According to estimates, about 70 percent of home invasions come through the front door and not the windows, as many people imagine. Some front doors are very sturdy, but the majority can easily be overcome by experienced criminals. So what can you do to protect yourself and make your front door more secure? Here are some tips from the experts.
Start Off With A Solid Door
Breaking into a house isn’t always a high-tech affair. Often burglars will come along, kick a door and hope that it opens. The best defense against this is a solid wood door: one that won’t deform and break if struck by a foot. There are other options too. Many people opt for metal doors which have interior reinforcement and a lock block which prevents burglars from bending it open with a jack.
Of course, the more extreme you go, the more expensive doors become. The most secure doors are made from steel, but they’ll set you back thousands of dollars and require quite a bit of maintenance.
Remove The Windows
Windowed front doors help to make a house feel cozy and inviting, but from a security perspective, they’re a big no-no. The problem with windows on doors is that if the glass is easy to smash, a criminal can just reach in and turn the lock from the inside, gaining access to your home in a matter of seconds. If you’re getting a new door installed, consider one without a window. If you absolutely have to have a window, for planning reasons or otherwise, go with reinforced glass and make sure that you add decorative metal bars for extra reinforcement.
Of course, you don’t just have to stick with a single lock on your door. So long as fire codes allow it, you can add extra locks at the top and the bottom of the door, well out of reach of criminals.Install A Deadbolt
A door can only ever be as strong as its lock. Even if your door is solid steel, if the lock doesn’t go deep into the surrounding wall, then all it takes is a good hit, and the burglar is inside your home. Deadbolts are bolts that extend far into the wall and mean that it’s much harder to simply ram open your front door. If you’re really worried about your door being rammed or people trying to break in while you’re on holiday, you can add a second deadbolt lower down the door.
Choose Your Lock Wisely
Not extending far enough into the surrounding door frame isn’t the only problem with front door locks. The other problem is that they can be surprisingly easy to pick and drill. Criminals will often try to gain entry without causing a scene, and so they look for front doors which they think have locks that will be easy to pick. The best response is to choose a lock, like Euro Cylinder Locks, with in-built safety features to prevent this from happening. These types of locks help to thwart opportunistic burglars, making it harder for them to break and enter in an acceptable time frame.