Everyday home security is something we all need to be thinking about quite literally, Every Day. Break-ins and burglaries are not reserved for times of massive civil unrest, like what we have seen following 
hurricanes in this country. On the contrary, they happen all too frequently and you should take care to ensure your home is as protected as possible.
Last week I had a new front door installed. Not because of an major security concerns but just because the old one had seen too much weather over the years and was starting to give out. I did put in a very nice secure door with a reinforced frame and steel plate around the deadbolt though. If you’re pulling things apart anyway you might as well make some upgrades while you’re at it, right?
So I’m talking to the construction guys who are doing the install and asking them how secure they thought the door was and they had quite a bit to say. First off, they said the door I ordered was great but the only people who break in through the front door are the police. To which I replied, “They’re the ones I’m worried about.” That joke got big laughs… Second, they said the most common breaching point for a break-in is the side garage door. Now remember that these are the same guys who are called out to repair doors that have been broken into so they know what they’re talking about. After all, they’ve seen it with their own eyes time and time again.
Really? The side garage door? Yup, that’s the spot you need to watch out for. Apparently the bad guys are figuring they’d rather be around the side of the house, usually behind a fence, and that they won’t be heard from inside the house. I’m actually planning on doing a bit of handy work on mine so that I can actually bar the door from the inside like they used to do in old castles. I’m planning on camouflaging the brackets that the bar would slide into so they look like wall sconces. I’ll update you all once I make some progress.
Here are a few simple things you can do to make your home safer. For starters be sure to have good strong doors, with reinforced frames, and solid deadbolts that slide into a steel plate that’s drilled all the way into the wall. Second, make sure windows and sliding doors are secured. Just a simple wooden dowel can be extremely effective and add an extra layer of protection above basic locks. You may also consider some of the safety film that goes over windows and makes them almost impossible to break. Thirdly, and I know I say this all the time, Get A Dog. Bad guys hate dogs just as much as dogs hate bad guys. It’s a match made in heaven…
~Butch
Where I live there was a series of break-ins through the sliding glass doors of houses. They lift the door up and then pull the bottom off of the track, removing the whole door. A dowel in the track won’t help against this type of attack, and neither will film on the glass. I think something needs to be added to the track that keeps the door from being lifted off it. Not sure what will work.
Simple blocks or angle brackets attached to the sliding door (inside face) and frame would allow the door to slide but prevent lifting. They may have to be somewhat decorative because security measures seem to offend Americans. I can see how side or rear doors are more attractive to burglars, especially if you have a privacy fence or high hedge. Glass breaking while the garbage truck moves through the neighborhood would not attract a lot of attention.
I remember the craze involving high security deadbolts that extend through the door and frame, sometimes as much as three inches. These are also usually quite pick resistant. Not really a bad idea, but these alone provide a false sense of security.
One downside to the recent upswing in physical gold purchases is that criminals watch TV too. I’m sure they are looking for all that gold.
For Thoreau, I know what you are talking about. I hear that if you put a couple of screws into the door track and only screw them down far enough for the door to slide over without getting caught then it should make it impossible to remove the door from its track.
The window security film will hold the glass shrads together, but it won’t hold the glass in the frame unless it’s secured to it too. The glass will just fall out of the frame in one big piece. Not that it’s worthless, just that it’s not going to hold up to a baseball bat attack like in the videos unless the frame and the film are secured together. The film might be inexpensive compared to the cost of removing the windows moldings, screwing/gluing the film to the frame, then reattaching the moldings. That’s what made it cost prohibitive for us anyway.
We had security film added to all our windows. For plate glass on the sliding glass doors, they add a silicone strip to connect the window to the metal frame around the glass, so that it won’t fall out. For windows, supposedly the glass shards remain fixed in the frame without the silicone. But in any case, the film can be defeated by a determined attacker; it is just a better obstacle than regular glass.
Very good thoughts. The thing is that if someone really wants in your home they WILL get in, regardless of what you do. I might also suggest a home alarm WITH the stickers prominently displayed on major windows and doors. Dogs can be useful but they shouldn’t be expected to properly defend a home. Burglars have been known to be ruthless to dogs (poisoning, shooting) and who’s to say that your mean-looking, barking dog will REALLY attack when needed?