Seven Ways to Make Your Home’s Entrance Safer
While you might assume that thieves would prefer to find less visible and less public ways to break into your home , your front door and hallway are actually prime targets for anyone looking to break in without your permission —more than a third of burglars use the front door to break into your home.
If you want to sleep a little better at night, the first step is to secure the entrance to your home. Even if you have a security system , a much better outcome is to prevent a home invasion in the first place. If you do just a few of these things, it will be much more difficult for someone to break into your home and jeopardize your property and your safety.
Choose an entrance door made of safe material
Your first step to securing your entryway is the door itself. A solid wood door provides decent security, but switching to a steel door will make it even more difficult for a potential burglar to cut, kick, or break the door itself. Aluminum or fiberglass are also good choices for increasing the security of your door, although they tend to be more expensive.
Whatever material your front door is made of, you can improve its security by installing a metal security door , which is similar to a storm door and adds an additional lockable barrier above your front door, further reducing the chance that someone will be able to gain access without your permission.
Strengthen the door frame
If you are unable to install a security door, you can still improve the security of your existing door by strengthening the frame. The locks on your door (and the door itself) are only as secure as the frame it’s attached to—the best lock in the world won’t be of any use if one well-placed kick breaks the frame.
You can purchase simple kits like this one that will strengthen your door frame and make it much more difficult to kick or pry at your door’s weak points – the hinges and jamb. These plates, usually made of steel, add rigidity to the existing frame material and deflect tools away from weak points.
Revisit these decorative glass windows.
Entries with a lot of glass are popular because they let in natural light, but if your front door has a lot of glass inserts or sidelights (narrow areas on either side), it’s a huge security risk because the glass is so easy to break (see any movie or TV show that depicts burglary). Reducing or eliminating entryway glass is an easy way to improve security simply because it eliminates a weak point.
If you can’t remove the glass (or simply don’t want to sacrifice light), you can replace it with safety glass. If that’s too expensive, you can also install protective window film . Security films won’t necessarily stop a determined thief from breaking into your home, but they can slow him down and make his job more difficult, making him more likely to give up before getting inside.
Upgrade your locks
Just as your door locks will only be optimally effective if the door frame is tempered, your door will only be secure if you use a high quality lock with the appropriate level of security. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) gives all locks a rating from 1 to 3 that describes their level of security. A rating of 1 is the best. Installing Class 1 locks (make sure they actually have the official ANSI seal) will ensure maximum security for your front door.
Adding a deadbolt to your door is an easy way to make it more difficult to break into. A single-cylinder deadbolt (with a key entry on the outside and a thumbturn on the inside) is best for residential doors, as having to use the key on the inside will make it difficult to escape the door in an emergency.
Hardware update
Another way to make your entrance more secure is to make small upgrades to other door hardware – hinges and strikers:
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Deeper screws. Most screws that come with door hinges range from 1 to 2.25 inches in length. This is certainly sufficient, but a deeper screw will be more difficult to remove, increasing the overall strength of the door. Replacing hinge screws with 3-inch (or deeper) ones is a cheap and easy way to make the entry more secure. Just make sure it’s deep enough to accommodate longer screws, and that the screws don’t interfere with nearby windows or wiring in the walls.
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Hinge bolts. Hinge bolts fit between door hinges (see their action here ) and make it difficult to remove the door from the frame, even if they manage to push the pins out of the hinges. They’re mostly useful if your door swings outward (most residential doors open inward), but they certainly can’t hurt, especially since they’re cheap and easy to install.
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Impact box. The strike plate is the metal strip that connects the door’s deadbolt and latch to the frame. This is usually just a flat piece that doesn’t provide much reinforcement, so installing a response box is a good idea. The impact box fits into the hole drilled for the latch or bolt and helps absorb and distribute any impact when attempting to break the door frame.
Redesign your landscaping for maximum visibility
An easy way to improve the security of your entryway is to remove any landscaping that obscures your front door from the street. While privacy is always nice, if there is a lot of lush landscaping around your front door, this could be an opportunity for someone to discreetly work on your door. This coupled with the abundance of light at night will make even the most determined thief think twice about storming your door.
Dispose of the spare key in the front yard.
Even if you make your front door a marvel of strength and security, it won’t mean anything if you leave the spare key under the mat or hide it in one of those obvious faux stones. Everyone needs spare keys in life to keep them from getting locked out of their own home, but think about where those keys are located. A trusted neighbor, or a close friend (or relative), or the person sitting at your desk at work might be good ideas. However, do not hide the key anywhere near the door, as it will be too easy to remove upon quick inspection.
Of course, using a smart keyless lock is another option that eliminates the possibility of losing your key, although it may still be a good idea to have someone you trust who lives nearby have the code in case you ever need someone to break into your home.