Home Safety Checklist For Portland

Being safe in your home should be your largest priority. But are you forgetting some useful safety components? Look over this home safety checklist for Portland and see where your house can use some work.

This guide starts with five whole-home safety ideas, and then we delve down on a room level. Then, you can call (503) 300-4377 or send in the form below to get your house set up.

Basic Home Safety Checklist for Portland

While you should take a individual room approach to home safety, there are some things that work for the whole-house approach. These devices can link to each other through a wireless hub, and often can work off other components. You can also manage every one of your home safety devices using a mobile security app, like ADT Control:

Monitored Home Security System: All your windows and doors should use a sensor that notifies your family to intrusion. As your alarm trips, your monitoring agent picks up the call and immediately contacts the police or fire department.

Smart Bulbs For Most Rooms: Of course, you can schedule your smart bulbs to become more eco-conscience. But they can also allow you to remain safe in an emergency. Make your lights flip on when an alarm triggers to frighten off robbers or brighten your way to a safe area.

Smart Thermostat: Likewise, a smart thermostat in Portland can save you between 10%-15% in energy costs. But it also can flip on your exhaust fan when your alarms senses a fire.

Monitored Fire Detectors: At the very least, you will have a fire detector on every level of your house. You can improve your fire game by installing a monitored fire detector that detects unusual heat and smoke, and pings your round-the-clock monitoring team when it senses a fire.

Smart Lock For Every Door: Every door that utilizes a deadbolt can be made safer with a smart lock. Now you can program key codes to family and friends and receive notifications to your mobile device when the locks are activated. Your smart lock can even automatically unlock, allowing you to quickly leave if you have a fire or dangerous situation.

Living Room/Family Room Safety Checklist For Portland

You’ll spend a lot of time in your family room, so it’s the most reasonable room to optimize your home safety. Highly sought after items, like your TV or stereo system, usually are located in your living room, making it a tempting room for robbers. Begin with placing a motion sensor or security camera in your room, then take a look at the following safety protocols:

Motion Detectors: By installing motion detectors, you’ll hear a loud siren anytime they sense unusual motion in your family room. Look for motion sensors that filter out pet movements or you’ll see a tripped alarm each time your pet roams by for a midnight stroll.
Security Camera: An indoor security camera offers a visual on your living room. View constant streams of the area so you can know what’s downstairs through the mobile app. Or talk with family members when they get back from school by using the two-way talk feature.
Surge Protector/Cord Maintenance: Protect all your electronics and quit overtaxing your circuits with a surge protector. For added comfort, use a smart plug with a surge protector built-in.
Furniture Secured To The Wall: If you have babies or toddlers, you’ll want to bolt your entertainment center or other heavy furniture to the wall. This is extra crucial if your family room uses rugs or carpet that can make furniture extra wobbly.
Special Locks For Sliding Glass Doors: If your family room uses a sliding glass door that leads to a backyard, deck, or porch, you probably get that the lock is fairly flimsy. Install a custom lock, like a bottom bar or locks that secures the door to the bottom and top of the opening.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Portland

The kitchen has many items that can bring safety to your home. Some of these things are also simple to add and can be bought from the a retail store:

Fire Extinguisher: A fire can spring up from a neglected pot or a faulty burner. Always store a fire extinguisher in close reach for any stove or oven emergencies.
Circuit Interrupter Box On Every Outlet: A GFCI outlet should be installed anywhere there’s nearby water to ward off a deadly shock. That includes the plug outlets close to your kitchen counter and sink. Since 1987, it’s been standard to have one circuit interrupter outlet per dedicated circuit. But if you don’t want your whole kitchen to turn off when one outlet trips, you’re going to want to use a separate GFCI on each outlet.

Monitored Carbon Monoxide Detector: A CO detector is handy in spaces that employ gas for the stove and oven. If your gas burners spring a leak, the carbon monoxide detector will play a loud siren and call your monitoring agent.
Clorox Wipes Or Spray: The most overlooked safety hazard in the kitchen is the viruses, bacteria, and protein that comes with blood from meat and other foods. Always keep cleaning wipes or spray to clean your area when cooking.
Freezer and Refrigerator Alarm: The milk, meat, and perishables in the fridge need to remain at a chilly temperature to be healthy to use. If you leave the freezer or refrigerator door ajar, then a constant beep will tell you to shut it securely. Some refrigerators come with an alarm, some won’t, and you’ll have to buy a fridge alarm from the hardware store.

Bathroom Safety Checklist For Portland

Just because you may not have a lot of room in your bathroom there’s still safety issues. From flood detectors to medicine care, here are a few safety improvements for your bathroom:

Flood Sensors: A leaking toilet or bathtub can cause a whole lot of destruction. Deal with a water problem with a flood detector and save yourself from redoing the entire bathroom.
No-slip Bath Mats: A slip in the bathroom can be a painful occurrence, causing cuts, gashed heads, or sprained ankles. You can prevent these issues with a non-slip bathroom mat for while you towel off.

Textured Bathtub Stickies: Likewise, a tub basin can be a slippery surface to be on. Make sure every bathtub has some textured stickies so your feet have a bumpy patch for stability.

Medicine Door Latch: If you have little kids or a family member with memory lapses, you should take extra attention regarding prescription medicine. Safeguard your bottles by installing a medicine cabinet with a locking latch.

