A home security walkthrough, lock edition

A walkthrough is not a fear exercise. It is a calm, practical look at the hardware that keeps your doors shut, so that you know what you have and what condition it is in. Most homes have a mix of old and new locks, a few that were replaced after a move and a few that have been there since the house was built.

Bring a notepad, a small screwdriver and a flashlight. You do not need special tools. The goal is to see, touch and test, then write down anything that feels loose, sticky, worn or missing. By the end you should have a short list that you can sort into things to do this week and things to plan for later.

Choose a time of day when you have time to go slowly. Daylight helps you spot rust, cracks and gaps. If you live in a house shared with others, ask them to join so everyone learns where the keys and locks are. A walkthrough is also a nice time to teach older children the habit of checking the door before bed. Children who learn what a locked door looks and feels like tend to carry that habit into adulthood, and it costs you nothing but a few minutes of patience on a quiet evening.

Begin with the front door because it gets the most use and the most attention. Open it and look at the edge. You should see a latch bolt, the angled tongue that holds the door closed, and a deadbolt, the round or square bar that slides out when you turn the key or thumb turn. Throw the deadbolt with the door open and watch how far it extends. It should move smoothly and with no rubbing.

Now close the door and check where the bolts meet the frame. The strike plate is the metal plate screwed into the frame where the bolt enters. If the strike is small, held with short screws or sitting in a soft frame, the door can be pushed open far more easily than the lock suggests. Longer screws that reach the wall stud make a real difference, and our guide to strike plates and door frames explains why.

Finally, test the key. It should slide in without force and turn without wiggling. If you have to lift the door or pull it toward you to make the bolt move, the door is probably sagging on its hinges, and the cylinder is not the problem. This is one of the most common misdiagnoses in home locks: people replace a perfectly good lock when a loose hinge screw is the real cause. Tighten the hinge screws first and see whether the bolt lines up with the hole again. See doors that do not latch, alignment basics for how to tell the difference.

The doors that people use less are often the ones with the weakest locks. A back door may have only a knob lock with a push button, and the garage entry door may have a latch that has never seen a deadbolt. Check each one for a thrown deadbolt, a solid strike and a frame that is not cracked or split near the latch.

Pay attention to doors with glass. If a pane sits close to the lock, a person could break it and reach in to turn the thumb turn. A double cylinder deadbolt, which needs a key on both sides, can be an answer in some homes, but it also slows you down in an emergency, so think carefully about who is in the house and how easily they must be able to leave. Many households prefer a good single cylinder deadbolt and stronger glass or film. Whichever you choose, keep the key in a known spot that everyone in the home can reach in the dark, because a lock nobody can open from the inside is a risk of its own.

The door between the garage and the house deserves a look because it is a hidden entrance. If the overhead door is open while you work in the yard, this door is the only barrier. A real deadbolt and a solid frame turn it into a proper door rather than a convenience. It is also the door most likely to be used by a delivery person or a visiting relative, so it sees more wear than it appears to. Read the full note on garage entry door security for what to look for.

Sliding glass doors are common in homes around the valley and in the foothills. Most come with a small latch that hooks into the frame, and that latch is not designed to stop a determined push. Check that the latch catches fully, then look at the track. A wood or metal bar cut to fit the track is a simple extra layer, and a secondary lock mounted on the frame adds more. Some people also add a pin through the frame that stops the door from being lifted out of its track, which matters because a lifted door can sometimes be tilted loose even when the latch is hooked.

Windows come next. Every window should have a latch that pulls the sashes tight and locks. Older homes may have latches that no longer close all the way or that have painted over, so test each one. If a window is painted shut, that is a safety concern as well as a security one, since it may also be a barrier to leaving in an emergency.

Look at both guides when you are ready to improve these entries: sliding glass door locks and window locks for older homes. They explain which fixes are simple and which call for hardware that is more involved.

• Test the latch on every sliding door by pulling it from outside.
• Check that the sliding door track is clean and clear of debris.
• Confirm each window latch closes fully and locks.
• Note any window that is painted shut or hard to open.
• Add secondary locks where the main latch feels weak.

Gather every key you have for the house and lay them out on a table. Count them, then ask yourself how many you think are out in the world. For many homes the honest answer is that nobody knows. Keys get copied for painters, relatives, neighbors, babysitters and former partners, and some of them never come back.

