Monday, October 26, 2009

Keep Your Family Safe With Better Door Security

By Todd Cavanaugh

How difficult would it be for someone to break into your home through a door and take someone in your family by surprise? When sixty percent of home invasions happen with residents at home, you need to be certain that your home and your family are safe. Good door security is the first step in protecting your family.

There are four primary considerations in door security:

- The correct door

- The correct locks

- Putting the locks in the right places

- Installing the right alarms.

First, you need the right door. This might be a high-security steel door. If you have a patio or balcony, you might want to install French doors or a sliding glass door. This would not present a door security risk if you are above the second floor of a building. On the first or second floor, you might need additional safeguards.

Second, door security depends on good locks. The better the lock the safer will be your home. Whether you choose a door knob or a door lever, this is your first step in door security. The greatest security comes from a door knob not operated with a key. You can choose combination code locks typed into a keypad and or locks that are operated by scanning a fingerprint. These are much more difficult to open.

Three-point locks are appropriate on French doors and on other doors with a large amount of glass. Back, side and basement doors often have mostly glass in the top half of the door. Three-point locks offer the added security of penetrating the door frame at the top and bottom of the door as well as the side. You will probably want to invest in either a key-operated lock for a sliding glass door or a rod that attaches between the door and the frame or lays in the slide of the door to prevent opening. Door security is important on any style door.

The third step: install all locks in the most advantageous place. This is essential door security. Positioning a deadbolt just above the door knob or door lever makes sense only on a solid door. Otherwise, you will need to consider where the glass is and where an intruder can reach the deadbolt. On most secondary doors, much of the top half is glass. In these cases, placing the deadbolt near the bottom of the door, beyond reach, is a more effective placement.

Finally, door security demands the right alarms. Once the right locks are installed in the right places, there are two ways to gain entry to the house - by opening the door or by breaking out the glass. There are, then, two alarms needed for door security. The standard door alarm works with magnetic bars in the door and the frame. If the door is opened once the system is activated, the magnetic attraction will be broken and the alarm will sound. But it does little good if someone breaks out a window and crawls through it. Therefore, a glass-breakage sensor is also installed near the door. These devices are programmed to respond to the sound of a window or door glass breaking. The sound activated the sounding of the alarm. Sometimes, this is enough to scare off an intruder.

If your goal is to keep your family safe when at home, you will look into all aspects of home security. Keep in mind that door security is the first step. Pay attention to all four aspects of door security, and you can trust that your family is safe when at home.

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