How to Hide a Spare House Key
For many people, having a spare key for emergency situations is a must. Whatever the reason- as a backup in the event you lose you primary key, so that your children don't need to keep a key with them, or for emergency entrance by others, the important things to consider are location, disguise, and protection.
Location
The first thing to consider is WHERE you want to keep the spare key. Some of the more common ideas I've heard or read are:
- Under a doormat- Please don't do this, even if it is just for five minutes. It is probably the first place that comes to mind when someone thinks of hiding a key and the first place that a burglar will look. Choose a place that isn't obvious to potential thieves.
- In the dog house (where the pitbull hangs out)
- In a flower pot
- Inside the zipper of patio furniture cushions (my patio furniture cushions do not have zippers)
- Somewhere hidden in your landscaping (inside a plastic bag buried in the mulch, taped to the base of a bush, etc.)
- Nailed to a tree
The bottom line is that you want to choose a place that will be difficult for others to find. This hiding place should not be highly visible to others. The last thing you want is reach into your secret bush and have a dozen people watching you. For areas near a metal structure, a magnetic key case can provide storage and some protection from the elements. This particular one is made of plastic, so it won't rust like the ones you can find at the local hardware store.
Disguise
Disguising the location of the key decreases the chances that a burglar will find it. Most disguises involve buring the key in something or taping the key behind or underneath something. Examples of burying include hiding the key in the soil in a flower pot and under mulch in flower beds. Examples of taping include securing the key under the barbeque grill, inside the gutter downspout, and behind/underneath a part of a deck. In addition to the methods above, there are a couple of "hiding places" that can be purchased online.
- Pretend Sprinkler Head - This particular product also includes a window sticker that reads, "WARNING: THIS PROPERTY PROTECTED BY SDC SECURITY SYSTEMS". A visual deterrent is one of the most valuable aspects of a security system. In fact, the largest traffic source to this article on wireless security systems is from Google searches for ADT yard signs.
Personally, I think the pretend rock is old news. However, if you have lots of rocks on your property, then a fake rock may be a great choice. The sprinkler head is a great idea, but only if you have an in-ground sprinkler system. If not, it may look odd to have only one sprinkler head for your entire lawn.
Protection
Finally, consider restricing access to the key with some sort of a combination lock, either in a lockbox, in the garage, or both.
Lockbox
In the Garage
- Wireless keypad garage door opener (Make sure that your purchase a model that is compatible with your garage door opener)
An alternative to a garage can be a tool shed that is secured by a combination padlock.
In the Garage in a Lockbox
Now you have got two layers of protection, the keypad combination to open the garage door and the lockbox.
One additional way that you can protect your spare key is to keep it at a trusted neighbor's house. This the the best choice for many people. Your spare key is locked inside someone else's home (hopefully not labeled with your address). If you ever need the key, a cell phone call is all you need to access the spare- provided your nieghbor is at home. The downside is that you must find a neighbor that you trust and who will usually be home during the times that you may need to drop by and pick up the spare key.
Conclusion
My choice would be to keep the spare key in the garage in a lockbox. However, I would take the extra step of mounting the lockbox in a non-obvious location. If your garage contains lots of clutter, use that as concealment. Now you have multiple safeguards in place- a combination keypad for garage entry and a hidden box with combination access in the garage. If you also have a home security system that must be disarmed upon entry, you can feel pretty good about keeping a spare key around.
Jon
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This article is over a month old, so I imported this to wikiHow: http://www.wikihow.com/Special:Newarticleboost/Hide-a-Spare-House-Key