Staying safe and secure in your residence should be your largest responsibility. But are you missing one or two key safety components? Take this home safety checklist for Yakima and see where your living space can use an update.
This guide starts with a few whole-home safety techniques, and then we break it down to specific room ideas. Then, phone (509) 240-9777 or send in the form below to talk to a security agent.
Basic Home Safety Checklist for Yakima
While you will want to take a room-by-room method for home safety, there are a few methods that work for a lot of your rooms. These items can link with one another through a touchscreen hub, and oftentimes react to other things. You can also manage every one of your home safety devices using a mobile app, like ADT Control:
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Monitored Fire Alarms: At the very least, you have a smoke detector on every level. You can improve your fire preparedness by hanging a monitored fire alarm that senses excessive smoke and heat, and notifies your 24-hour monitoring team when it detects a fire.
Family Room/Living Room Safety Checklist For Yakima
You’ll spend most of your time in your family room, so it can be the best place to start your home safety optimization. Electronics, like a big screen or stereo system, typically sit in your living room, making it a tempting space for burglars. Start with hanging a motion detector or security camera in there, then continue on with all these safety protocols:
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Motion Sensors: By installing motion detectors, you’ll have a loud alarm whenever they sense unexpected movement in your family room. The best devices are motion sensors that ignore a dog or cat or you’ll have a tripped alarm every time your pet comes in for a bite of food.
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Security Camera: An indoor security camera offers a visual on your family room. Get constant feeds of the area so you can know what’s happening through the mobile app. Or chat with family members when they come home from playing by using the two-way talk feature.
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Surge Protector/Outlet Maintenance: Protect all your electronics and quit overtaxing your electric system with a surge protector. For extra energy-efficiency, install a smart plug with a surge protector included.
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Furniture Secured To The Wall: If you have babies or toddlers, you’ll need to attach your entertainment center or other heavy furniture to the wall. This is extra important if your family room has rugs or carpet that might make objects extra unbalanced.
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Special Locks For Sliding Glass Doors: If your living room uses a sliding glass door that slides out to a backyard, deck, or outside porch, you know that the latch is usually worthless. Put in an enhanced lock, like a metal bar or small locks that secures the door to the bottom and top of the door frame.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Yakima
The kitchen has many items that should provide comfort and safety to your house. Many of these things should be a snap to add and should be bought from the Target or Walmart:
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Fire Extinguisher: A fire can come from from a neglected frying pan or an errant grease splatter. Always have a fire extinguisher at hand for any stove or oven mishaps.
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GFCI Box On Every Outlet: A circuit interrupter outlet should be standard on outlets where they’re close to running water to prevent a deadly shock. That includes the plug outlets around your sink and kitchen counter. Since 1987, 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 trips, you’ll want to have a single GFCI for every outlet.
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Monitored Carbon Monoxide Detector: A carbon monoxide detector is recommended for spaces that use a gas oven and range. If your gas lines leak, the CO detector will emit a high-decibel sound and ping your monitoring center.
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Cleaning Wipes Or Spray: The most overlooked safety issue in the kitchen is actually bacteria and protein from blood from meat and other foods. Always keep antiviral wipes or a bleach spray to sanitize your counters after making a meal.
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Refrigerator Alarm: The food items in the fridge should stay at a cold temperature to be ready to use. If you leave the refrigerator door open too long, then an alarm beep will remind you to check the seal. Some fridges already have a pre-installed alarm, some do not, and you’ll have to get an external alarm from online.
Bathroom Safety Checklist For Yakima
Just because you may not have a bunch of space in your bathroom doesn’t mean that there aren’t safety issues. From water problems to medicine care, here are some safety improvements for your bathroom:
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Flood Sensors: A leaking sink or bathtub can lead to extensive damage. Find a leaking pipe with a flood detector and save yourself from redoing the entire bathroom.
