With the growing concern over crime, many homeowners are investing in extensive alarm systems, spending $1,000-plus to electronically protect their homes.
Unfortunately, these homeowners may be cheating themselves by bypassing the first line of defense against burglars and intruders: strong door and window locks.
“For only $100, a homeowner can improve the security of an average home fivefold,” says Jim Henderson, supervising sergeant of the Chicago Police Department’s preventive programs section.
“People tend to gloss over the importance of good hardware on windows and doors,” Henderson adds. “As a result, someone will spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on an alarm system but will have cheap locks on the entry doors.”
In addition to being a minimal investment, upgrading door and window locks is a fairly easy do-it-yourselfer task that doesn’t require complicated tools.
Entry doors
With the increase in two-income families, more and more burglars are breaking into homes during daylight hours when the house is empty, says Henderson.
“A burglar’s first choice as a point-of-entry is an unlocked door or window,” says Henderson. “If he can’t find one of those, then he’ll go to the front or rear door, turn his back to it, and `mule-kick’ it open.”
As a result, homeowners should scrutinize three components of the door: the lock, the door itself and the frame.
The recommended door lock for any entry door is a deadbolt with at least a one-inch throw. That’s how far the lock’s bolt protrudes into the frame of the doorway.
“A lock on the doorknob itself just isn’t going to cut it,” says Henderson.
High-quality deadbolts start at about $25 and run as high as $200, depending on how decorative the lock is. There are two types of deadbolts.
A mortise deadbolt is installed into the door, with the bolt protruding from the side of the door and into the jamb or frame. A second type of deadbolt is the less secure, more noticeable surface lock, which is installed on the surface of the inside of the door.
If the entry door has no windows, the recommended deadbolt is a single-sided deadbolt, in which a key is used to open the lock from the outside, and a knob is used on the inside.
“If you have a glass window in the door or to the side of the door, a burglar could break that window, reach in, and open the lock of a single-sided deadbolt,” says Henderson.
As a result, the recommended lock for doors with windows is a doubled-sided or double-keyed deadbolt, which requires a key on both sides to open the lock.
“What’s also nice about a double-key cylinder deadbolt is that if a burglar does get into your home, say through a window, they cannot carry things out of the entry door if the lock has been locked from the outside and the key has been removed from the inside,” says Henderson.
The downside to double-key locks is that they can be a hindrance if you are trying to quickly leave the house in an emergency.
One solution to that is a double-key deadbolt with a capture key feature. When you lock the door from the inside, the key remains in the lock.
The door itself should be a solid-core or steel-clad door, not a less expensive hollow-core door usually used on the interiors of homes.
“I’ve seen teenagers kick their way through hollow-core doors,” says Henderson. “If you have a $100 lock on a $25 hollow-core door, the weak link will be that hollow-core door.”
Also, be cognizant that the more decorative glass there is on a door, the easier it will be for a burglar to break through.
The door frame is also an integral part of a secure doorway, says Henderson. Home improvers can shore up their door frames by installing 3- to 5-inch screws into the strike plate, which contains the door lock’s bolt when the lock is engaged.
This ensures that the strike plate is anchored into the home’s frame and not just the trim mold on the outside of the frame.
In addition, you can install an elongated strike plate that offers a better grip on the bolt if someone tries to break in through the door.
Patio and French doors
With the popularity of decks, many homeowners have added patio and French doors to the rear and sides of their houses, and these have made homes more accessible to burglars.
“Most of the locks that come with patio doors are inadequate,” says Henderson. “In fact, patio doors can be lifted out of the tracks they slide in and out of. I’ve seen burglars pound nails into patio doors and pull them up and out to get into a house.”
Henderson made a couple of recommendations for patio doors. The first is to install a few screws that prevent the door from being lifted out from the outside. To accomplish this, open the door, and then install three screws into the inside top of the frame.
“Install the screws deep enough so that the door cannot be lifted out but so that it can still slide by the screw heads,” he says.
Second, invest in a burglar bar or “Charley Bar,” a device that mounts to the door and locks it shut when not in use by jamming the tracks.
French doors also can be shored up with the installation of decorative sliding latch bolts installed at the tops and bottoms of the doors. “These are small keyless devices that people usually put horizontally on the inside of bathroom doors,” says Henderson. “With French doors, they are instead installed in a vertical position.”
Again, use long screws to secure the locks to the doors and frame and floor. In addition, make sure the built-in locks on the French doors are of a high quality.
First-floor windows
If a burglar can’t access a home via an entry door, he’ll move to a first-floor window. The clamshell locks typically found on most double-sash windows do little to thwart burglars, says Henderson. The locks can be opened with a screwdriver or other burglar tools.
In addition, the burglar can cut or break the glass above the lock, reach in, and open it. And, of course, if a window is left open while a homeowner leaves the home, the clamshell lock is worthless.
As a result, Henderson suggested a fairly simple and low-cost solution. “There’s a trick called `pinning the window,’ ” he says. “Close the window and drill a small hole at the top of the bottom window where the window sashes overlap. But don’t drill all the way through the top sash. Then, insert a 10- or 12-penny nail into the hole. This will basically lock the sashes together even if the clamshell locks is undone.”
Unlike the clamshell lock, the nail holding the window in place cannot be seen by the burglar.
You can also open the window about 3 inches and drill a second hole into the top sash, says Henderson. This will allow you to keep the window locked in place while open.
“Don’t allow the window to be opened more than 3 inches, however,” warns Henderson. “Otherwise, a burglar can reach in and manipulate the window open.”
Also, do the same for second-floor windows that are accessible by a tree, garage or porch roof, or fence, says Henderson.
Casement windows, meanwhile, can be made more secure with the installation of a sliding latch at the top of the window.
Basement windows
Basement windows, especially those shrouded by bushes or trees, are another favorite entry point of burglars. There are a number of ways of securing the lower-level windows.
If aesthetics are not important, there are burglars bars and accordion gates, which can be installed on the window frames. “Make sure that you purchase the type that can be opened in case of an emergency,” says Henderson.
You can also secure basement windows by installing a hasp and padlock at the top of the window. Or, you can also install a couple of sliding latch bolts at the top of the window to lock it shut.
