Do you lock your front when you're in the house? AIBU

We don't personally lock the doors when we are in, the back and front doors are always unlocked. However, out back garden is completely enclosed and we have two dogs, one of which is huge and very very vocal so I think he kind of puts anyone off coming anywhere near the house. I do sometimes think that perhaps the front door should be locked as if I through in the lounge someone could walk in and straight upstairs without me knowing but I just never think to. I don't think you are being particularly unreasonable and your OH sounds a bit like he is being a drama queen about feeling like a prisoner in his own house.

Slightly different as we live in a flat. But having a friend who recently had her keys taken from the back of her front door and her car stolen I'd say you weren't being unreasonable at all. It'd be different if your H was sitting right in front of the door 'standing guard' ? whilst getting his fresh air!

In my book there's a definite difference between living in fear and being sensible!

I can see both sides. I dont leave my door open and lock it when its not going to be in use (we also put the chain on now as the stupid letting agency let themselves in uninvited the other day but of course that doesnt stop them when we arent here). But I can see why it might seem like you(and I) are being over the top a little.

Could you compromise and have the door open if things like keys and handbags are all out of the way?

No I don't think you are BU. Why doesn't he open a window if he wants some fresh air in?

A few years back, we had someone try our back door and I was right behind the door at the time. I unlocked the door and shouted at the bloke, but it could of been so easy for him to be inside the house and way with things as we were in the middle of gardening out the front at the time.

Always. Like you, I grew up in a very security conscious household. Our front door opened up to our staircase, and we knew someone could come in the front door and go straight upstairs without us even realising if we were in the living room or kitchen.

One of my friends used to think I was strange for always locking the door when I lived alone (as in after I let her in when she came to visit, I would lock the door behind her, locking us in), but she does it too now since her boyfriend moved out.

Thanks guys! Our back garden is also completely surrounded by other gardens and I should mention we have a very large protective dobermann BUT he isn't here as my parents have taken him out walking. The other week I was in the shower and I didn't hear the cleaner come in so got quite a fright when I heard someone banging around downstairs.

I don't live in fear, like you say I think its sensible to lock it. Its like OH wants to prove a point that we'd not get burgled by leaving the front door wide open? That's just silly in my opinion? Why risk it?

It's a bit odd to have the front door open just to let air in - don't you have windows ? I'd sometimes open the back door for this but not the front one. I wouldn't want to risk the neighbours driving past and being able to see the state of my hall, for one thing ?

But yes I do always lock the front door when I am in. Main reason being my 3 year old son can open the door and he'd go outside if I didn't. My husband moans that when he comes home from work he is locked out, he has a house key on him all the time so I don't know why it's such a problem and I'm not changing it. It bugs me more that he tries the handle every night, knowing that it is always always locked ?

I ALWAYS lock our front door as soon as I come through it, its a habit I picked up from my mum when I lived at home.

We have open fields & a road past our house, not much "footfall" walking past just the dog walkers but I am so paranoid about somebody coming into the house whilst I am in our back garden or even worse, when I am upstairs in my little room making my jewellery. (unless they want to do my housework for me)

We dont have much crime round here but you could bet that the 1 day I didnt lock the door after me would be the 1 day that something went wrong..

Debbie

It does sound like he has his knickers in a twist, like betty said he can open a window. He may well agree with you but now wants to prove his point, H and I end up doing that when we fight over things.

While I'd love to live in a world where leaving doors and windows wide open was considered perfectly safe, these days I think it's pretty foolish. There are too many opportunist thieves about for it to be worth the risk. The front door would only ever be left open if I was gardening out the front.

I always lock the door if i'm pottering around the house. however if it's a really hot day i may have a door open but only if i'm watching tv or something so would be aware if someone walked in, as opposed to being tied up doing something and wouldn't be. (if that makes sense)

but any bags, keys etc would be put somewhere safe.

Locked all the time, and we set the alarm even if leaving he house for a few minutes (but that is a requirement of our insurance). We live in a large city center with its associated crime rate though.

We don't lock doors when at home & most of my family are the same. Unless you knew that they had a mortice on a catch type of lock, you would think the front door was locked. When it really hot I know most of my neighbours leave their doors open.

I don't think it's a odd thing, quite common when you think in European homes, you walk past a home down a cobbled street in spain & look directly into the lounge with the TV on.

Door is always closed but not locked until we go to bed, although you can't open it from the outside when shut. I don't think you're being unreasonale at all. If its what you're comfortable with then its fine. Can your H see the door from where he was sitting?

Your husband and my Mum came out of the same 'fresh air' mould I think. Mum often has her front door AND her back door wide open - propped open if blowy - to air her house. She loves letting all the fresh air in, even though I've told her time and time again it's not sensible, especially as often she will be outside or in the kitchen while the house is airing. It worries me, but not living there with her, what can I do about it??

Saying that, I used to have our front door wide open too, and the conservatory doors too to get a good airing, but then we had electronic gates and no-one could get in.

I try to keep mine locked, although do occasionally forget. Two of my elderly aunts have had bags stolen by people walking in the front door when they were in the kitchen, and my cousin recently had his new car stolen when someone walked in their house and took their keys. So I think you are being sensible.

TG

I always lock the doors when in the house. My grans house was burgled when I was younger as we sat in the living room watching tv. It really freaked me out that there had been people sneaking round the house whilst we sat blissfully unaware and its always stayed with me. My H2B's parents used to leave their doors unlocked too until his mum's handbag was stolen whilst they were out in the back garden and the keys used to steal their car.

I don't usually lock it but it's always shut to stop the dog escaping unless we're going in and out. However if I'm alone in the house I will lock it and the cars if I go into the back garden or upstairs for a nap. I have been around to one persons house a couple of times where the front door is wide open and they've gone out to do some shopping!

