6 Tips for Making Your Front Door More Secure

If you think you won’t ever get burgled, then we’ve got some stats to show you:

  • Australia currently occupies the 5th place for highest global burglary rate.
  • About one-fifth of all homes in Australia have experienced a burglary at least once.
  • A burglary occurs in Australia every 3 minutes.
  • It takes most burglars less than five minutes to invade a house.

These stats from Budget Direct reveal a harsh reality. No one is really safe from a burglar. So what can you do about? A lot of people choose to invest in high-end security and surveillance systems nowadays. If you have the means, we highly recommend that you do the same. However, in this article we’re going to focus on one very important security aspect of any home: the front door.

 In typical scenarios, your front door is the final line of defence against a home invasion. Hence, here are some tips to make it more secure than it is now:

Invest In a Dead Bolt

There are different types of heavy-duty deadbolts to choose from including single-cylinder ones that are only keyed on one side and double cylinder ones where both sides are keyed. Regardless of which type you go for, you want to make sure that it’s solid.

Alternatively you could have barrel bolts installed.

Install Supplementary Locks

You want to make it as hard as possible for a burglar to break into your house. Hence, it’s only logical that you increase the number of obstacles that he/she has to hurdle over. By adding two or three locks, hopefully you can discourage the burglar from proceeding.

Install a Strike Box

Strike boxes are much more secure than the traditional strike plate. Its structure allows it to attain a very solid connection into the wall stud. Just make sure you that you use 3 inch screws.

In order for your door to accommodate a strike box however, you’ll need to make the hole in the doorjamb bigger as well as the cover plate recess.

Make Sure the Hinges Are On The Inside

It doesn’t matter if you’ve got the most secure deadbolt installed on your door if a major weak spot is exposed to the burglar. If your hinges are located on the outside, then it’s just a matter of unscrewing them to get inside.

Install Reinforcement Plates

Once you install reinforcements plates behind your front door, there’s no way a burglar is getting in without some heavy machinery or advanced tools. When purchasing plates, you need to get the size that suits your door. This means you’ll have to measure:

  • The thickness of the door
  • The diameter of the installed dead bolt and the distance between its centre and edge.

Consider Getting a Steel Door

If you don’t want to go through all the trouble of modifying your door, then you may prefer outright buying a new one. For security purposes you can’t beat a reinforced steel door. As long as it’s properly installed, burglars will never be able to break it down and gain access to your house.

Your front door is very important part of home invasion prevention. The above six tips should help you make it a final line of defence.


 

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