Deadbolt locks on your home

Do you have deadbolts on your home?

  • Yes, on all doors

    Votes: 87 78.4%
  • Yes, on one door

    Votes: 9 8.1%
  • No

    Votes: 15 13.5%

  • Total voters
    111
I can’t sleep without a deadbolt. However I did grow up In a town where there was truly no reason to lock doors. You have to experience to understand. Keys left in cars etc.
We never lock our house when we go out (except when we leave for vacation), but we do lock it up at night when we go to bed. I guess our thought is that we aren't really concerned with anything getting stolen while we are away, but it would be awful if someone came in while we were inside sleeping.

Having lived in very small Kansas towns (1200-1600 pop.) for over 20 years, I agree with your wife. For about half that time, I lived alone and never felt unsafe. Didn't have deadbolts in any of the four homes I lived in during those years.

Two of the three towns were on a major highway to the Southwest. Still was considered odd to lock doors. People even would dash into grocery or post office and leave their car running.

Yes, I really think it depends where you are. Growing up in FL, you always had to lock your house and your car in the driveway. Living on a farm in rural NY, no one locked anything and you would often see cars running with the keys in them. Currently, I have two houses-- one where we live and one that I use as an Airbnb rental in a small city about 30 minutes away. One gets locked and the other does not.
 
We know several families whose homes were broken into the same night. Their kids were all on a soccer team that had an away game that day. All homes were accessed through a window. The thieves moved quickly and took valuables (jewelry, etc.). I don't know if the homes had deadbolts or not, but if they did it would not have prevented the robbery.
 
On our front door and the back door at the garage, not the sliding glass door (which I'm not sure is even possible) or the actual garage door (which again I'm not sure is a thing?)
 
We have double cylinder deadbolts on all exterior doors. For those that may not know, it's the kind that requires a key on the inside and outside.
Some unsolicited advice from a retired LEO who has taken hundreds of reports for breakins and even more security surveys deadbolts work. Here's a little secret about locks. If someone really wants to get in to your residence for a specific reason, they will. All locks do is make life difficult for the casual offender. You only want to make them move to your next door neighbor where it's not as difficult.
Sorry to be blunt here but those who didn't lock their houses or cars, or left the car keys in the car we used to call volunteer victims.
 


I have Yale smart locks on my external doors. They tie into my security system and I can lock and unlock them remotely as well as getting a notice when that occurs.
 
Just the door from the garage to the house has a deadbolt. 2 other exterior doors have the number pad lock and then 1 slider that has an extra foot lock. When we bought the house it did not have any deadbolts, just the original doorknobs (1963 home) which were this interesting push-and-turn-to-lock style.
 


We have deadbolts on the front door, door from the garage into the house and the door from the garage to the back yard. The door from the garage into the house is a keypad lock and the other 2 are keyed locks.
 
I live in a big city, and in the multiple homes I have had - outside of the apartments - none have had a deadbolt. Have never given it a second thought.
 
Deadbolts are needed about as much as insurance. 99% of the time, they're not needed. But when they are needed, you'll be glad you have them.

We have them on the front door, the back deck door and the downstairs exterior door. I can't remember if there's one on the door from the garage to the side of the house. However, ALL of the doors have glass (and a good amount of it) in them. A deadbolt isn't going to prevent someone from getting in the house if they want to.
 
These two statements are kind of mutually exclusive. "Deadbolts are necessary. And also they aren't going to stop anyone."
No, they do make sense. His point is that deadbolts stop the people who aren't "specifically" targeting you or your house - the wandering drunk who thinks your house is his house, the teenage kids who are just doing a gang initiation or a dare, the desperate addict just needing quick cash, etc.

But, if someone is specifically targeting you or your house, they won't care about the extra 5-10 minutes it takes to figure out how to get in. They will stay to do it.
 
No, they do make sense. His point is that deadbolts stop the people who aren't "specifically" targeting you or your house - the wandering drunk who thinks your house is his house, the teenage kids who are just doing a gang initiation or a dare, the desperate addict just needing quick cash, etc.

But, if someone is specifically targeting you or your house, they won't care about the extra 5-10 minutes it takes to figure out how to get in. They will stay to do it.
Crimes of convenience are going to be deterred by a "normal" lock just as much as a deadbolt.
 
And yes, I voted - have deadbolts on all doors. Heck, I have the extra strong/long ones and I also have a door chain lock, just to be one extra pita for anyone looking to break in...that will last 30 seconds, but it's away from the other locks, so one more thing for someone to have to get through when they only thought they had to beat the deadbolt...
 
My neighbor didn't think she needed a deadbolt either. Then one day she locked her keys in her house and came to me for help. I jimmied her door in about 2 seconds with my drivers license. After that she asked me to help her install a deadbolt.
Personally when I close on a house, the first thing I do is go replace all of the locks. You don't know who might have had a key.
 
These two statements are kind of mutually exclusive. "Deadbolts are necessary. And also they aren't going to stop anyone."
If you don't take the statements out of context, they're not exclusive. The first statement was a general one, applies to everyone. The second statement was about *MY* situation. Although I have deadbolts on the doors, a good portion of the doors are glass, so someone who REALLY wants to get in the house (OUR house) can, regardless of the deadbolt being there. If you have a door that doesn't have a lot of glass, a deadbolt may prevent someone from breaking in.
 
Locks simply keep honest people honest. (After all, why do the police have locks on their lockers at work?) If a person wants something badly enough, very few locks will deter them.
 
Yes to deadbolts! We just replaced our front double doors and not only did we make sure we have deadbolts, we got an iron door. Not only because they're so nice, but for safety reasons.
 

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