?

I live in inner London and only double lock my door when I leave the house empty. Never overnight.

Doors are locked at night but in the day, unlocked. You could walk in via several open doors if you wanted to.

Likewise outbuildings are left unlocked and door open unless we are away on holiday.

Just doesn’t cross my mind to lock and there’s usually someone around who is coming in or out.

They probably wouldn’t if it was unlocked but the really valuable stuff would take a while to steal and that would be unlikely whilst we were in the house.

It’s an old house with a rambling lay out and it’s just not that practical to lock all the doors in the day for various reasons.

I’m happy with the risk.

Not during the day, no. I work from home very close to the front door, we are at the end of a quiet cul de sac. I do lock up at night though.

Yup always locked, we automatically lock behind us as soon as we come in. Keys removed from lock and hung up close to door at night.

None of the doors double lock. The front is pretty much always locked, kitchen door and sliding patio doors are unlocked a lot atm cos I’m in and out of the garden. DD is clearly well trained to lock doors as she’s locked me out a couple of times (comes to see me in the garden, goes back in, locks door …) Kitchen and patio have keys in the locks, front is on a thumb turn. The front isn’t really smashable, and I figure anyone who’s going to smash the other doors to turn the key could just smash the entire window and get in. Escaping during a fire is more of a priority. We got the thumb turn because if someone is out you HAVE to take the key out for them to get back in, and that’s a PITA.

Front and back doors always locked.

Front door always locked despite living in a generally “safe” area.
Back bifold doors I will leave open in nice weather so dogs can come and go while I’m working - I can see the entire patio and garden from my office so can keep an eye without having to keep running up & down stairs. But of a night everything is locked up properly without fail.

Always. And back door and back gate. Ring doorbell covers front of house.

I always lock the door, whether I am in or out. Have had a couple of scary experiences.

Once at student accommodation a drunk walked in to the house thinking it was a pub and demanding a pint. Once at my parents, in a very safe area, we had someone walk in and grab what they could (handbag, wallet, etc)

Some uvpc doors have an additional safety feature that is safer than locking the door from the inside with a key. Also keeps toddlers from escaping an unlocked front door.

If you have a chain installed above the door handle, lift the door handle into the raised position and check if the end link on the chain fits onto the end of the door handle. Mine does and is physically impossible to the open the door, from inside or outside, without removing the chain first.

So safer way to lock when sleeping and easier to exit in case of emergency.

Front door is locked but with the key in, the last thing I want to be doing if we need to get out in a hurry is be playing hunt the key. I have a 5 year old who would need to be carried in the event of a fire (complex disabilities, he has hypotonia so cannot support himself in sitting/standing so has to be cradled to carry him) and leaving the key in the door feels safer than putting it away in a drawer or on a hook somewhere. We had a house fire when I was a kid and the amount of smoke that built up really quickly has left a lasting impression (fear?) on me. Back door is locked but on a thumb turn.

Only when I go to bed

You can't open our front door once it's closed, but we lock it overnight and when we go out, and we hang the key on a hook in th hall which is out of reach and not visible from the door.

The backdoors, we often keep unlocked during the day (you can open them from outside) but we have an enclosed garden and live in boring suburbia, so the chances of someone vaulting a 6ft wall to get into the back of our house are slim.

yes our door is always locked, no handle from outside anyway so locks automatically but we double lock at night

I double lock at night. I leave the key in the door, half turned and on a very large keyring , so it would be very difficult to hook it out and get it through the letter box.

Also have a chain.

I would never double lock and remove the key, exactly because of what your firefighter friend says.

Front door has a thumb lock and is always locked, chained at night. Rear patio doors locked with key left in unless they are open because we’re in the kitchen

We lost the front door key a few years ago, so, no.

My front door is never double locked so can open from the inside but not the outside .
my back door in good weather is always wide open but I have gates on my drive so you can’t walk straight in , plus I have a Rottweiler although not sure he’d actually do anything but he has quite a menacing bark when strangers come on to ‘his ‘ property

Back door usually left unlocked so dogs can let themselves out for a wee in the night.

they are big dogs so not concerned about opportunists.

We have a door with a slam lock. You push it shut and the lock hooks engage.
It has a thumb turn on the inside so you don’t need a key to lock or unlock it from the inside, it’s fab.
Usual key to get back in from outside.

I'm less scared of violent burglars (incredibly rare) than not being able to escape from a house fire in the middle of the night. Keys kept in the locks at all times unless everyone is out of the house so we can lock it from outside.

We have little of high value to steal and a high excess on our home insurance to keep the premium down so even if we were burgled I'd be very unlikely to claim on it.

I have a composite front door with no window (spy hole) and no letter box (it’s on the wall outside). Door is always locked with the keys left in on a quarter turn after locking so they cannot be forced out. I have handle wedges on and a chain.
Back door the same. Windows have opening restrictions on and secondary locks.

Always. Live in a town. My ex was from the depths of rural Wales, couldn't see his nearest neighbours. Was lax when he came to mine about looking door at mine.