Leaving the house for a week or more

The goal: a house that looks cared for and is actually secure

Most advice about leaving home comes down to two ideas. First, make the house look and behave as it normally does, so nobody can easily tell you are away. Second, make sure the doors, windows and keys are in a state you would be comfortable with if you could not return for a week. Both ideas matter, and neither requires much money. They need a little time before you leave.

It helps to do the preparation a day or two ahead, not on the morning of travel. When you are rushing to the airport, the small tasks are the first to be forgotten. Setting aside an evening lets you walk through the house calmly, fix anything that is loose and make arrangements with a neighbor or friend.

In Miami-Dade the calendar matters too. During hurricane season you may be away when a storm forms, so your preparation should include a plan for shutters, loose items and who will act if you cannot. Our page on hurricane prep for locks and doors goes through the hardware side. This page covers the whole house and the habits around a trip.

Doors first: lock, latch and check

Start by walking to every exterior door and locking it properly. That means the deadbolt as well as the handle latch. It is common for people to rely on the handle lock for the side door or the garage entry because they rarely use it, and then to discover that the deadbolt was never turned. Push and pull each door after locking to confirm it is closed and held.

Look at the doors that people forget: the door from the garage into the house, a laundry room door, a side gate and any door to a balcony or patio. Our guide to garage and side entry security explains why these deserve the same care as the front door. For sliding doors, put a bar or dowel in the track if you have one, and confirm that the latch catches fully. See sliding glass door locks for the hardware details.

If any lock has been sticking, stiff or unreliable, have it repaired before you leave, not after. A lock that sticks when you are home is a lock that may fail when someone else tries to turn it, and one that jams while you are away can leave a house unsecured or locked from inside. A technician can inspect and repair it, and you will return to a house that works.

• Throw every deadbolt, not just the handle lock.
• Check the door from the garage into the house.
• Secure sliding doors with a bar and check the latch.
• Lock side gates and any shed or storage doors.
• Repair any lock that has been sticking before you leave.

Windows, shutters and the places people overlook

Close and lock all windows, including those on upper floors, bathrooms and any that are partly hidden by plants. Windows left slightly open for air are easy to forget and can be an easy way in. If your home has hurricane shutters or impact glass, make sure the shutters are operable and that you know where the keys, handles or panels are stored.

Look at pet doors and small openings that might admit someone. A large pet door is a possible entry point, and many owners lock it or fit a cover when they travel. If you have a dog door and your pets are being cared for by someone else, consider whether it is better to board the animals or have the caretaker stay at the house.

Check the outside of the house for things that give an unwelcome visitor an advantage: ladders left against the wall, tools in the yard, a garbage can pushed beneath a window. Put them away. Also look for anything that signals absence, such as a full bin, an overflowing mailbox or a lawn that is clearly overgrown. Arrange for the grass to be cut or the bins to be taken in if the trip is long.

Spare keys and key control before a trip

Think about who has keys to your home and who will have them while you are away. Make a short list: the neighbor who waters the plants, the relative who checks the mail, the cleaner, the pet sitter. For each, ask whether they still need access and for how long. A trip is a good moment to remove keys from people who no longer need them.

Avoid leaving a key in the usual hiding places. Under a mat, in a flowerpot, on top of a door frame and inside a fake rock are the first spots anyone checks. If you need someone to have access, hand the key to them in person, or use a lockbox only if you are comfortable with how it works and with who knows the combination. Our page on lockbox and key safe planning covers the considerations.

If you are unsure how many keys exist for your house, for example because you bought it recently and never changed the locks, consider a rekey before you leave. It means that all earlier keys stop working, and you decide who gets new ones. Read more in rekey after moving in and our comparison of rekeying or replacing a lock. For general habits around keys in a household, see key control for families.

Smart locks, keypads and connected devices

If you have a smart lock or a keypad, travel is a good time to review its settings. Look at the list of people who have access and remove anyone who does not need it now. If you use temporary or guest credentials for a house sitter or cleaner, set them to expire on the date they are no longer needed instead of leaving them active indefinitely.

Check the battery level before you go. A lock that warns of low batteries just as you board a plane is an unwelcome surprise. Replace batteries if they are low, and keep spare batteries with whoever will check on the house. Know whether the lock has a mechanical key backup and who holds it. Our page on smart locks pros and cons explains typical failure points.

Make sure the app on your phone works while you are away, and that the account has a strong, unique password with two-step sign-in turned on where available. Turn on notifications for door activity if you want them, but be realistic about whether you will check them. Many people prefer that a trusted neighbor look in at intervals instead of relying on notifications that arrive at inconvenient moments.

Think about the network. If a lock or camera relies on your home internet, what happens during an outage? Know in advance whether the device keeps a local record and whether it still works from the keypad. If you are not sure, test it by briefly disconnecting the router before you travel.

