Home Safety Checklist For Birmingham

Being safe and secure in your residence should be your number one responsibility. But are you forgetting some key safety components? Look over this home safety checklist for Birmingham and see where your home can use greater attention.

This guide starts with five whole-home safety ideas, and then we break it down to specific room ideas. Then, call (205) 203-0526 or complete the form below for additional information.

Essential Home Safety Checklist for Birmingham

While you may want to take a room-by-room method for home safety in Birmingham, there are some things that are good for the whole home. These components can link with one another through a wireless hub, and can even respond to other things. You might also control each of your home safety components with a mobile app, like ADT Control:

Monitored Home Security System: Each one of your entryways should employ a sensor that warns you to a break-in. When an alarm goes off, your monitoring agent responds to the call and quickly sends a first responder.

Smart Bulbs For Each Room: Of course, you can program your smart bulbs so your house is more energy-efficient. But they can also help you remain safe during an emergency. Have your lights come on when an alarm trips to scare off burglars or illuminate a path to a safe location.

Smart Thermostat: Like your smart lights, a smart thermostat in Birmingham could save you between 10%-15% in energy costs. It also can start an exhaust fan if you have a fire.

Monitored Smoke Detectors: It’s code that you should have a fire detector on every floor. You can improve your fire preparedness by hanging a monitored fire detector that senses unusual heat and smoke, and pings your 24/7 monitoring experts when it thinks that there’s a fire.

Smart Lock For Every Door: Every doorway that needs a keyed lock can use a smart lock. Now you may program key codes to friends and family and receive alerts to your smartphone when they are unlocked. Your locks can even automatically unlock, allowing you to quickly leave during a fire or other emergency.

Living Room/Family Room Safety Checklist For Birmingham

You’ll spend most of your time in the family room, so it’s the perfect area to kick off your home safety optimization. Electronics, like a big screen or video game console, probably sit in your family room, making it a popular area for burglars. Start with installing a motion detector or indoor camera in your room, then continue on with the following ideas:

Motion Sensors: By hanging motion sensors, you’ll hear a high-decibel alarm if they sense unexpected movement in your family room. Look for motion sensors that ignore a dog or cat or you’ll see an alert every time your dog roams by for a midnight stroll.
Indoor Camera: An indoor security camera puts a constant watch on your family room. View real-time feeds of everything so you can find out what’s happening from the mobile app. Or speak with your kids in the family room by using the two-way talk feature.
Surge Protector/Outlet Maintenance: Protect expensive electronics and stop overtaxing your outlets with a surge protector. For extra convenience, install a smart plug with a surge protector in the unit.
Furniture Bolted To The Wall: If you have any small children, you’ll need to secure your entertainment center or other heavy furniture to a wall. This is extra important if your family room uses carpeting that might make objects extra wobbly.
Special Locks For Sliding Doors: If your family room uses a sliding door that opens to a deck, patio, or outside porch, you know that the door lock is pretty flimsy. Use a special lock, like a bottom bar or small locks that bolt to the bottom and top of the frame.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Birmingham

Your kitchen has many items that should add safety to your house. Many of these things are also simple to add and can be found in the a retail store:

Fire Extinguisher: Fire can spring up from a neglected skillet or a faulty burner. Always store a fire extinguisher at hand for any cooking mishaps.
GFCI Box On Each Outlet: A GFCI outlet should be used anywhere they’re close to running water to ward off electrocution. That means the plugs close to your kitchen counter and sink. For 30 years, it’s been standard to have one circuit interrupter outlet per circuit. But for simplicity’s sake, you’ll want to use a separate GFCI for every outlet.

Monitored CO Detector: A carbon monoxide detector is advised for kitchens that employ gas for the stove and oven. If your gas lines leak, the carbon monoxide detector will play a high-decibel siren and call your monitoring agent.
Disinfectant Wipes Or Spray: The most overlooked safety hazard in the kitchen is actually bacteria and cross-contamination that comes with blood from meat and vegetables. Always store antiviral wipes or an antibacterial spray to clean your counters after cooking.
Refrigerator/Freezer Alarm: The food items in your fridge have to remain at a chilly temperature to stay safe to consume. If you accidently leave the refrigerator door open too long, then an alarm beep will remind you to check the seal. Some appliances already have an alarm, some won’t, and you’ll have to buy a fridge alarm from online.

Bathroom Safety Checklist For Birmingham

Just because you may not have a bunch of room in your bathroom doesn’t mean that there aren’t safety issues. From flood detectors to anti-surge outlets, here are five safety tips for your bathroom:

Flood Sensors: A leaking toilet or shower can cause an expensive amount of destruction. Find out early about leaks with a flood detector before they generate hundreds to thousands of dollars in ruined floors, walls, and fixtures.
No-slip Bathroom Mats: A slip in the bathroom can be a painful occurrence, causing bumps, sore joints, or trips to the hospital. Or prevent these hazards with a non-slip bath mat for after your bath or shower.

Textured Bathtub Stickies: Another water hazard, a tub can be a slick surface to stand in. Make sure every bathtub has some non-slip stickers so your feet and toes have a rough patch for stability.

Medicine Door Latch: If you have little kids or someone with memory difficulties, you need to take additional care regarding medicine. Safeguard your prescriptions by using a medicine cabinet with a locking latch.

GFCI Circuits: While installing better outlets in the kitchen, you will have to also put in a safer GFCI outlet on every bathroom circuit. These will cut the current if water splashes on them or there’s an unusual jolt from an electric razor or hair dryer.