GFCI Circuits: Just like the kitchen, you will have to also use a surge protecting GFCI outlet on every bathroom circuit. This will stop the flow of the electric current if water enters the outlet or there’s an unusual spike from a curling iron or hair dryer.

Child’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Portland

Your kid’s bedroom should counterbalance safety with manageability. If their window treatments or other things are safe but tricky to manage, then your children may perform unsafe methods -- like climb a chest of drawers -- to open them. Here are 5 easy, yet safe, ideas:

No Cord Window Coverings: Safety professionals have long called window treatment cords a hidden problem for both children and pets. Install motorized treatments that you can easily manage with a remote control. Or better yet, pair your shades to your security system so they rise automatically when the sun comes up, and close at bedtime for added darkness.

Indoor Security Camera: A camera placed on your child’s desk can double as a baby monitor that you can see from a smartphone. And if they need something, they can hit the two-way talk feature included on the camera.

Outlet Covers: While every outlet should use protective covers on them when you have small children, this is especially needed in a child’s bedroom. It’s the one room in your home where your children will most likely hang out alone without parental supervision.

Window Escape Ladder: If you have bedrooms on above the first story, then you should install a window escape ladder. These can let a young one leave the house in case the stairway or lower levels are on fire. Remember to practice how to unfurl them at least twice a year.

Toy Chest Or Low Shelves: It’s weird to look at a toy box as a safety component, but you’ll see the light if you’ve ever stepped on a Lego in your stocking feet. A uncluttered floor means a quick escape during an emergency.

Master Bedroom Safety Checklist For Portland

Your bedroom should be a refuge, so let your safety items give you peace of mind when you have an emergency event. After all, being startled awake by a wailing buzzer can be confusing.

Smart Hub Touchscreen: Having a touchscreen on your nightstand helps you know what’s happening without leaving your bed. You could always log into your ADT phone app but, the touchscreen is often faster to use when you’re yawning and disoriented.

Personal Charging Station: We rely on our smartphones for so many things now GPS, news readers, social media, and sometimes even phones. However, a dead phone will cut us off from reaching help if something goes wrong. To keep it nice and ready, a an easy-to-use charging station is should be used nightly.

Nightlights Or Voice Activated Smart Lights: A tiny light can calm you when you’re startled awake from an alarm or other loud sounds. If you have trouble falling asleep with a nightlight, install smart lights in your bedroom. Then you can have light anytime with a mobile device or voice command.
Fireproof Safe: Keep your essential documents like birth certificates, stock certificates, or a spare checkbook in a fireproof safe. Your safe can be a bigger one that camps out in a corner or a small handheld lockbox that you can snatch as you escape during an emergency event.

Temperature Sensor: The drawback with most bedrooms is that they can be too stuffy or be frigid because they are across the house from the thermostat. A temperature sensor will talk to your smart thermostat so you should have a pleasant, peaceful sleep at the perfect temperature.

Garage/Basement Safety Checklist For Portland

Most safety needs in the garage or basement have to do with your water or heating system. Finding issues before they start can stave away larger disasters in the future. So, as you walk around your garage or basement, check over these critical items:

Water Sensor Or Sump Pump Alarm: Placing a flood sensor next to your water heater and sump pump drain can save you from finding a pond when you step into your basement or garage. It’s much better than sorting through a bunch of destroyed storage boxes.

CO Detector: It’s beneficial to have a CO alarm in areas where a natural gas leak can occur. If you use gas heating, try to put an alarm in the same room as your HVAC unit.
Remote Water Shutoff Valve: If your water sensor detects a hot water leak or a burst pipe, then you will want to shut off the primary water valve quickly. With a wireless shutoff valve, you can block water flow from your phone. That’s perfect when you’re out of town and receive an emergency leak alert on your smartphone.
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage door up causes all sorts of problems. You can waste HVAC energy through that open door, and critters or lurkers can just wander in. A sensor will notify you about a neglected garage door and allow you to close it through the app.
Temperature Sensor: A temperature alarm in your basement or garage is a definite if you wonder about your pipes freezing. The temperature in these areas can be wildly different than your main rooms of the house, so you will need to maintain a closer eye on the temperature through your security mobile app.

Home Perimeter Safety Checklist for Portland

Your front yard, driveway, and front porch are just as imperative to secure as the rest of your house. Try this checklist to make your outside safe:

Doorbell Camera: See who’s knocking on the front door before you open it and welcome visitors. View deliveries and record video clips if they vanish off the step.

Outdoor Security Camera: You can install outdoor security cameras to notify you about suspicious movement in your yard. These devices are nice in places where you may not have a window -- like around a cellar or by the garage door.

Low Shrubs: Tall bushes can create some solitude, but they also hinder your line of sight of the yard and curb. Don’t provide potential intruders an area to hide. Plus, high bushes, shrubs or greenery around your structure can obstruct gutters and invite ants and termites.
ADT Yard Signs: One of the biggest deterrents for a thief is alerting potential intruders that you have a monitored ADT security system. An ADT sign by the main walk and a window decal will alert ne'er-do-wells that they ought to shove off to an unprotected target.

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

Use Secure24 Alarm Systems To Help You With Your Home Safety Checklist for Portland

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t install each household item on your Portland home safety checklist, we can discuss a customized security system. With everything from alarms to thermostats, we can personalize the ideal system for your house’s needs. Simply call (503) 300-4377 to get started or send in the form below. Or personalize your own ADT system with our Security System Designer.