If the number of copies is a mystery, you have a good reason to think about rekeying. Rekeying changes the inside of the lock so the old keys stop working and a new set works instead. The lock hardware stays on the door, which is why it costs less than replacing everything. Our guide to rekeying or replacing helps you decide which path fits.

Decide on a safe place for spares, and tell the people who need to know where it is, and no one else. A key hidden under a flowerpot is only hidden from people who have not looked there. A small lock box mounted out of sight, or a spare with someone you trust, are sturdier choices. Read storing spare keys safely for more ideas and how to keep track.

If you have a keypad or smart lock, the walkthrough is different. Test the keypad to see that every button responds. Open the battery cover and check for corrosion. Make sure the lock reports its battery level, and write down when you last changed the batteries so you can plan the next change.

Next, look at the codes. Delete any codes that belong to people who no longer need access. If the lock keeps a log of entries, open it and see whether it matches your expectations. A code used at an odd hour may have a simple explanation, but it deserves an answer.

Every electronic lock should also have a way in if the batteries die, such as a backup key or terminals for a nine volt battery. Know where yours is. You can read more in smart locks, promises and practical limits and battery failure in electronic locks.

Many homes in Shasta and Siskiyou counties sit on more than a city lot, with a barn, a shop, a storage shed, a gate at the end of a driveway or a boat parked beside the garage. Walk the property edge and look at every padlock, hasp and latch. A strong padlock on a weak hasp is no better than the weak hasp, so check the screws and the metal around them.

Look at how each building closes. A door with exposed hinge pins on the outside can sometimes be lifted off its hinges, and a hasp fastened with screws that can be reached from the outside can be removed. These are details that matter, and they are easy to improve with the right hardware. Hinge pins can be set so they cannot be tapped out, hasps can be swapped for ones that hide their screws, and a shed door can be backed with a steel plate where the latch meets the frame. None of this needs to be dramatic; it just needs to be done with the actual door in front of you.

For more help, read barn, shop and outbuilding locks and gates and padlocks on rural property. They go through the common arrangements and how to choose a lock that suits them.

Locks live outdoors, and in the North State the weather shows. Hot dry summers in the valley can dry out lubricants and make wood doors swell or shrink. Cold in the mountain towns can make moisture freeze in a cylinder. A walkthrough in spring and again in autumn catches problems before they become emergencies.

In the heat, look for doors that rub or stick when they expand. In the cold, check the weather stripping and any locks that feel stiff in the morning. Use only lubricants that are safe for locks, and read lock lubricants, what helps and what hurts before you spray anything into a cylinder.

Also think about wildfire and evacuation season, when you may need to leave in a hurry. Smoke, heat and stress make simple tasks harder, and a lock that is stiff on an ordinary day can feel impossible on a bad one. Keys should be easy to find, doors should open smoothly from the inside, and everyone in the house should know where to grab the essentials. If you have just moved in, the first day in a new home lock checklist is a good companion to this walkthrough.

After the walkthrough, look at your notepad and sort the entries. Some cost almost nothing to fix, like putting the right screws in a strike plate or closing a window latch. Others need small parts, like a new strike or a replacement cylinder. A few need a bigger decision, like adding a deadbolt to a door that has none.

Order the list by risk, not by how pleasant the job sounds. Doors that open to the outside and have weak locks come first, then locks that are failing, then upgrades and conveniences. If you rent, share the list with the owner or the property manager, because rules vary and you may need permission before any work is done.

If you would like help with the work, the lock installation and lock repair pages describe what we do at the door. You can also use the request form to describe the doors on your list, and we will plan the visit around them.

You can do most of a walkthrough yourself, but a locksmith brings a trained eye. We see how a cylinder wears, when a latch is about to give up and how a door frame is likely to behave under force. We can feel a lock turn and tell you whether the problem is in the key, the cylinder or the door. Often a lock that seems broken is only dirty, misaligned or fitted with a key that has worn smooth, and a short look at the door can save you from buying parts you do not need.

We also carry the equipment to act on what we find. A branded service van holds key cutting and programming equipment, professional tools and common hardware, so many problems can be settled at your door. Our team works in uniform so you know who you are dealing with.

If you want a second opinion on a particular door, or if you simply want help sorting a long list, describe the situation in the request form. The phone line is coming soon. In the meantime the form is the way to reach us, and you can read about the whole range of work on the residential locksmith page.