Home Security Checklist: What a Locksmith Checks in Your House

Updated September 2026. Written and checked by the technicians at Safe & Secure Locksmith, 4105 Macdonald St, Vancouver. Every figure below matches our published price list. Call 604-734-7233 for a quote before anyone is dispatched.

How we walk a house

When we look at a property, we do not start at the front door lock. We start at the perimeter and work in, because entry is chosen by opportunity rather than by hardware. Here is the same walkthrough you can do yourself in about half an hour.

The approach

Stand on the pavement and look at your house the way a stranger would. Which side is invisible from the street or from neighbours? Where would you go if you did not want to be seen? That is where the effort should go.

Hedges above window height, a solid side gate that hides someone once through it, a dark passage down the side: all of these are worth more attention than the lock on the front door. Trim, light and, where sensible, add a gate that is bolted rather than latched.

The front door

Check four things. Does the door close without being pushed, or has the frame moved? Is the strike plate held by long screws into the stud, or two short ones into trim? Is there a deadbolt with a full one-inch throw, and does it extend fully without forcing? Are the hinges tight, with at least one long screw per hinge?

The strike plate is the one that matters most and costs least. That argument is made in full in why your strike plate matters more than your lock.

The back and side doors

These are usually weaker than the front and always less watched. Common faults: a knob lock with no deadbolt, a hollow-core door that was never meant to be exterior, a screen door that gives a false sense of a second barrier, and glass panels beside the lock that make a thumbturn reachable.

Where there is glass within arm's reach of the lock, a double-cylinder deadbolt is one answer, but check the fire-exit implications first and never leave the interior key out of reach in a household with children. If the door itself is not an exterior door, that is a bigger fix: door repair.

Sliding doors and patios

Test whether the door lifts in its track. If it does, an anti-lift pin through the upper frame stops it. Add a bar or a cut length of dowel in the track. Factory slider latches are light-duty and are not the barrier people assume.

Windows

Ground floor and basement first. Every latch should actually engage; painted-over latches on older Vancouver houses often do not. Sash windows can take a pin through the frame that allows a few inches of ventilation without allowing entry. Basement windows are the most-forgotten opening in the house and one of the most used.

The garage

The side door needs a proper deadbolt. The overhead door emergency release should be shielded per the manufacturer's guidance. And the internal door from the garage into the house is an exterior door and needs exterior hardware, because once someone is in the garage they are out of sight. See garage door repair.

Lighting and visibility

Motion lights on the side and back approaches. A light at the front door that works. Nothing beside a door that can be climbed on or hidden behind. Bins and ladders put away, because a ladder left out is an upstairs window opened.

Keys

Count them. How many exist, and who has them? If you moved in and did not rekey, the honest answer is that you do not know. Rekeying every exterior cylinder is $25 to $45 per cylinder on standard hardware and ends the question: lock rekey Vancouver.

No hidden key outside. Under the mat and the fake rock are both checked. Use a proper key safe mounted away from the door, or leave a spare with a neighbour, which also solves a lockout for the price of a $5 to $15 key rather than an $80 to $160 call-out.

Safes and valuables

Anything small and valuable, meaning documents, jewellery, spare car keys and cash, is worth a bolted-down safe rather than a drawer. An unbolted safe is a box that gets carried out. Ratings and bolting are covered in choosing a safe and the range is on safes Vancouver.

Going away

Make the house look occupied rather than announcing that it is not. Timers on interior lights, mail and parcels collected by a neighbour, no social posts until you are home, bins put out and brought in. A house that visibly has nobody in it for a week is the easiest target on the street.

The order of spending

Strike plates and hinges. Garage. Sliders and basement windows. Lighting and sightlines. Then rekeying. Then, if the specific risk warrants it, better cylinders. The reasoning is in how burglars actually get in, and if you would rather have someone walk it with you, that is the residential locksmith page.

Article history

Updated September 2026. Rewritten as a walkthrough rather than a list of tips, with the fixes in the order a locksmith would actually recommend spending on them.