ADT® Authorized Dealer Serving West Bloomfield & Surrounding Areas

Home Safety Checklist For West Bloomfield

Staying safe in your home should be your topmost responsibility. But are you forgetting a few key safety components? Use this home safety checklist for West Bloomfield and find out where your house can use some work.

We give you a few whole-house safety items, and then we whittle it down room-by-room. Then, phone (248) 266-4039 or complete the form below to speak to a security expert.

Whole Home Safety Checklist

Basic Home Safety Checklist for West Bloomfield

While you should employ a room-to-room method for home safety, there are a few methods that work for a lot of your rooms. These components can sync with one another through a smart hub, and oftentimes react to one another. You can also control each of your home safety devices through a smartphone app, such as ADT Control:

  • Monitored Home Security System: All your windows and doors should employ a sensor that notifies you and your family to intrusion. After the alarm goes off, your monitoring center picks up the alert and calls the police or fire department.

  • Smart Lights For Every Major Room: Of course, you can set your smart bulbs so your home is more efficient. But smart lights can also help you remain safe throughout an emergency. Make your downstairs lights flash on when a security alarm triggers to shoo off intruders or light your way to a secure area.

  • Smart Thermostat: Likewise, a smart thermostat in West Bloomfield should save you 10%-15% in utility spending. It also can start your exhaust fan when your alarms senses a fire.

  • Monitored Fire Detectors: It’s code that you will have a smoke detector on each floor. You can improve your fire game by hanging a monitored fire detector that senses excessive smoke and heat, and notifies your 24-hour monitoring agents when it detects a fire.

  • Smart Locks: Every doorway that uses a deadbolt can upgrade to a smart lock. Now you may set codes to friends and family and receive alerts to your phone when your locks are activated. Your doors can even automatically open, allowing you to quickly get out when you have an emergency.

Family Room Safety Checklist

Family Room/Living Room Safety Checklist For West Bloomfield

You’ll spend a lot of time in your family room, so it’s the best room to improve your home safety. Popular items, like a TV or stereo system, probably are located in your living room, making it a tempting space for robbers. Start with hanging a motion detector or indoor camera in there, then take a look at some of these ideas:

  • Motion Detectors: By putting in motion detectors, you’ll have a shrieking siren whenever they sense suspicious motion in your living room. The best devices are motion sensors that aren’t set off by a dog or cat or you’ll see a tripped alarm each time your cat comes in for a midnight stroll.

  • Security Camera: An indoor security camera offers a visual on your family room. Watch live feeds of everything so you can know what’s happening without leaving your bed. Or talk with family members in the room with the two-way talk feature.

  • Surge Protector/Cord Maintenance: Make sure you protect all your electronics and quit overburdening your outlets with a surge protector. For additional convenience, set up a smart plug with anti-surge functionality included.

  • Entertainment Center Secured To The Wall: If you have any small children, you’ll need to secure your bookshelves and entertainment center to your wall. This is especially crucial if your family room has carpeting that might make heavy objects extra unbalanced.

  • Special Locks For Sliding Glass Doors: If your living room has a glass door that slides out to a backyard, deck, or screened-in porch, you get that the door lock is usually thin. Install a custom lock, like a bottom bar or locks that are located on the top and bottom of the opening.

Kitchen Safety Checklist

Kitchen Safety Checklist For West Bloomfield

Your kitchen has plenty of items that can provide safety and security to your home. Some of these objects should be easy to add and should be bought from the Target or Walmart:

  • Fire Extinguisher: Fire can come from from a neglected frying pan or a faulty burner. Always keep a fire extinguisher at the ready for any cooking mishaps.

  • Circuit Interrupter Box On Each Outlet: A GFCI outlet should be used on outlets where there’s nearby running water to lessen the chance of electrocution. That includes the plugs around your kitchen counter and sink. For 30 years, it’s been required to have one GFCI per dedicated circuit. But if you don’t want all your outlets to flip off when one outlet surges, try to use a separate GFCI per outlet.

  • Monitored Carbon Monoxide Detector: A carbon monoxide detector is advised for spaces that have a gas stove and oven. If your gas lines leak, the carbon monoxide detector will play a high-decibel noise and call your monitoring center.

  • Cleaning Wipes Or Spray: The most overlooked safety hazard in the kitchen is actually bacteria and cross-contamination that comes with uncooked meat and vegetables. Always keep cleaning wipes or a bleach spray to scrub off your area after preparing food.

  • Refrigerator/Freezer Alarm: The food items in the fridge have to remain at a cold temperature to be safe to use. If you leave the refrigerator door open, then an alarm beep will tell you to close the door. Some fridges already have an alarm, others do not, and you’ll have to buy a fridge alarm from the store.

Bathroom Safety Checklist

Bathroom Safety Checklist For West Bloomfield

Just because there’s not a bunch of space in your bathroom, you will still have safety concerns. From flood detectors to electric safety, here are some safety tips for your bathroom:

  • Flood Detectors: A leaking toilet or tub can cause extensive damage. Get alerted early about water problems with a flood detector before they generate hundreds to thousands of dollars in damage.

  • No-slip Shower Mats: A fall in the bathroom can be painful, causing pulled muscles, sore joints, or sprained ankles. Make sure you avoid these hazards with a non-slip bathroom mat for your wet feet.

  • Textured Bathtub Strips: Like a tiled floor, a tub can be a slippery area to be on. It’s a good idea that each has some textured stickies so your feet have a bumpy patch to grip.

  • Medicine Door Lock: If you have curious kids or a family member with memory difficulties, you have to take additional attention regarding prescribed medicine. Secure your pills and syrups by getting a medicine cabinet with a locking latch.

