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Doors are one of the most important aspects of any home. They play a major role in securing the home as they are the first point of contact for anyone wanting to enter. Therefore, keeping your doors strong and secure is a key factor in maintaining exceptional home security.
Here are ways to make your doors more secure:
1. Install deadbolt locks
Adding a deadbolt lock to your door is a great way to ensure the knob on the door cannot be turned from outside. These locks come in different varieties including single cylinder – keyed on one side and double-cylinder – keyed on both sides.
The best part of installing a deadbolt is that you don’t have to remove your current lock. All you have to do is loosen the screws that hold the deadbolt plate in place and slide the deadbolt lock behind the plate. Then tighten the screws to complete the installation.
Be sure to purchase a deadbolt that has a large strike plate and secured with at least four screws that are 3 inches long. This will prevent them from being easily ripped off.
2. Replace your door’s strike plate
The strike plate is the metal plate affixed to your doorjamb. Be sure to equip your doors with a heavy safety strike secured with several screws that are three inches long.
The screws spread out the impact of the strike to ensure the force is spread out and not consolidated in one area. Longer screws, on the other hand, make the strike plate studier.
3. Fortify your door frame
Having a strong, high-quality door with properly installed locks alone cannot prevent burglars from breaking your door frame. To strengthen your door frame, fit special bars to make the hinges and locking points studier. Hinge bolts prevent your door from being forced off the hinges when kicked.
4. Secure exposed hinges
If your hinges are not on the inside of the door, secure them with non-removable pins. To secure the exposed hinges, remove at least two centre screws of the hinge and replace them with double-headed masonry nails or non-removable hinge pins. These hinges require special tools to disassemble which most thieves do not carry.
Hinges that are not exposed should also be secured to the frame with 3-inch screws.
5. Strengthen glazed doors
Secure your glazed or semi-glazed doors by applying a security film on the back of the glass or fitting a metal grille on the inside. Security films can stand up to different kinds of rough treatment while a metal grill protects your home against break-ins and vandalism.
6. Light up your front and back door
Statistics show that about 27.7% of burglaries happen at night, most of which end up being very dangerous. Security lighting at your front and the back door is a sign of activity inside the house. This can deter buglers from breaking into your home.
These are only some of the ways to burglar-proof your doors. You may also want to install a wide-angle peephole and re-keying the locks if you are not the first to live in your current home.
Contact us today to discuss intruder-prevention systems with London’s experts.