Child’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Birmingham

Your child’s bedroom should counterbalance safety with simplicity. If their window treatments or other items are safe but tricky to manage, then your kids may get around the device with risky activities -- like scale a bookshelf -- to touch them. Here are some straightforward, yet safe, ideas:

Cordless Window Treatments: Safety experts have long called corded window treatments a secret hazard for kids and pets. Put in motorized treatments that you can easily open and close via remote control. Or go state-of-the-art and pair your motorized treatments to your security system so they open on a schedule at dawn, and go down at night for extra privacy.

Tableside Security Camera: An indoor security camera placed on your toddler’s desk can act like an HD baby monitor that you can watch from a smartphone. And if they need something, they can push the 2-way talk feature included on the camera.

Outlet Plug Covers: While every outlet should have protective covers on them when you have small children, this is doubly important in their bedroom. It’s the one place in your home where your toddler will most likely be alone without constant additional supervision.

Window Fire Ladder: If you use bedrooms on an upper level, then you need to have a window fire ladder. These can help a young one leave the house when the stairs or ground floor are engulfed in smoke and fire. Just remember to go over how to unfurl them at least twice a year.

Toy Chest Or Low Shelves: It’s interesting to think about a toy box as a safety item, but you’ll understand if you’ve ever walked on a building block in your bare feet. A uncluttered floor gives your child a quick way out when there’s a fire or break-in.

Main Bedroom Safety Checklist For Birmingham

The master bedroom should be an oasis, so let your safety items make you more responsive if you have an emergency. After all, being jerked awake by a loud alarm can be confusing.

Security System Touchscreen: Having a touchscreen on your dresser gives you a sense of what’s what that noise was without getting out of bed. You could always use your ADT smartphone app but, the large touchscreen may be faster to use when you’re yawning and finding your bearings.

Personal Charging Stand: We rely on our phones for almost everything now GPS, internet searches, games, and sometimes even phones. However, an uncharged device will cut us off from communications if there’s a problem. So, a charging station or cord becomes an important part of your nightstand.

Nightlight/Smart Lights: A plug-in light can be a beacon when you’re startled awake from a fire alarm or other sounds. If you have trouble falling asleep with a small nightlight, put in a smart bulb in your bedroom. Then you can control light anytime with a button push or vocal command.
Fireproof Lockbox: Stash your important documents like insurance cards, passports, or a spare checkbook in a fireproof lockbox. Your lockbox can be a big one that camps out in a corner or a small portable safe that you can carry on your way out during an emergency event.

Heat Sensor: The drawback with bedrooms is that they can feel too stuffy or be chilly since they are across the house from the thermostat. A temperature sensor will communicate to your smart thermostat so you can have a comfortable, peaceful sleep at the perfect temperature.

Garage/Basement Safety Checklist For Birmingham

Most safety issues in the garage or basement deal with your pipes or furnace. Seeing issues before they start can prevent bigger problems in the future. So, as you take a look around your basement or garage, take note of these safety items:

Flood Detector Or Sump Pump Alarm: Installing a flood alarm next to your water heater and sump pump can save you from wading into a mess when you step into your garage or basement. The last you need is to spend the weekend bailing out water and sorting through all those ruined boxes.

CO Alarm: It’s nice to install a carbon monoxide alarm in a place where a natural gas leak can happen. If you employ a gas furnace, you should put an alarm in the same room as your unit.
WiFi Water Shutoff Valve: If your flood alarm detects a plumbing leak or a broken pipe, then you will want to shut off the main water valve quickly. With a WiFi shutoff valve, you can stop water flow from any mobile device. That’s nice when you’re on vacation and get an emergency leak alert on your smartphone.
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage up causes all sorts of problems. You can waste heat through that large opening, and all sorts of animals or lurkers can just wander in. A sensor will notify you about a neglected garage door and lets you close it through the app.
Temperature Sensor: A heat alarm in your garage or basement is handy if you wonder about freezing pipes. The heat in these rooms can be wildly different than the main part of the house, so you may want to have a close look on the temperature through your mobile app.

Outside Safety Checklist for Birmingham

Your yard, driveway, and front porch are just as imperative to defend as the interior of your home. Try the items on this checklist to defend your perimeter:

Doorbell Security Camera: See who’s arrived at the the front step before you answer it and welcome guests. Get a visual on deliveries and look at video clips if they disappear.

Outdoor Security Camera: You can hang outdoor cameras to notify you about suspicious movement in your yard. These devices come in handy in areas where you may not have a view -- like around a cellar or by the garage door.

Low Bushes: Overgrown foliage can create some privacy, but they also block your line of sight of the outside. Don’t give potential burglars an area to hide. Plus, tall shrubs or greenery around your structure can clog gutters and invite ants and termites.
ADT Yard Signs: One of the most popular deterrents for home intrusion is telling potential burglars that you use a state-of-the-art security system. An ADT yard stick by the stoop and a window sticker will tell people that they might want to move on to an unprotected score.

Motion Triggered Flood Light Fixtures: Light is the largest deterrent to people who skulk in the dark. Motion-triggered flood lights on your porch, garage, or deck can frighten lurkers away. Lights also help you see the walk when you come to the house late after work.

Call Secure24 Alarm Systems To Help You With Your Home Safety Checklist for Birmingham

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t install non-security devices on your Birmingham home safety checklist, we can install a customized home security system. With easy-to-use devices and ADT monitoring, we can customize the perfect system for your family’s needs. Just call (205) 203-0526 to get started or fill out the form below. Or customize your own solution with our Security System Designer.