Do you lock your doors?

[chrisinhouston]

On Saturday my wife and I had to be gone most of the day and since my son was also gone for the weekend and the wife's car was being repaired we had no vehicles in our driveway and I decided to lock the door.

I realized that we keep our front door locked all the time and the storm door in front of it but rarely lock the back door which is the one we always use. I think we lock it about half the time at night, the wife tends to let the dog out before bed so I think she locks it because it is usually locked when I let the dog out first thing in the morning. However we rarely lock it during the day. I come and go during week days as I run out to do errands and we do have a gate across the drive way that we keep shut. We live in a fairly upscale neighborhood where the crime rate isn't too bad. You read about the occasional break in but we just don't feel too vulnerable because of our big gate I guess. We also have a dog who barks but she is pretty friendly so I don't think she is much of a deterrent.

If I plan to be gone all day and especially if the public schools are out I tend to lock the door. I guess I just figure kids might be more apt to cause some mischief. But most of the time the door is unlocked.

[glatt]

The front door latches tighter when the deadbolt is locked, so in the winter we keep the door locked all the time to keep drafts out, even if we are home.

Year round, I check the doors to make sure they are locked when I go to bed.

We always lock the front door when we leave, but sometimes the back door (which goes out into the back yard, opposite the driveway) gets forgotten and stays unlocked all day.

I feel safe in this neighborhood, but lock out of habit.

[fargon]

We lock our door at nite, we have had small children just walk in, so if they are here we lock our door.

[Clodfobble]

Our doors are pretty much locked all day and all night, regardless of whether we're home or not. Locked is just the default position for us. The only time I actively choose to leave it unlocked is when my mom is about to arrive for lunch, or my stepkids are about to arrive for the weekend, and I just want to make it convenient for them to come in.

[lumberjim]

where I grew up, I never locked a door... where I live now... I always lock them when I leave or sleep.

[Sundae]

I lock the doors from the inside during the day when my parents are away.
I might be listening to music, in the shower, drying my hair, watching something online upstairs. So it makes me feel safer. Frm random visitors.

We always lock ourselves in at night, but with a key in the door, in case of a fire.
When I'm alone at night I not only lock myself in and keep the key in the door, but also put the chain on. This is to help me sleep, because there are a number of friends and family members who have a key, and I worry they might come snooping after me. Nonsense because firstly it's never happened and secondly because if the doors are locked and the key left in, no-one can use their keys to get in. But my sister regularly lets herself in when my parents are here, and I often wake up hearing various people say my name when I'm alone.

But weirdly, I'm actually much more cavalier about burglars.
I'll regularly "nip out" without locking the doors if I can't immediately put my hands on my keys. I've even been to work before without locking the back door, because I didn't want to make myself late. Then again, it's a right assault course getting to the back door from anywhere other than the front door.

And we're surrounded by houses, with neighbours who keep an eye on us, especially if they know Mum & Dad are away. So it's spookiness regarding friends and family and sanguine lack of worry regarding crime.

FTR I've been this way all my life.
The first house I lived in, I regularly climbed in the large, deliberately unlocked front window rather than search out my keys.
I never used to leave the deadlock on when I lived in London so I could reach through the letterbox and lift the latch.
And I pretty much never locked the front door of my flat in Leicester unless I was inside. I'd also always put the front door of the building on the latch if I knew I'd be out for less than an hour, and all day if I knew the old lady upstairs was away.

[Undertoad]

College students have broken into the loveshack when it sat unused, so it's always locked and alarmed.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Sundae

The first house I lived in, I regularly climbed in the large, deliberately unlocked front window rather than search out my keys.

In the house I grew up in, the small window over the kitchen sink had a broken lock that my parents never bothered to have repaired. It would have required a fair amount of gymnastics for an adult to climb through, but was no problem for a small child. I used it at least a dozen times when I'd forgotten my key. The hardest part was getting the screen back on after I'd come through the house, so my parents wouldn't know I'd done it.

[Nirvana]

It would have to be a hearty fellow that would walk thru 3-4 feet of snow 1/2 mile back to get in my house. Then they would have to not pee their pants when they heard the Belgians bark joined by the cattle dog and the Chihuahuas.

[Gravdigr]

Our doors are locked whenever we're asleep or gone. Always. Car/Jeep doors locked all the time, even in the driveway.

I wouldn't have a lock that required a key from inside. That's a good way to burn to death.

And besides, how embarrassing would it be to call the locksmith/cops/family member and have to say "Can you help me? I seem to have locked myself inside my house."

[DanaC]

My door handle broke a little while ago, and though I got it sorted and can close and lock the door again, it doesn't stay closed unless it is locked. So nowadays I lock the door when i am inside, so as to avoid mad draughts.

I also lock the door if I am taking Carrotchops for a walk now, whereas I never used to before.

With a fully working door, I lock at night and when out if likely to be gone for more than an hour or so. But during the day, if home it stays unlocked. And dog walks, shop trips etc it stays unlocked.

I shouldn't. Because whilst this is a fairly peaceful little neighbourhood, there are occasional spates of housebreaking. And one of my neighbours was burgled about 10 years ago.

[Gravdigr]

Also: If you were looking for easy targets...our doors are locked and we don't call 911.

[Pamela]

I don't ever lock my house unless I'm going to be gone for more than 48 hours.

I live in a very rural area, with lots of nosy neighbors, few of whom have jobs. Everyone has a dog pack. Mine is the second-largest and the only one that is verified to be dangerous to humans.

That was then, of course. When I had a "normal" life. Now, things are different. I keep it locked at all times and the dogs are gone. So is the wife, for that matter.

[slang]

We lock our doors but it's completely unnecessary IMO.

I'm up all night most of the time and sleep some of the day. My wife sleeps at night and is up during the day.

We have dogs that are such sissies that they could only be a security benefit by barking. If you pet them quickly they might not even bark at all.

There are very few "strangers" in this neighborhood and I've not heard of any thefts. Violent crime here is low but normally theft is high. But not here.

We have a working car but like most people here don't use it much. Sometimes I creep inside and get very quiet to act like we're not home when we are.

Even then the door is locked.

[Griff]

Nope.