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Textured Bathroom Mats: A slip in the bathroom can be devastating, causing bumps, sore joints, or broken bones. Make sure you prevent these issues with a non-slip bathroom mat for while you towel off.
Child’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Yakima
Your kid’s bedroom should counterbalance safety with accessibility. If their window coverings or other things are safe but hard to manage, then your children may get around the device with unsafe methods -- like climb a chest of drawers -- to open them. Here are some simple, yet safe, ideas:
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Cord-Free Window Coverings: Safety professionals have designated corded window treatments an unsuspecting problem for children and animals. Install motorized blinds or shades that you can easily manage with a remote. Or even better, link your motorized treatments to your security system so they rise without anyone’s help when the sun comes up, and go down at night for added darkness.
Master Bedroom Safety Checklist For Yakima
The bedroom should be your calm space, so let your safety items make life easier when you have an emergency. After all, being startled awake by a loud siren can be quite a shock.
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Device Charging Area: We rely on our phones for so much now alarms, web browsers, time wasters, and maybe even phones. The only problem is that a dead device in the middle of the night cuts us off from the outside world if something goes wrong. To make sure your phone always works, a charging station or cord becomes an essential.
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Nightlights Or Voice Activated Smart Lights: A tiny light helps ground you when you’re startled awake from a siren or other loud noises. If you can’t fall asleep with a small nightlight, install smart lights in your bedroom. Then you can control light simply with a mobile device or voice command.
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Fireproof Safe: Keep your important paperwork like social security cards, passports, or a bankbook in a fireproof safe. This can be a big one that is located in your closet or a smaller portable lockbox that you can grab on your way out during an emergency event.
Basement/Garage Safety Checklist For Yakima
Most safety needs in the garage or basement deal with your water heater or HVAC system. Discovering issues at the source can stop larger disasters in the future. So, as you look around your basement or garage, pay attention to these safety items:
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CO Alarm: It’s nice to hang a CO detector in areas where a natural gas leak can happen. If you use gas heat, you should hang a detector in the same area as your HVAC unit.
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Remote Water Shutoff Valve: If your water sensor detects a plumbing leak or a busted pipe, then you will have to cap the primary water pipe immediately. With a WiFi shutoff valve, you can turn off your water flow from anywhere in the world. That’s perfect when you’re out of town and get a water leak text on your smartphone.
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Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage door up brings about all sorts of issues. You can lose heat or air through that large opening, and critters or thieves can just saunder in. A sensor will alert you to a forgotten garage door and lets you lower it remotely.
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Heat Sensor: A temperature sensor in your garage or basement is handy if you fret about your pipes freezing. The temperature in these rooms can be wildly different than the rest of the house, so you may need to maintain a closer eye on the temp through your security mobile app.

Outside Perimeter Safety Checklist for Yakima
Your yard, drive, and front walk are just as crucial to make safe as the rest of your house. Try this checklist to create a safe outside:
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Low Bushes: Overgrown shrubs can offer some privacy, but they also block your view of the yard and curb. Don’t give potential burglars a place to hide. Plus, high bushes or foliage against your structure can clog gutters and bring in pests.
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ADT Signage: One of the most popular deterrents for a break-in is advertising to potential burglars that you own a monitored home security system. An ADT yard sign by the stoop and a window cling will alert ne'er-do-wells that they should keep walking to an easier score.
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Motion Controlled Flood Light Fixtures: Light is the largest enemy to people who sneak around in the unlit places. Motion-activated flood lights on your porch, garage, or deck can shoo possible intruders away. They also help you get inside when you arrive back home late at night.
Use Secure24 Alarm Systems To Help You With Your Home Safety Checklist for Yakima
While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t help you with each household item on your Yakima home safety checklist, we can offer a powerful security system. With easy-to-use devices and ADT monitoring, we can personalize the perfect system for your home’s needs. Simply phone (509) 240-9777 and talk to a professional or complete the form below. Or personalize your own ADT system with our Security System Designer.