Check every window latch and door lock
One-time · any month works
Why it matters
You've never actually tested this house's windows and doors — the inspector opened a sample, the sellers stopped noticing years ago. A one-time walk finds the window that never latched, the deadbolt that only throws halfway, and the sliding door whose "lock" is a bent aluminum tab.
The quiet upgrades matter most: swapping the two short screws in each door strike plate for 3-inch screws that reach the wall stud turns a kick-in from one shove into a racket nobody finishes.
What skipping it costs
$0–$500
Most break-ins aren't movie lockpicking — they're an unlatched window, a slider lifted off a flimsy catch, or a door frame that gives at one kick because the strike plate was held by half-inch screws. Every one of those is a ten-dollar, ten-minute fix you just haven't walked the house to find yet.
Two ways to get it done
Do it yourself
You'll need: Phillips screwdriver, A wooden dowel or adjustable security bar for sliding doors (~$10–$25), Longer strike-plate screws (3", ~$5).
- Every window: latch it, then try to open it. The latch should pull the sashes snug. Loose latches usually just need their screws tightened or the keeper repositioned a quarter inch.
- Every exterior door: throw the deadbolt with the door open. The bolt should extend fully — a full inch. Then close the door and throw it again; if it grinds or won't reach, the strike needs a small adjustment (file the opening or move the plate).
- Strike plates: back out one screw. If it's shorter than your thumb, replace all of them with 3-inch screws into the stud.
- Sliding doors: test whether the panel can be lifted off its track while locked (a classic weakness). Drop a dowel or security bar in the track, and if the door lifts, adjust the rollers up snug.
- Note anything genuinely broken — cranky old casement hardware, a seized deadbolt — for one consolidated locksmith or handyman visit.
Hire it out
$100–$225National fair range — local labor moves this number.
A locksmith or handyman hour ($100–$225) closes out everything you flagged: seized hardware swapped, latches aligned, strike plates done properly. Bundle it with your rekeying visit and the whole security chapter of homeownership is finished in one afternoon — which is the honest scope. Anyone who turns this into a bigger project is selling.
Ask the tech
- Can you fix the latches that don't engage, and swap my strike plates to 3-inch screws while you're at it?
- Which of these windows genuinely needs hardware, and which just need adjustment?
Red flags you're being upsold
- A whole-house window-replacement pitch that started from a loose latch. Latches are $10 parts; windows are a five-figure project.
- Alarm-system sales dressed up as a 'security audit.' Working latches and good strike plates are the unglamorous 90% of home security.
The call
DIY on a Saturday half hour. Fix what you find; the only hire here is a locksmith for hardware that's actually broken.