Home Safety Checklist For Blacksburg

Keeping safe in your house should be your topmost responsibility. But are you overlooking some big safety components? Look over this home safety checklist for Blacksburg and find out where your living space needs some work.

We give you five whole-home safety ideas, and then we whittle it down on a room level. Then, contact (540) 212-4532 or fill out the form below to get your home set up.

General Home Safety Checklist for Blacksburg

While you will want to use a individual room approach to home safety, there are a few items that are useful for the whole house. These components can talk to each other through a smart hub, and can even react to other components. You can also manage every one of your home safety components using a mobile app, like ADT Control:

Monitored Home Security System: Each one of your windows and doors should employ a sensor that notifies you to forced entry. After your alarm trips, your monitoring agent picks up the call and immediately contacts a first responder.

Smart Lighting For Each Room: Sure, you can set your smart lights to make your home more eco-conscience. But they can also help you keep safe in an emergency. Have your downstairs lights flash on when a security alarm triggers to frighten off intruders or light the way out to a safe area.

Smart Thermostat: Like your smart lights, a smart thermostat in Blacksburg should save you 10%-15% in energy costs. But it also can turn on the exhaust fan if you have a fire.

Monitored Fire Detectors: At the very least, you should have a fire detector on each floor. You can increase your fire preparedness by installing a monitored fire alarm that looks for both smoke and heat, and pings your 24/7 monitoring team when it detects a fire.

Smart Locks: Every door that utilizes a deadbolt can be made safer with a smart door lock. Now you can assign codes to each family member and get notifications to your smartphone when the locks are activated. Your smart lock can even automatically turn off, allowing you to quickly leave if you have a fire or other emergency.

Family Room Safety Checklist For Blacksburg

You’ll spend a lot of time in your family room, so it’s the best place to start making your home more secure. Highly sought after items, like a big screen or video games, probably reside in your living room, making it an alluring space for robbers. Begin with placing a motion sensor or indoor security camera in your room, then try the following ideas:

Motion Detectors: By installing motion sensors, you’ll have a high-decibel noise anytime they sense unusual motion within your living room. The best devices are motion detectors that aren’t set off by pets or you’ll have a tripped alarm each time your pet roams by for a midnight stroll.
Indoor Security Camera: An indoor security camera puts a constant watch on your family room. Get constant feeds of everything so you can see what’s going on through the mobile app. Or talk with your kids when they come back from playing with the two-way talk feature.
Surge Protector/Outlet Maintenance: Make sure you protect those electronics and stop overloading your circuits with a surge protector. For additional convenience, install a smart plug with a surge protector built-in.
Heavy Furniture Bolted To The Wall: If you have curious kids, you’ll need to secure your heavy furniture and entertainment center to the wall. This is extra important if your living room uses carpet that could make furniture extra unstable.
Special Locks For Sliding Glass Doors: If your family room uses a sliding door that opens to a patio, deck, or screened-in porch, you probably get that the lock is pretty worthless. Install a custom lock, like a bottom bar or small locks that are located on the bottom and top of the frame.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Blacksburg

The kitchen has many items that can provide safety and security to your house. Most of these items should be easy to add and should be bought from the a retail store:

Fire Extinguisher: A fire can spring up from an overfilled pot or a towel that’s too close to a burner. Always have a fire extinguisher in close reach for any kitchen mishaps.
GFCI Box On Every Outlet: A circuit interrupter outlet should be installed on outlets where they’re close to running water to lessen the chance of a deadly shock. That includes the outlets by your sink and kitchen counter. Since 1987, it’s been required to have one circuit interrupter outlet per dedicated circuit. But each one of your outlets will go if any outlet senses a surge, so you’ll want to use a single GFCI for every outlet.

Monitored Carbon Monoxide Detector: A carbon monoxide detector is advised for the kitchen if you employ gas for the oven and range. If your gas burners leak, the CO detector will emit a high-decibel sound and ping your monitoring professional.
Clorox Wipes Or Spray: The biggest safety problem in the kitchen is actually bacteria and cross-contamination that comes with raw meat and dairy. Always have disinfectant wipes or an antibacterial spray to sanitize your surfaces when preparing food.
Refrigerator/Freezer Alarm: The items in the fridge should remain at a chilly temperature to stay healthy to use. If you leave the freezer or refrigerator door ajar, then an alarm beep will remind you to shut it securely. Some appliances come with an alarm, older models don’t, and you’ll have to get a refrigerator alarm from the store.

Bathroom Safety Checklist For Blacksburg

Just because you may not have a lot of space in your bathroom there’s still safety concerns. From flood detectors to medicine care, here are some safety ideas for your bathroom:

Flood Detectors: A leaking toilet or bathtub can cause an expensive amount of damage. Find out early about water problems with a flood detector before they cause hundreds of dollars in ruined floors, walls, and fixtures.
Non-slip Shower Mats: A slip in the bathroom can be a painful occurrence, causing bumps, bruises, or trips to the hospital. Or avoid these problems with a textured bathroom mat for your wet feet.

No-slip Bathtub Stickers: Another water hazard, a tub basin can be a slick surface to move in. It’s a good idea that every has some non-slip stickies so your toes have a textured patch to grip.

Medicine Door Latch: If you have curious toddlers or someone with memory lapses, you have to take additional attention regarding prescribed medicine. Hide away your pills and syrups by getting a medicine cabinet with a latch that locks.

Circuit Interrupter Outlet: Just like the kitchen, you will have to also use a safer GFCI outlet on each bathroom outlet. These will cut the electricity if they ever get wet or there’s a harmful surge from a curling iron or hair dryer.

