Will door bells on back doors make a comeback?

[RedAngie]

I never heard of a back doorbell. I grew up in a city rowhouse. We had a front doorbell, but all backyards were fenced in. It would be unheard of for adults to ring or knock on a back door. Up until the later 60s we had milk delivered, but there was a metal box on the front stoop, no milk door.

When we moved to the suburbs when I was 12, none of the homes had doorbells, unless owners installed them after moving in. All the houses had heavy metal knockers on the front doors.

 

[msjprincess]

We currently have a Ring doorbell on our back door. Before that I have never had or seen a doorbell on a back door.

 

[disneychrista]

I’ve never lived in a house where the back door was accessible. They are all behind walls, fences, gates.

 

[AndreaDM]

We live in a big 100 year old house that has a "maids quarters" with direct stair access into the kitchen. There is no longer a back doorbell, but evidence there once was. I'm sure milk, etc. were delivered to the back door to "the help". The property is now gated and no way for anyone to access the back door without opening the electric gate. And no, I don't ever see them making a comeback, homes are built totally differently now not to mention our lifestyles have also drastically changed.

 

[lanejudy]

The house where I grew up (built around 1900) never had a doorbell on the back door, but EVERYBODY used the back door. Anyone at the front door was unusual. Nobody ever used front doors back then unless it was someone you didn't know.

Our previous house (built 1920s) did not have a doorbell on the back door, and nobody else ever used the back door - just the front.

Our current house (built 1950s) has a doorbell on the back door; I think DH installed it when we moved it, or maybe he simply replaced one that was already there. It is a different tone than the front door, though I never remember which is which and end up running between the 2.

 

[AppleDumpling]

The house I grew up in, built in the 1950’s, had a doorbell on the back door, which was common in my suburban neighborhood. Like you say, the bells had different rings to tell them apart. (Front door was a ding dong, back door just a ding, LOL.) We lived on a corner lot so there was a path from the backyard, across the side yard, to the sidewalk on the side street. Kids from the neighborhood, my friends and my siblings’ friends, would come to the back door to call on us to play, and I usually did the same at my friends’ homes. There was no scheduled play dates or parent involvement back in those days, We also had milk delivery, probably into the early 70’s, with an insulated milk box by the back door.

To answer your question OP, no, I don’t see them making a comeback, at least around here. The back door of my house now is a glass slider with no doorbell. Deliveries go to the front. The only people to enter the fenced-in backyard would be invited friends (for example, if we’re having a cookout).

 

[mikehn]

My friends just text me and say they're here. No need for any doorbells.

 

[tvguy]

I don't see how having a doorbell in the back would prevent/deter theft of delivered items. If the delivery person rings the bell when you aren't home then no one will hear regardless of which door. My experience has been that the delivery person sometimes rings the doorbell and other times doesn't. Even if you are home, if you running a vacuum or any loud appliance, you probably wouldn't hear the bell. The layout/design of your home probably has more to do with where packages are delivered. Most newer homes I am familiar with only have one keyed entrance door along with a garage door. Having a bell on the entrance door within the garage wouldn't be accessible unless the garage door was open. Back yard is typically a patio area that isn't an entry door you can lock from the outside.

The door bell wouldn't, but having packages left at the back door would prevent deter theft because many package thefts are crimes of opportunity. The thief sees a package on the front step, they take it. If it is on the back step, they don't see it.
The door bell at the back door is old school from decades ago when home delivery was common, and often there was a stay at home mom at home to immediately get the dairy products etc when they were delivered. Now home delivery probably is bigger than it was in the 1940's-50's-60's, and remote work means many homes are occupied during the work day so the door bell at the back door would be helpful.

 

[tvguy]

people might not realize it b/c (in my experience) few read the entirety of their title paperwork when they purchase a home or property but even where i live in 'the sticks' where we don't even get some public utilities that doesn't mean those utilities don't have decades, close to a a century old easement on properties. it is the rule vs. the exception for easements to be on private properties-in some cases there is strictly enforced verbiage pertaining to fencing or otherwise limiting access but in others fences abound yet were the homeowner to look at the very fine print in their documents they would find that unless they provide unobstructed access through their fencing to any and every easement owner-those owners can take into their own power whatever means are necessary for access.

Yes, there are posts on places like NextDoor from people shocked when a utility crew not only comes into their yard, but digs up their yard.
I have a double whammy. My house was built in 1979 and all my utilities are buried in the easement across the front of the property. The subdivision behind me was built in 1956 and most of the utilities are on the property line between my backyard and their backyard above ground.
I have no problem with utility crews coming into my backyard to work on the wires on the poles. What is disruptive is when utility crews need to access the buried utilities across the front of my house. In 39 years in my house, the electric company tore out my driveway to replace the buried electric cable. The water company dug up my lawn to replace a leaking connection to the water main and to put in a water meter. The gas company dug up my front lawn to put in a gas line when a few neighbors opted to have natural gas pulled into the neighborhood. The phone company dug up my yard twice to replace phone/internet lines. And the cable company trenched from the street to my house to put in cable TV.

 

[NotUrsula]

The door bell wouldn't, but having packages left at the back door would prevent deter theft because many package thefts are crimes of opportunity. The thief sees a package on the front step, they take it. If it is on the back step, they don't see it.
The door bell at the back door is old school from decades ago when home delivery was common, and often there was a stay at home mom at home to immediately get the dairy products etc when they were delivered. Now home delivery probably is bigger than it was in the 1940's-50's-60's, and remote work means many homes are occupied during the work day so the door bell at the back door would be helpful.