Deliveries, mail and the signs that nobody is home

Packages and mail piling up are the most obvious sign of an empty house. Before you leave, pause deliveries where you can, ask the postal service to hold your mail or arrange for a neighbor to collect it daily. Do not rely on a delivery being left in a hidden spot, since people watching the house will see where it goes.

Use timers on a few lights and, if you have one, a radio, to give some sign of activity in the evening. Modern smart plugs and bulbs can do this and vary the pattern. Leave blinds and curtains as you normally keep them instead of fully closing every window, since a house that is closed up from top to bottom stands out.

Be careful about what you share. Posting photos of your holiday while you are still away tells everyone who sees them that the house is empty. It is better to wait until you return, or to share only with a small group of friends and family. Do not leave a message on the answering machine that states you will be away for a set period.

Who checks on the house and what they should know

Choose one person you trust to look in on the house, and give them clear, simple instructions. Write down which doors to check, how the alarm works if you have one, where the water shutoff is and who to call if something is wrong. Give them your travel dates and a way to reach you, and a second contact in case they cannot.

Tell the neighbors that you will be away, who has permission to be at the house and what vehicles to expect. A neighbor who knows that a cousin is coming to water the plants will not call the police for a stranger at the door, and one who knows nobody is expected will notice and act on something unusual.

Ask the person to vary their visits and to check the inside as well as the outside. A water leak or a power cut can do as much damage as a break-in. If the trip is long, consider asking them to take in the mail, pull the bins to the street on collection days and run water in rarely used sinks and toilets. These small acts make the house look and behave as if someone lives in it.

Longer absences, second homes and seasonal residents

A week away and a winter away are different problems. Many Miami-Dade owners leave for several months, and some own a second home that stands empty for long stretches. The longer the gap, the more the plan has to rely on people and on routine maintenance rather than on the owner's memory.

For a long absence, arrange for someone to enter the house regularly, perhaps weekly, to check doors, run water, look for leaks and make sure the air conditioning is doing its job, since humidity builds quickly in a closed house and can swell wooden doors and frames until they stick. A door that has swollen shut or a lock that has seized in the damp is a common homecoming surprise. Our page on second home and vacation lock plan explains this in more depth.

Consider whether the locks should be changed to a system that allows temporary credentials for the people who help you, such as a cleaner, a caretaker or a property manager. If you already use a management company, ask what keys it holds and whether it keeps a record. Do not assume that a key given out years ago was returned. When in doubt about who has a copy, a rekey resets everything and costs you little time.

Hurricane season and trips that start before a storm

From June to November, travel plans should include a storm plan. Ask yourself what must be done if a storm is forecast while you are away, and who will do it. Hurricane shutters need to be closed, loose outdoor items need to be moved inside, and doors need to be locked and checked. If you cannot do these yourself, arrange in advance for someone who can, and make sure they have the keys or access they need.

Think about the home's doors. Impact-rated doors and well-fitted hardware perform better in strong winds, while worn hinges, loose strike plates and swollen frames can fail. If you have noticed problems, fix them before the season. We discuss this in impact door lock hardware.

After a storm, damaged doors and locks leave a house exposed. If you return to a door that does not close properly, a lock that has been bent or a frame that has shifted, call a locksmith to secure it, and photograph the damage for your insurer. Our page on storm damaged lock repair explains what a visit involves.

A one-page checklist and a plan for coming home

Copy the list below to your phone or print it, and tick each item the evening before you travel. It takes about as long as watching a television episode and protects you against most of the common mistakes.

When you come home, approach the house as you normally would, but notice anything different. If a door is open, a window is broken or something looks wrong, do not go in. Step away, call 911 and wait for officers. Do not try to investigate alone. Once the police have checked the house, a locksmith can secure damaged doors so you are not left with an open house overnight.

If everything looks fine, walk through and check each door and window, run the taps, check the refrigerator and reset any systems you adjusted. Review the list of who has keys or keypad access and cancel temporary access. If you find a lock stiff or a door misaligned, schedule a repair. When you want to talk through an issue, call and describe what you see, and a dispatcher can explain how a visit works, including the service call charge explained before dispatch.

1. Lock every door with the deadbolt, then test it.
2. Close and lock windows and secure sliding doors.
3. Remove or avoid hidden spare keys.
4. Review smart-lock users and set guest access to expire.
5. Check lock and sensor batteries.
6. Pause or arrange for mail and deliveries.
7. Set a few lights on timers.
8. Put away ladders, tools and loose outdoor items.
9. Brief the person who will check the house and tell a neighbor.
10. Share travel news only after you return.

Questions people ask

Related pages

Written by Claude (AI) (AI) for 24 Hour Locksmith Miami.