5 Tips to Backdoor Home Security

The old adage that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link rings true with home security too. A home is only as secure as its weakest door, window or lock. So in this post, I’ll address means of egress: doors.

Front doors are often decorative and, most often, heavy with a solid core, giving the impression of security. What’s funny to me is that all a burglar has to do is go into the back yard to find a flimsy wooden door that often has up to nine panes of glass. This is called a “9-Lite Entry Door” and is often an easy target for thieves. The reality is that all a burglar has to do is break one of the nine windows nearest the doorknob and reach in to open. We’ve all seen this in a movie when the villain is going after his target. Side-entrance garage doors and walkout basement doors are often constructed the same way.

Protect your alternate entrances:

  1. Solid-core doors: The obvious solution here is to install solid-core “front doors” with minimal (or no) windows at the garage, side entrance, walkout basement and back door.
  2. Doorjamb reinforcement: Consider door reinforcement technologies that beef up the hinges, strike plate, doorjamb and wrap around the knob and deadbolt.
  3. Camera surveillance: Rear entrances are attractive to criminals because they are often hidden and out of plain sight. Installing security cameras with signage may make a burglar think twice.
  4. Home security: Install a monitored home security system—or, at a minimum, install motion sensors, stickers and signage alerting a burglar your home is alarmed.
  5. Lock your doors: It’s not enough to have quality locks like Schlage locks as your doorknob and deadbolt—you also have to lock them! Many burglaries happen simply because people don’t lock their doors!

Robert Siciliano home security expert to Schlage discussinghome security and identity theft on TBS Movie and a Makeover. Disclosures. For Roberts FREE ebook text- SECURE Your@emailaddress -to 411247.