What Makes Locked Doors Vulnerable and How to Protect Your “Home Sweet Secure Home”
Simply locking your door doesn’t always mean you’re sufficiently protected. There are a variety of factors that can affect just how much protection you have, such as how your lock is installed, which lock you chose, if you’ve shared your code, and your door itself.
Lock Selection and Installation
You’ve selected a lock and are having someone install it. Seems simple right? Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Your house can be left vulnerable if you do not choose the right lock or don’t install it properly. To avoid this, you need to make sure you’ve chosen the right lock. For exterior doors, this is either a single deadbolt lock or a double deadbolt lock that is ANSI or BHMA certified. Next, you need to ensure it is properly installed. This includes installing a single deadbolt away from any windows, confirming your lock fits in the frame properly, and assuring your lock is aligned. Without considering these factors, your lock isn’t as protective as it could be.
Key Sharing
Whether you have a physical key or a code, it’s critical to make sure you only give access (via key or code) to a small circle of people. It’s easy to lose track of who you gave a copy of your key to and now, even easier to just share your code. Nonetheless, if you keep a “hidden” key around your house – you are essentially inviting people in. If you feel you need to have a spare key in the area, make sure it is in a separate locked location, so that only those who have access to your house in the first place, can reach it. Secondly, if you know you’re someone who needs to share access to your house with multiple people, buy a smart deadbolt that allows multiple codes to be used. This way you know who enters and can delete their code if they are no longer welcome.
Your Door’s Vulnerability
You’ve done all the above and believe there’s nothing left to do. But we are here to tell you that you need to check your doors’ stability, not where it locks, but where the hinges are on the opposite side of the door. If someone is trying to gain access to your house and can’t by unlocking it – they will resort to breaking in. To do so, burglars will often resort to the hinges where reinforcement is often lacking. Making it amazingly easy to gain access when applying blunt force to the area. Prevent this by installing reinforcing hardware, like hinge pins, on this side of the door. Always remember when you have a strong lock, the hinge side is often left vulnerable.
Keep your Home Sweet Secure Home protected all year long. Check out our other blogs here to see other tips and tricks to stay protected.