Door locking?

joyfullyfound

What's the door locking policy at your house? Always locked? Never locked? Somewhere in between? 

We live in a rural area, so obviously that makes a difference, but our door is really only locked at night. I leave it unlocked when DD and I are home alone together, and when we leave to run errands, etc. I really have no concerns about someone breaking and entering at all, it's not an issue in our area. Even at night we usually forget to lock our back door, haha. 

It drives my MIL crazy that we don't lock our door. She's the total opposite of us, to the point of paranoia... They live more in town, but still. For example, we'll all be over at their house (so she's not home alone) and FIL will take out the garbage to the front curb. He'll be gone literally 5 seconds, but she'll still lock the door behind him so he has to knock to get back in, and then she'll look through the peep hole to confirm it's him before opening it. *cue eye roll*

So, how about you guys? 

Hollylb3

Are you trying to plan whose house to break into?

Ours is pretty well always locked unless it's nice out, then it's open.

MomIn2013

It's always locked overnight, when we go out, and when we're pretty much home all day. If people are over or going in and out a lot we don't usually keep locking it after them, though.

zbeesma86

Front door is locked. The garage is usually open & that door is unlocked. My neighbor is a non-knocker. She just comes right in, which has its pros & cons haha. Maybe I should start locking the garage one too. Haha

notkateanymore

Front door is always locked, side door is unlocked during the day if we're here and locked after it's dark. All doors are locked when we're gone.

khill86

Front door always locked, back door always unlocked during the day, even when we go out. I lock it during nap time because I like to nap, too, and at night. DH doesn't have a key for the house (well he does but doesn't know where it is, so it stays unlocked until he gets home if he'll be late. I'm thinking of getting a keypad lock for the back door. We live in quiet neighbourhood and all of our neighbours are retired.

I've even left notes on the front door for delivery people to put boxes inside the mudroom and that the back door is open. We're probably too trusting. No we ARE too trusting, but only family and two close friends know the door is almost always unlocked.

spring_time

Front door is always locked because that is the door DH leaves out of in the morning, and he is vigilant.  Sliding door unlocked because I let the dog out and never remember to lock it.  Garage access door is unlocked, and the garage is supposed to be closed, but I am usually coming in with hands full and forget to shut it behind me.  I need to be better about it.

jensriot

Our doors are always locked. It's such a habit. I'm not sure I could leave them unlocked if I wanted.

AimeeL85

Our front door stays locked because we don't use it often, it even auto locks after a minute if you do unlock it. The door we use is the door to the garage and that gets locked at night.

We never locked our doors growing up, we didn't even have a key for it. We are kind of rural but I et a little nervous about the fact that our house is set back from the street, so someone could attempt to get in without fear that a neighbor would see.

pitterpatter129

I try to keep it locked.  We do have little ones though, so it also has a safety latch locked on the very top of the door.  I locked the doors even before kids though.

dizzycooks

sing4mysavior said:

Always locked...not when we're in the backyard or taking out the trash...but if we're leaving the house or all staying in...it's locked. I grew up with a paranoid single mom...it's rubbed off on me some hehe.

This. If we are coming in and out or doing outside chores we will have it unlocked, but if we are in we keep it locked. The exception would be the patio door because the dog goes in and out all day, but we lock it when we leave or at night.

shortstuff15

KateB1984 said:

Wow, Joyfully, that's hilarious about your MIL! I cannot think of a single area in that city that would warrant that level of precaution!

We don't lock our door while we're at home, except when we're sleeping. If DH is coming home from work after I go to bed, I leave it unlocked for him. Basically, whoever goes to bed last locks the door. I mostly lock it when we go out, but will occasionally skip it if I'm just running out to pick up the boys from school and realize my key's in a different pocket or something. I very rarely lock our car in the driveway.

I remember watching Bowling for Columbine and when MM said Canadians don't lock their doors, I thought, "Of course we do!!" and then he went around proving it and I realized that he meant while people are AT HOME! The thought had never even crossed my mind to do it while at home, unless you live in a really scary inner-city area.

