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TwitThisMaking your home safer doesn’t have to mean building a fire-proof fortress or installing a top-dollar security system. In fact, simple do-it-yourself measures are often the most effective. In this article, we’ve assembled five projects that cost $10 to $40 and take less than an hour apiece to do. These improvements will help protect you and your family from some of the most dangerous and easily preventable threats: fire, theft, electrical shock and lead poisoning. None requires expensive tools or special skills, and all will add an extra measure of safety or security to your home.
1. Reinforce your strike plateMost burglars lack finesse—and patience. If they can’t get in quickly by kicking in the door, they’ll leave and try an easier house. Reinforcing a door’s weak spot, the jamb, with a heavy-duty strike plate and extra-long screws is a quick, inexpensive strategy to send burglars on their way.
Home centers, hardware stores and locksmiths all have a variety of strike plate–reinforcing hardware available ($5 to $10) that should include extra-long screws to anchor both the plate and the jamb to the door framing. Our hardware is unique in having a built-in steel deadbolt pocket with screw holes in the bottom for extra anchoring.
If the deadbolts on your doors were installed in the last 10 years, they are probably already reinforced. To find out, remove your strike plate. If the strike plate is heavy steel and secured with extra long screws (at least 2-1/2 in.) or has a heavy reinforcing plate under it that’s anchored to the framing with heavy screws, there’s no reason to add more reinforcement. Otherwise, follow the steps in Photos 1 – to install a new reinforced strike.
You’ll need a utility knife, screwdriver, sharp chisel and drill. We used a 7/8-in. spade bit to remove excess wood in the strike area and reduce the chiseling required. You’ll also need a 1/8-in. bit to drill pilot holes for the screws.
Install a heavy-duty strike plate on your garage service door too. This is another prime target for burglars. Remove your old strike plate and mark the centers of the old width and height onto the door jamb. Then, center the new strike plate on the marks on the jamb. Temporarily screw the plate to the jamb with 1-1/4 in. drywall screws. Score the plate profile with a sharp utility knife. Cut about 1/8 in. deep, stopping at the corners. Last, remove excess wood in the area between the scored lines with a 7/8-in. spade bit driven to the thickness of the strike plate. Remove the remaining wood to the same depth with a sharp chisel. Fit the reinforcing strike plate into the mortise. Adjust the depth by chiseling out more wood or adding paper shims if necessary for a flush fit. Screw the strike plate to the framing with extra-long screws. If you chisel the strike plate mortise too deep, cut strips of thin cardboard to shim the strike plate flush.
2. Replace old direct-wired smoke detectors
Since the early ’70s, direct-wired (AC powered) smoke detectors have been required in all new homes. Most of these are still in service, but new research shows that smoke detectors more than 10 years old should be replaced, whether they’re direct wired or battery operated. The printed circuit boards and other sensitive electronic parts on these old alarms wear out and can fail after 10 years. Also, paint and accumulated dust and grease can interfere with the sensor. If your house is more than 10 years old, it’s a pretty safe bet that your smoke detectors are also that old and should be replaced. To check, locate the code number printed on or near the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) label and call the manufacturer. To find out if your smoke detector is direct wired, remove the cover to see if it’s mounted to an electrical box.
You can buy new direct-wired smoke detectors for about $10 or $15 each and install them in less than 20 minutes. To replace your direct-wired alarms, look for an AC-powered smoke alarm with a battery backup.
Replacing direct-wired smoke detectors is no different from replacing a light fixture, with one small twist. Many smoke detectors are interconnected so that if one is set off, all the house’s interconnected alarms sound. Interconnected alarms are easy to identify, since they have a third colored wire in addition to the white neutral wire and the black hot wire. Luckily, since almost all new detectors are wired for solo or interconnected use, you can’t go wrong if you simply connect the new alarm with the same number of wires as the one you’re replacing. You must, however, replace all interconnected alarms at the same time with compatible units from the same manufacturer.
While you’re at it, install battery operated smoke alarms in every sleeping room and in other areas of the house not protected by direct wired alarms. Refer to the instructions included with the alarm for the recommended number and placement of alarms.
Test all your smoke detectors weekly, or at least once a month. Occasionally vacuum dust from your smoke alarms with a soft brush attachment on your vacuum cleaner hose. Change the batteries annually. One good way to remember is to do it every time you set your clocks back for daylight savings time.
Turn off the power at the main circuit panel and unscrew the old smoke alarm. Touch the black hot wire and the white neutral wire with the leads of a voltage tester to make sure the power is off. Then disconnect or cut the wires. Cut the bent ends from the wires. Then strip the insulation from the ends of the wires (check the wire connector container for the amount to strip off). Screw the new smoke alarm mounting plate to the electrical box through the slots in the plate. Then connect the smoke alarm wires to the wires in the box with properly sized wire connectors. Connect the white wire to the white wire and the black wire to the black wire. If your old alarm was connected to a third colored wire, connect the third colored wire from your new alarm to this wire. Otherwise cover the exposed end with electrical tape. Plug the wires into the smoke alarm and connect the alarm to the mounting plate according to the instructions included. Turn on the power and push the test button to make sure it works.
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