Home Safety Checklist For Fort Worth

Being safe in your house should be your number one priority. But are you missing some useful safety items? Look over this home safety checklist for Fort Worth and see where your house needs greater attention.

This guide begins with five whole-house safety items, and then we break it down to specific room ideas. Then, you can call (817) 415-2313 or fill out the form below to get your house safe and secure.

Essential Home Safety Checklist for Fort Worth

While you will want to use a room-by-room approach to home safety in Fort Worth, there are some things that are practical for your entire house. These components can sync with one another through a touchscreen hub, and often can react to one another. You might also manage every one of your home safety devices through a mobile app, such as ADT Control:

Monitored Home Security System: Each one of your entryways should have a sensor that alerts your family to intrusion. After an alarm goes off, your monitoring team answers the call and quickly sends emergency personnel.

Smart Lights For Each Room: Sure, you can schedule your smart lights to become more efficient. But they can also allow you to stay safe in an emergency. Make your downstairs lights flash on when a sensor goes off to shoo off robbers or light the way out to a safe location.

Smart Thermostat: Likewise, a smart thermostat in Fort Worth could save you 10%-15% in gas and electric costs. But it also can start your exhaust fan during a fire.

Monitored Smoke Detectors: At the very least, you will have a fire detector on every level. You can increase your fire readiness by installing a monitored fire alarm that detects both smoke and heat, and pings your 24/7 monitoring experts when it thinks that there’s a fire.

Smart Locks: Every door that needs a keyed lock can upgrade to a smart door lock. Now you can preset numbered codes to family and friends and receive notifications to your phone when your locks are used. Your smart lock can even automatically open, letting you quickly leave during a fire or dangerous situation.

Family Room Safety Checklist For Fort Worth

You’ll hang out most in the family room, so it may be the best place to start making your home more secure. Popular items, like a TV or video games, probably sit in your family room, making it a tempting area for burglars. Begin with placing a motion detector or security camera in your room, then take a look at all these ideas:

Motion Sensors: By hanging motion sensors, you’ll get a shrieking siren if they sense unusual motion within your family room. Look for motion sensors that ignore pets or you’ll see your sirens go off each time your dog roams by for a midnight stroll.
Indoor Security Camera: An indoor security camera offers a constant watch on your living room. View constant feeds of everything so you can find out what’s happening through the mobile app. Or chat with your kids when they come home from playing with the two-way talk feature.
Surge Protector/Cord Maintenance: Protect those electronics and quit overburdening your electric system with a surge protector. For additional energy-efficiency, use a smart plug with surge protection built-in.
Heavy Furniture Attached To The Wall: If you have curious kids, you’ll want to bolt your entertainment center or other heavy furniture to the wall. This is especially crucial if your family room has rugs or carpet that might make objects extra unbalanced.
Enhanced Locks For Glass Doors: If your living room uses a sliding door that opens to a deck, patio, or porch, you can see that the latch is fairly flimsy. Put in a special lock, like a bottom bar or locks that secures the door to the top and bottom of the frame.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Fort Worth

The kitchen has many items that should provide comfort and safety to your home. Most of these objects are also simple to add and can be bought from the grocery store:

Fire Extinguisher: Fire can happen from an unwatched skillet or an errant grease splatter. Always store a fire extinguisher in close reach for any cooking emergencies.
Circuit Interrupter Box On Each Outlet: A circuit interrupter outlet should be standard on outlets where there’s nearby water to prevent an electric shock. That means the plug outlets close to your kitchen counter and sink. For 30 years, it’s been required to have one circuit interrupter outlet per dedicated circuit. But if you don’t want every outlet to go dead when one outlet surges, you’re going to want to install a single GFCI per outlet.

Monitored CO Detector: A carbon monoxide detector is advised for spaces that use a gas stove and oven. If your gas lines leak, the carbon monoxide detector will cause a loud sound and contact your monitoring professional.
Clorox Wipes Or Spray: The most overlooked safety issue in the kitchen is the invisible bacteria and cross-contamination that comes with blood from meat and dairy. Always store antiviral wipes or an antibacterial spray to clean your area when preparing food.
Freezer and Refrigerator Alarm: The items in your fridge should stay at a chilly temperature to stay safe to eat. If you leave the freezer or refrigerator door ajar, then a small beep will tell you to check the seal. Some refrigerators already have this installed, some won’t, and you’ll have to buy a refrigerator alarm from the store.

Bathroom Safety Checklist For Fort Worth

Just because you don’t a bunch of square footage in your bathroom doesn’t mean that there aren’t safety concerns. From water problems to electric safety, here are a few safety tips for your bathroom:

Flood Detectors: A leaking toilet or shower can lead to a whole lot of damage. Discover pooling water early with a flood detector and save a bunch of money from renovations.
Textured Shower Mats: A fall in the bathroom can be devastating, causing bumps, gashed heads, or trips to the hospital. You can prevent these issues with a textured bath mat for your wet feet.

Non-slip Bathtub Strips: Likewise, a bathtub can be a slippery surface to stand in. Make sure each has some no-slip strips so your feet and toes have a textured patch for stability.

Medicine Door Latch: If you have curious kids or someone with memory complications, you should take additional precautions regarding medicine. Hide away your pills and syrups by installing a medicine cabinet with a latch that locks.

GFCI Circuits: Just like the kitchen, you should also use a surge protecting GFCI outlet on each bathroom circuit. These will cut the current if they ever get wet or there’s a harmful surge from an electric razor or hair dryer.

