Here are 10 Tips To Increase Your Door Security in Atlanta
Did you know that a majority of burglary break ins in the Hudson Valley come thru your front & back doors?
Whether you live in Middletown, Walden, Newburgh or Montegomery NY… Doors are kicked in quickly & burglars are in and out of your home before you can say , “What the heck happened?”
Since this is often the weak link in the security chain it only makes sense to keep the doors secure.
That’s right…simply increasing the strength of your front door is a huge step towards increasing your homes security.
Simple Steps Toward Strengthening Your Front Door Security in the Atlanta area
1) What is your front door made of? You would be surprised how many homes have “hollow core” doors. How can I explain this simply? Lets see…imagine a door that is made up of a 1/8″ piece of paneling on the front & back…and nothing but cardboard spacers & air on the inside! Guess how ling it would take to kick this door in!
2) Upgrade your hollow core doors to solid wood doors which can be bought at home depot for under a hundred bucks. Even better…use a steel front door! Home improvement stores carry attractive steel doors for under $ 200.00
3) Lock your existing storm door…or think of adding a security storm door. These heavy duty steel bars can be attractively designed to provide security to your front door as well as b e pleasing to the eye.
4) Check the lock on your front & back door. Here again I find people with a standard lock with the old fashioned entry lock set that can be jimmied open with an old credit card. Invest in a dead bolt lock set for every exterior door so they that cannot be opened with a credit card.
5) Keep the doors locked. Some people think that they are living in the country and we don’t have to worry about that down here in the south…Get into the habit of locking.
6) Reinforce your doors with upgraded heavy duty strike plates & 3″ long screws
7) Install an auxiliary latch chain so that the door can be opened a little to talk to strangers…but still be locked.
How about an old fashioned “peep hole”. Be sure to get the one with a 360 degree viewer. They can be purchased for under $10 at your local hardware store.
9) If you have just moved into a new home…don’t forget to change the lock sets out or have them re-keyed. Who knows how many people are running around with the keys to your home!
10) Sliding glass doors on the patio can be secured in several ways. First of all there is the old broom stick in the track trick to keep them from being forced open. In order to prevent the doors from being lifted off of the tracks simply screw in long screws in the center of the top track . Allow just enough clearance for the door to slide back & forth …but not be lifted up out of the track. Finally, you can drill & pin the doors that overlap each other while in the locked position.
I hope these suggestions were helpful as we strive to improve your homes security by strengthening your exterior doors. How many of these ideas will you implement?
If you would like a Atlanta security system consultant to visit your home an make suggestions… contact us now for a free consultation.