Child’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Blacksburg

Your kid’s bedroom should pair safety with simplicity. If their window shades or other items are safe but hard to use, then your kids may try risky activities -- like shimmying up a chest of drawers -- to use them. Try these straightforward, yet safe, ideas:

Cordless Window Coverings: Safety experts have long called corded window treatments an unsuspecting danger for both children and pets. Install motorized shades that kids can easily control with a remote. Or even better, connect your motorized treatments to your ADT smart hub so they rise without anyone’s help when the sun comes up, and close at bedtime for an easier sleep.

Tableside Security Camera: An indoor security camera perched on your kid’s desk or dresser can behave like a baby monitor that you can view with a smartphone. And when they need something, they can hit the 2-way talk button included on the camera.

Outlet Plug Covers: While each outlet should have outlet safety caps on them for your little children, this is especially important in their bedroom. It’s the main place in your home where your toddler will most likely hang out solo without consistent parental supervision.

Window Safety Ladder: If you have bedrooms on above the first story, then you need to have a window safety ladder. These should help your children leave the house even if the stairs or lower levels are engulfed in smoke and fire. Just remember to rehearse how to use the ladder at least twice a year.

Toy Box Or Low Shelves: It’s interesting to look at a toy box as a safety item, but you’ll see the light if you’ve ever stepped on a building block in your bare feet. A clutter-free floor means a quick escape if there’s a fire or break-in.

Main Bedroom Safety Checklist For Blacksburg

Your main bedroom should be your calm space, so let your safety components make life easier if you have an emergency event. After all, being wrenched awake by a high-decibel buzzer can be confusing.

Security System Touchscreen: Having a touchscreen on your bedside table lets you see what’s going on without getting out of bed. You could also turn on your ADT mobile app but, the large touchscreen may be easier to control to use when you’re coming out of sleep and disoriented.

Phone Charging Area: We rely on our cell phones for so many things now GPS, news readers, game machines, and --legend has it-- even phones. But, a dead phone will cut us off from the outside world if during an emergency. So, a charging station or cord becomes an essential.

Nightlight/Smart Lights: A small light helps ground you when you’re bolted awake from a fire alarm or other sounds. If you can’t fall asleep with a small nightlight, use a smart bulb in your fixtures. Then you can get light anytime with a push of a button or vocal command.
Fireproof Safe: Stash your vital paperwork like social security cards, medical information, or banking information in a fireproof safe. This can be a big one that is located out of the way or a smaller portable lockbox that you can grab on your way out during an emergency event.

Heat Sensor: The problem with most bedrooms is that they can run too hot or be chilly because they sit far from the thermostat. A temperature sensor will talk to your smart thermostat so you will have a nice, relaxing sleep at just the right temperature.

Basement/Garage Safety Checklist For Blacksburg

Most safety problems in the basement or garage deal with your pipes or heating system. Seeing problems at the source can prevent more devastating disasters in the future. So, as you look around your garage or basement, take note of these crucial items:

Water Detector Or Sump Pump Alarm: Installing a flood sensor in back of your water heater and sump pump drain can stop you from wading into a mess when you go into your basement or garage. It’s much better than sorting through a heap of destroyed storage boxes.

CO Alarm: It’s beneficial to hang a CO detector in areas where a natural gas leak can happen. If you employ a gas furnace, you should put an alarm in the same room as your HVAC unit.
Wireless Water Shutoff Valve: If your flood sensor detects a plumbing leak or a burst pipe, then you will want to cap the primary water valve at once. With a wireless shutoff valve, you can block water flow from your phone. That’s helpful when you’re on vacation and get an emergency leak alert on your smartphone.
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage up brings about all types of headaches. You can lose HVAC energy through that open door, and rodents or thieves can just wander in. A sensor will text you about a neglected garage door and lets you lower it through the app.
Heat Sensor: A heat alarm in your basement or garage is a definite if you worry about frozen pipes. The temperature in these rooms can be surprisingly different than your main rooms of the house, so you may need to keep a close look on the temp with the ADT mobile app.

Home Perimeter Safety Checklist for Blacksburg

Your foliage, drive, and front step are just as important to defend as the rest of your home. Try the items on this checklist to create a safe outside:

Doorbell Camera: See who’s arrived at the the front step before you open it and talk to guests. View package deliveries and review video clips if they are taken.

Outdoor Camera: You can install outdoor security cameras to alert you to unusual lurkers in your yard. These security cameras are nice in areas where you may not have a window installed -- like around a cellar or by the garage door.

Low Bushes: Overgrown bushes can give you some serenity, but they also obscure your view of the yard. Don’t offer potential intruders an area to hide. Plus, high shrubs or greenery against your structure can jam up gutters and bring in ants and termites.
ADT Signage: One of the biggest disincentives for a thief is alerting aspiring intruders that you use an updated ADT security system. An ADT yard stick by the stoop and a window sticker will tell lurkers that they ought to move on to an unprotected score.

Motion Activated Flood Lighting: Light is the greatest enemy to those who sneak around in the dark. Motion-activated lights on your porch, garage, or deck can help scare possible intruders away. Lights also help you work the locks when you arrive home on those dark, winter nights.

Contact Secure24 Alarm Systems To Help You Finish Your Home Safety Checklist for Blacksburg

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t deliver every item on your Blacksburg home safety checklist, we can offer a customized home security system. With alarms, security cameras, and home automation, we can customize the ideal system for your family’s needs. Just phone (540) 212-4532 for more information or send in the form below. Or customize your own ADT system with our Security System Designer.