Children’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Fort Worth

Your child’s bedroom should pair safety with accessibility. If their window shades or other items are safe but tricky to manage, then your kids may perform risky activities -- like scale a chest of drawers -- to open them. Try these simple, yet safe, ideas:

Cord-Free Window Treatments: Safety experts have identified window treatment cords a hidden hazard for both children and pets. Put in motorized shades that you can easily control through a remote. Or even better, link your motorized treatments to your ADT smart hub so they rise on a schedule at dawn, and lower at night for an easier sleep.

Indoor Security Camera: An indoor security camera perched on your toddler’s desk can act just like an HD baby monitor that you can see with a mobile device. And when they want something, they can push the intercom talk button on the camera.

Plug Covers: While every outlet should have outlet safety caps on them when you have small children, this is especially important in a child’s bedroom. It’s the one room in your home where your toddler will most likely be alone without parental supervision.

Window Escape Ladder: If you have bedrooms on above the first story, then you will want to put in a window fire ladder. These should let a child get out of their room in case the stairway or ground floor are on fire. Remember to practice how to employ them one or two times a year.

Toy Box Or Low Bookshelves: It’s weird to look at a toy chest as a safety item, but you’ll get it if you’ve ever tramped on a Lego in your bare feet. A clean floor let your child have a quick way out when there’s a safety or security event.

Main Bedroom Safety Checklist For Fort Worth

The master bedroom should be your calm space, so let your safety devices make life easier if you have an emergency. After all, being jerked awake by a high-decibel alarm can be disorienting.

Home Security Touchscreen: Having a smart hub on your dresser helps you know what’s going on without leaving your bed. You could always turn on your ADT phone app. However, the touchscreen may be easier to manage to use when you’re bleary-eyed and disoriented.

Personal Charging Station: We rely on our smartphones for so many things now alarm clocks, news readers, game machines, and --legend has it-- even phones. But, an uncharged cell in the middle of the night cuts us off from communications if something goes wrong. So, a charging station or cord is should be used nightly.

Nightlight/Smart Lights: A plug-in light helps ground you when you’re jolted awake from a siren or other loud sounds. If you can’t fall asleep with an outlet light, install a smart bulb in your bedroom and hall. Then you can control light anytime with a push of a button or voice command.
Fireproof Safe: Keep your essential documents like insurance cards, stock certificates, or a spare checkbook in a fireproof safe. This can be a bigger one that camps out out of the way or a slender portable safe that you can carry as you escape during a fire or other emergency.

Temperature Sensor: The problem with bedrooms is that they can feel too warm or be chilly because they are located far from the thermostat. A heat sensor will talk to your smart thermostat so you can have a nice, relaxing sleep at just the right climate.

Basement/Garage Safety Checklist For Fort Worth

Most safety issues in the basement or garage are with your water heater or HVAC system. Seeing issues at the source can stave away bigger disasters in the future. So, as you take a look around your storage areas, check over these crucial items:

Water Sensor Or Sump Pump Alarm: Putting a flood sensor in back of your water heater or sump pump can stop you from finding a pond when you go into your garage or basement. Do you really want to lose your day getting rid of standing water?

CO Alarm: It’s nice to have a carbon monoxide alarm in a place where a gas leak can happen. If you use gas heat, you should hang a detector in the same place as your HVAC unit.
Wireless Water Shutoff Valve: If your flood detector detects a plumbing leak or a busted pipe, then you will want to cut off the primary water pipe quickly. With a WiFi shutoff valve, you can block water flow from any mobile device. That’s helpful when you’re out of town and get a water leak text on your smartphone.
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage door up leads to all sorts of problems. You can lose heat or air through that open door, and rodents or intruders can just saunder in. A remote sensor will text you about an open garage door and allow you to close it with your phone.
Temperature Sensor: A heat sensor in your garage or basement is handy if you worry about frozen pipes. The temperature in these rooms can be drastically different than the rest of the home, so you may need to have a close look on them by using your security mobile app.

Home Perimeter Safety Checklist for Fort Worth

Your front yard, driveway, and front step are just as crucial to defend as the rest of your home. Try this checklist to make your outside safe:

Doorbell Camera: See who’s arrived at the front door before you answer it and welcome visitors. See package deliveries and review video clips if they are stolen.

Outdoor Camera: You can place outdoor security cameras to alert you to late night activity in your back yard. These cameras come in handy in areas where you might not have a view -- like around a cellar or by the garage.

Low Shrubbery: Overgrown bushes can create some solitude, but they also hinder your line of sight of the yard. Don’t provide potential burglars a dark shadow to hide. Plus, tall shrubs or foliage too close to your home can clog gutters and bring in bugs.
ADT Signs And Decals: One of the most popular disincentives for a thief is advertising to aspiring intruders that you use a state-of-the-art ADT security system. An ADT yard sign by the main walk and a window sticker will tell people that they ought to move on to an easier house.

Motion Triggered Outside Lighting: Light is the biggest obstacle to people who lurk in the dark. Motion-controlled flood lights on your deck, patio, or garage can shoo possible intruders away. They also help you see the walk when you get back home late after work.

Call Secure24 Alarm Systems To Help You Finish Your Home Safety Checklist for Fort Worth

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t deliver non-security devices on your Fort Worth home safety checklist, we can bring you a powerful security system. With easy-to-use devices and ADT monitoring, we can customize the ideal system for your family’s needs. Simply call (817) 415-2313 for more information or send in the form below. Or customize your own solution with our Security System Designer.