  • GFCI Circuits: Similarly to the kitchen, you will have to also put in a surge protecting circuit interrupter outlet on every bathroom receptacle. These will stop the flow of the current if water enters the outlet or they experience an unusual jolt from a hair dryer or curling iron.

Child's Bedroom Safety Checklist

Children’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For West Bloomfield

Your kid’s bedroom should pair safety with manageability. If their window shades or other items are safe but difficult to operate, then your children may perform unsafe activities -- like scale a bookshelf -- to touch them. Try these simple, and safe, ideas:

  • No Cord Window Coverings: Safety professionals have long called corded window treatments a hidden hazard for children and animals. Use motorized shades that you can easily manage through a remote control. Or better yet, link your motorized treatments to your ADT security system so they open on a schedule at dawn, and close at bedtime for added darkness.

  • Tableside Security Camera: A camera perched on your child’s desk can behave like a baby monitor that you can see from a mobile device. And when they need you, 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 young children, this is doubly important in a child’s bedroom. It’s the one place in your home where your children will most likely hang out alone without adult supervision.

  • Window Escape Ladder: If you use bedrooms on the second level, then you will want to have a window fire ladder. These will help a child get out of their room when the hallway or downstairs are engulfed in smoke and fire. Make sure to go over how to employ them at least twice a year.

  • Toy Chest Or Low Bookshelves: It’s interesting to look at a toy chest as a safety component, but you’ll understand if you’ve ever tramped on a building block in your stocking feet. A clean floor means a quick escape if there’s an emergency.

Master Bedroom Safety Checklist

Main Bedroom Safety Checklist For West Bloomfield

Your master bedroom should be an oasis, so let your safety devices make life easier if there's an emergency. After all, being wrenched awake by a loud alarm can be disorienting.

  • Smart Hub Touchscreen: Having a touchscreen on your bedside table helps you know what’s happening without jumping out of bed. You could always use your ADT mobile app. However, the HD touchscreen can be faster to use when you’re bleary-eyed and confused.

  • Device Charging Area: We depend on our cell phones for so much now GPS, web browsers, game machines, and maybe even phones. However, a depleted phone in the middle of the night cuts us off from reaching help if something goes wrong. To keep it nice and ready, a charging cord or station becomes should be used nightly.

  • Smart Lights Or Nightlights: A small light helps ground you when you’re bolted awake from an alarm or other loud sounds. If you can’t fall asleep with an outlet light, install smart bulbs in your bedroom. Then you can have light simply with a mobile device or voice command.

  • Fireproof Lockbox: Keep your vital papers like birth certificates, stock certificates, or banking information in a fireproof lockbox. Your lockbox can be a bigger one that is located out of the way or a smaller portable safe that you can carry on your way out during a fire or break-in.

  • Temperature Sensor: The issue with a master bedroom is that they tend to run too warm or be cold since they are far away from the thermostat. A heat sensor will talk to your smart thermostat so you can have a pleasant, relaxing sleep at the perfect temperature.

Garage Safety Checklist

Basement/Garage Safety Checklist For West Bloomfield

Most safety issues in the basement or garage deal with your water heater or furnace. Discovering issues early can prevent larger emergencies later on. So, as you walk around your storage areas, pay attention to these crucial items:

  • Flood Detector Or Sump Pump Alarm: Putting a flood sensor next to your water heater and sump pump can stop you from finding a pond when you step into your garage or basement. It’s sure better than sifting through a heap of destroyed storage boxes.

  • Carbon Monoxide Detector: It’s beneficial to install a CO alarm in an area where a gas leak can spring up. If you have gas heat, you’ll want to hang an alarm in the same place as your unit.

  • Wireless Water Shutoff Valve: If your water detector senses a hot water heater leak or a broken pipe, then you will have to shut off the primary water pipe at once. With a remote shutoff valve, you can turn off your water flow from anywhere in the world. That’s helpful when you’re on vacation and see an emergency leak alert on your phone.

  • Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage door open brings about all sorts of headaches. You can waste heat or air through that large opening, and critters or intruders can just saunder in. A remote sensor will alert you to an open garage door and lets you close it through the app.

  • Heat Sensor: A heat sensor in your basement or garage is essential if you fret about frozen pipes. The temperature in these rooms can be surprisingly different than the rest of the home, so you may want to keep a close look on the temperature by using your mobile app.

Outside perimeter checklist

Outside Safety Checklist for West Bloomfield

Your yard, drive, and front step are just as crucial to secure as the rest of your house. Try this checklist to defend your perimeter:

  • Outdoor Security Camera: You can install outdoor cameras to alert you to unusual movement in your yard. These devices come in handy in places where you may not have a view -- like a side yard or by the driveway.

  • Window Height Bushes: Tall bushes can offer some solitude, but they also obscure your view of the yard and curb. Don’t give potential intruders a place to hide. Plus, large bushes or trees around your home can clog gutters and summon ants and termites.

  • ADT Signage: One of the biggest deterrents for a break-in is advertising to would-be rogues that you own a monitored ADT security system. An ADT yard sign by the stoop and a window sticker will tell ne'er-do-wells that they might want to move on to an easier score.

  • Motion Triggered Flood Lights: Light is the best enemy to those who lurk in the dark. Motion-controlled flood lights on your porch, garage, or deck can frighten lurkers away. Lights also help you work the locks when you get back home late at night.

Use Secure24 Alarm Systems To Help Complete Your Home Safety Checklist for West Bloomfield

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t help you with non-security devices on your West Bloomfield home safety checklist, we can offer a powerful home security system. With everything from alarms to thermostats, we can personalize the perfect system for your house’s needs. Just phone (248) 266-4039 for more information or complete the form below. Or customize your own ADT system with our Security System Designer.