In the old days, milk, especially, was usually left at the door before dawn, so they didn't ring the doorbell. (They usually offered eggs and cheese as well.)

 

[tvguy]

In the old days, milk, especially, was usually left at the door before dawn, so they didn't ring the doorbell. (They usually offered eggs and cheese as well.)

Yup. We got eggs and cheese too. I worked graveyard shift across the street from Crystal Dairy for 9 years. Their home delivery trucks were usually pulling out on their routes about 7:15 am when I was leaving work. Those good old classic Divco milk trucks.

 

[barkley]

The door bell wouldn't, but having packages left at the back door would prevent deter theft because many package thefts are crimes of opportunity. The thief sees a package on the front step, they take it. If it is on the back step, they don't see it.

if the ups/fed ex/usps....delivery person can access the backdoor then what's to stop a thief? the bulk of package thefts in our neck of the woods are due to cars following the delivery drivers, spotting where the drop offs are and then reversing direction to pick up the newly dropped off packages. if they see someone go into a backyard to do a drop off they will do the same (and potentially see a secluded area for a break in). this is why many of us have signage on accessible side and back doors instructing drivers to only drop off in one designated area.

 

[tvguy]

if the ups/fed ex/usps....delivery person can access the backdoor then what's to stop a thief? the bulk of package thefts in our neck of the woods are due to cars following the delivery drivers, spotting where the drop offs are and then reversing direction to pick up the newly dropped off packages. if they see someone go into a backyard to do a drop off they will do the same (and potentially see a secluded area for a break in). this is why many of us have signage on accessible side and back doors instructing drivers to only drop off in one designated area.

Nothing is 100% for sure. But a package thieve may not be brave enough to go into a backyard.

 

[cats mom]

I'll never forget moving into a new to us house and the neighbor (who we had only met once) came to the back door. She said it was because they had been close with the previous owners and they always used the back door. Ummm, it's great that you were close and all, but I don't know you, and unless/until I extend an invitation... how about you use the front door like a normal person?

I can see deliveries left in back being a potential solution for porch pirate problems, but only if requested/approved by the homeowner, and I don't know that a doorbell would be necessary. Dang delivery people seldom use the one we have in front now. More often than not they just drop and run.

 

[tvguy]

I'll never forget moving into a new to us house and the neighbor (who we had only met once) came to the back door. She said it was because they had been close with the previous owners and they always used the back door. Ummm, it's great that you were close and all, but I don't know you, and unless/until I extend an invitation... how about you use the front door like a normal person?

I can see deliveries left in back being a potential solution for porch pirate problems, but only if requested/approved by the homeowner, and I don't know that a doorbell would be necessary. Dang delivery people seldom use the one we have in front now. More often than not they just drop and run.

I hadn't thought about it, but you rattled some memories from growing up in the 1960's. Friends and neighbors often came to the back door. Door to door sales people used the front door and door bell.
One of my dads long time friends used to let himself in the garage, go out the back door, tie up his dog, and ring the back door bell.

 

[barkley]

i guess the concept escapes me b/c the neighborhoods i grew up in, owned homes in (with the exception of my current due to acreage) all had fenced backyards with locked gates. i somewhat recall visiting family that lived in areas where it was the design that driveways led to detached garages in the back of the yard so it wasn't fenced off but back doors just haven't been easily accessible where i've lived (thinking about it-the bulk of my current neighbor's back doors would either be off a daylight basement or up on a raised deck and in both cases sliding doors so generally no doorbells).

 

[tzolkin]

Our back door is the main entrance to the house due to the way the driveway is set up. We occasionally have guests come to the front door, but they basically have to walk back up the driveway and go through a gate to get to it. Both doors have doorbells, but no one uses them. (I actually had to just go look at the back door because I wasn't sure if there even was a bell out there.) House was built in the late 1980s.

Our back door is not easily accessible. We have a wooden fence.

A person would be trespassing to come in our backyard.

Our front yard is fenced, but about 90% of my deliveries are left on the front porch. They open the gate and walk through to get to the porch. I've never thought of it as trespassing. (It is a short fence so they can see if anyone is in the yard or on the porch.)

However, since neither UPS or FEDEX bother to ring the front doorbell when they deliver, I don’t suppose a back doorbell would help.

I was thinking the same thing. I haven't had anyone ring the doorbell when a package was left in probably at least a decade (three houses ago).

 

[DisneyHardin]

We don't really have a back door. The door from our back yard goes into the garage, not the house.

 

[mjkacmom]

We have a back doorbell with a different ring, 100+ year old home. Our back yard has a picket fence, some yards are fenced, some not. Our driveway is in the back, and some of us neighbors go to each other’s back doors. Deliveries are made to our front porch, but it’s on a hill, about 5 steps from the sidewalk, then a 15 foot walk to another set of 8 stairs, then a large wrap around porch. There are no driveways on my side of the street, hardly anyone parks on our street, so not ideal for porch pirates. Contractors will use our back doorbell sometimes.

 

[Mysterian]

I have a back patio door leading to a backyard, not the kind of back door that's worth adding a doorbell. Although a sliding glass door isn't like a backdoor, I can still doo, doo, doo, look out my back patio door.