Maybe we just think we're safer over here.

Always lock the front door. The back door is another matter - it's supposed to be locked but quite often one of us forgets! I think it's just sensible - when H is home alone he often spends time upstairs on the Xbox or similar so wouldn't hear someone coming in. The only annoying thing, and we're both guilty of doing this is when we forget to take the key out of the door, so whichever one of us needs to get in can't without knocking (banging loudly ala Fred Flintstone)

Our front door is on a yale lock so it stays locked. That said it is inbetween the dining room and living room so it would be impossible for someone to get in without us noticing if it needed opening and I wouldn't leave it hanging open unless I knew someone was coming in and I had just seen them arrive. The back door is in a closed back garden so we often leave that open (more so now we have secured the garden a bit more) with the front window to air the house.

I have those Yale locks that don't give you the choice, your door is either open or locked. So yep. Front door is usually locked.

I frequently stay with a friend whos door requires a key to lock it and (as posted here at the time) he once managed to lock me in for day. Slightly more worryingly (from my POV) he takes the keys to bed at night. Often wondered what would happen in event of fire etc.

Out of habit, I lock the door behind me when I come in and am pottering round etc. My friend thinks I am bonkers and over cautious, but she is the other extreme and will regularly forget to lock her doors when she goes to bed and sleeps with windows open etc - we are both ground floor.

If its a nice night, then I will open all the windows in the bit of the villa that I am in but I end up getting up in the middle of the night to check that I shut them all!

My mum who lives in the Highlands never locks her doors, always has windows open and doesnt lock her cars either. I am amazed that she does this as she lives on her own and runs a holiday cottage business so therefore has different people constantly staying right next to her.

I have become much more lax about my awareness when I am out. Living in Central London, I always knew where my handbag was, my phone etc. Here, I happily mooch round the supermarket and abandon my trolley with my bag on it whilst I nip to get something. I forget when I am back home and my mum shouts at me!! Ha ha.

I have a Yale lock on the front door, so yes, by default it's locked as soon as you shut it. If I'm going in and out to the car, or the recycling area, etc, I'll put it on the latch but close it to; however, I'm rarely out of sight of the front door when this is the case. And occasionally, I'll leave the door open to really whoosh some air around, but only for a short period of time, and due to the way my flat is set out, it's set around a central 'courtyard' so from nearly every room you can see the front door and people approaching it. (I don't have a back door).

If I'm out of sight of the front door for a while, such as in the bedroom or bathroom, I'll ensure the mortice lock is on as well, just because it would be easy for someone to knock out the glass in the door and open the yale. I've never thought that this is over-security conscious, just common sense. My sister's neighbours were broken into last Christmas when they were asleep and had all their gifts stolen, so it's particularly at the forefront of my mind right now to not take unnecessary risks.

In Leeds I lived at the end of a cul de sac so left the front door open in summer but only when i was around - if i went to the kitchen or upstairs i always locked it.

I close the door behind me when I come in, obviously, but its on a yale so nobody can open it from the outside without a key anyway. I was taught that its more important to be able to get out in case of fire without scrabbing around for the keys, so I don't double lock it, ever.

Those that lock themselves in - do make sure you ALWAYS know where your keys are so you can grab them and get out in case of fire.

Our front and back doors are upvc so they are locked when they are closed,

my mum drives us potty when she is here as she is paranoid about leaving it 'unlocked' and always lifts the handle on the doors just to make sure, and always asks us if we can lock them...

my mum is very security concious when at her house, she wont even go out of the kitchen (even to other bits of the house) without locking the back door or closing the door to the garage, and wont go out of the house without making sure they are both double locked... which considering they have a motion sensitive burglar alarm and their front door has two locks on seems a bit overkill

Its the opposite on our house to the OP, I rarely shut or lock doors but my H always locks doors, I try to remember if I am going out (school run) to lock the door but have come home to it unlocked?, we have two doors (porch and house door) my H ALWAYS locks both when he leaves, locks one if he is in the house. He 99.9% leaves the house first and 99.9% comes home after me, he gets cross with me if he comes home and my keys are hanging in the front door and no doors are locked, but after 11 years together he must have realised that it is something I dont remember to do!!!! I do make a VERY concious effort to lock both doors if I know he is coming home before me!!

We do live at the end of a road with only 4 houses (off road) so no one comes past unless they are visiting.

As our lounge is up on the first floor we do generally have the front door locked when we're home as we may not hear someone coming in from up here (especially with the tv on). We live in a small hamlet in the country but still on a main road. I trust all my neighbours and I know that we do all keep an eye on each others homes so i'm not overly worried but because of that road i'm happier having the front door locked.

We always lock the front door, unless we're actually going in and out to the car or something, or occasionally if we're in the living room and are expecting someone to arrive (front door opens straight into the living room).

My mum's purse was stolen when she left it in the hall with the front door unlocked and someone thought they'd try their luck, and my parents have electric gates so they must have gone to the trouble of climbing over them just to try.

Why take the risk when you don't have to?

We have a horrble UPVC front door that is always locked. We dont have a front garden so the front door goes straight onto the pavement. Id never in a mllion years leave t unlocked. Our back door has a yale lock on it (its a lovely wooden stable door) and as it self locks when you close it, its also always locked.

I dont think you are being unreasonable at all, and do wonder why your H cant just open a few windows for fresh ar.

I would never consider locking myself into my own house.

But I appreciate this is probably a naive attitude.

ETA I live in one of the roughest London boroughs and grew up here. My mother lives "oop North" and leaves her door unlocked when she's out too.

We always lock the door when we're in.
we didn't used to, but our living room is on the first floor, and one day a couple of years ago we came downstairs to find that someone had been in and stolen J's sisters birthday present and a few other bits and pieces