Our front door is locked while we are home, but we rarely use it so that is why.  Our back door is only locked when I'm having a shower and I don't want the girls letting the dog out.  We've even forgotten to lock it before heading out for dinner or something.  We have a security system that is never turned on unless we are on vacation.  We have a code to unlock the door though, so when my husband is working late, I lock it before going to bed. 

pastalady

We are door lockers. Because DD is a wonderer we have to be vigilant. I have had a few trades people look at me strangely when I turn the deadbolt right after I let them in lol! We also have deadbolts installed up high where DD cannot reach so we probably seem paranoid lol!

kalette

Always locked.

JCM

Our doors are always locked with the exception of the garage access door but the actual garage door is always closed unless we are doing something in the front yard & the cars are locked at night in the garage.  We have a pool in the back yard & a double key deadbolt to make sure DD can't get into the backyard without us.  I'm paranoid about her getting out & heading toward the pool even though we have drilled it into her to only go near the pool when mommy or daddy are around.  Another reason for us locking our front & side door are due to the fact that my house growing up was burglarized 5 times in a 3 year period.  We were never home at the time but it still makes me aware of door locking.  I also don't answer the door for anyone that I'm not expecting.

rosesandpetals

We live in a very safe neighborhood and I still lock all the doors at all times. There's really no downside to locking them. I grew up in a city, though, so I'm sure that has something to do with my mindset. Our windows lock automatically when we close them so I don't have to worry about that.

Eskimokisses13

Ours are always locked. I noticed a neighbor always locked hers after we entered and left her house and I have been doing it ever since.

penguingrrl

Our door gets locked when we go to bed. At least usually. During the day it almost never does, even when I go out to run errands or for activities and stuff. Our house is sited weird on our property, so when the kids are playing the yard they use both the front and side doors interchangeably, so I would forever be locking and unlocking while they're in and out playing if I kept it locked.

When I lived in Manhattan my door was locked all the time (as were the windows, I missed fresh air so much), but now that we're in a small town I don't. 

notreallyirish

We generally lock our doors, but this reminds me of something that happened to a friend of mine. She had 2 little kids and was pregnant with twins. Someone knocked at her door and it turned out to be someone from the sheriffs office going door to door advising people that there had been a few break ins in the neighborhood and reminding them to keep their doors and cars locked. She was like thanks, yeah, yeah we do that anyway and is trying to shut the door on them. They stop her and say, "By the way, ma'am, your keys are in your front door." Oops.

rockyrollgirl

Always locked.

jnksmom

Ours don't door is always locked but we never use it. We either play in the backyard or go out thought thr garage because the kids toys for outside are in the garage. The door from the garage into the house is unlocked unless we are going on vacation but the garage door is usually closed unless we are outside.

Allycat11

Pretty much just like you.  We do our best to lock up at night but during the day when DD and I are home or just out running errands it is typically unlocked.  Honestly our house is easy to break into even if we lock it.  Also, our dog will scare off pretty much anyone who tried to enter without our permission.  

No one in DH's house ever locks up.  My family is the opposite and even when they are home, they lock every single door including doors going from the house to garage and house to storage room that has an exterior door. 

fancynewbeesly

Always locked. We were robbed two years ago, and now I am super vigilant about locking everything. 

bumpuser924057

Everything locked except the door to the garage, but since we don't park in there it's basically just another room of the house.  

peacelove&mama

Ours is always locked, unless the kids are playing outside. We used to leave it unlocked during the day if we were home but SD's sister has an annoying habit of just barging in the house without knocking and talking really loudly (borderline yelling), which has woke the baby up numerous times. Now she has no choice but to knock and wait like everyone else. Oh, and also because of the one time a few years back that the freaking ROPE squad burst in the house and tried to arrest me for something I didn't have any knowledge of, let alone do.