I don't think it's extreme... we live in a nice neighborhood, but bad things can happen anywhere. Our place has 11 outside doors and there are always a few unlocked while were home, but they are in the back of the house which is enclosed with a fence and gate, not the front door.upstatemike said:I don't want to sound naive but isn't that a bit extreme? Do you live next to a prison or something?pkoslow said:... but we do keep the font door locked WHILE we're home. The front door only unlocks for 5mins when we arrive, and then locks back up.
We have a courtyard in the front of the house that has a a gate with an electric strike to lock it... when this gate is locked you can't even get to the front door. The gate is only locked at night and while we're gone (RFID opens it all up when we return). There are doorbells at the coutyard gate and by the front door, so visitors can ring the bell from either spot. There's a hardwired button inside the front door which will unlock the couryard gate (without the assistance of any HA). This way, if someone rings from outside the locked gate you can greet them from the front door and buzz them in if needed.
OK, I read back through this.... now it does sound extreme!

Our house was built by a retired CIA guy (he served from Kennedy thru Reagan), so it has some "interesting" features. Each interior room with the exception of one bathroom has an exterior door, plus access into two other rooms! Sounds weird, but the layout is really very nice and visitors don't even notice all the doors (3 in each room) until you mention it. The backyard is surrounded by a nice wooden fence which has "escape hatches" for lack of a better term in several key areas. From the outiside, these gates aren't even noticible as they blend into the fence with hidden hinges. The mail box is built into the front wall of the courtyard and opens at each end so you can get the mail without goig outside the gate.
Anyway... back to the original topic. If someone wanted to barge into our house, chances are they would try to get in the front door. If it's locked, this will at least slow them down and bottom line, it makes my girlfriend feel safer which makes me happy.
Happy Holidays,
Paul