Sliding Glass Door Security For Your Home

There are a lot of entrance points rather than just your sliding glass doors.  While the sliding glass doors may be one of the weaker points in your home’s perimeter, the rest of your doors could be just as big of a security risk.  Here are the basics to keeping your doors secure without a lot of hassle.

It’s important to door security to know what kind of doors you have.  Just with sliding glass doors, you need to know what your other doors consist of.  Solid wood doors are the most common and great for door security.  They are not easy to break or damage and will make a lot of noise if someone tries to do so.  You can also find metal doors that are paneled with wood to give it a better look.  Obviously these are the most impenetrable, but are also the most expensive.

As with sliding door security, the main security risk with your doors is accidentally leaving them unlocked.  If your home is older, check to make sure the lock is still tight.  The screws on the lock tend to loosen with time and a loose lock is one that’s easy to compromise.  Just locking your door by the handle will also hurt your door security.  The door is locked, but it is not that much more secure than if it was left unlocked.  One well-placed kick will have a burglar in your house without anyone having a chance to notice.  The best way is to lock both the handle and the deadbolt every time you leave the house.  A door chain can also serve the same purpose.  They are easy to install and very inexpensive.  They’ll allow the door to only open a short way, which is great for your door security.

Also consider getting special hinge screws.  These are longer 3” screws and are easy enough to get installed in your door.  They are specially designed to prevent the door from being pushed in if the hinge pins get removed.

The most recommended solution to entrance door security is to keep the entranceway clear.  Most police departments suggest this as the best way to keep a burglar from thinking your home is a good target.  Keep all tree and shrubs well trimmed at all times.  Burglars really only need one thing to victimize you and your family, and that is privacy.  With enough privacy all the door security in the world can be breached.  Make sure at every doorway there is enough open space that no one could possibly hide there.  These simple steps will take your door security to the next, protected level.