Short answer: You do not need a full security overhaul to make a home much harder to force. A few targeted upgrades close the gaps burglars actually rely on.
You do not need a full security overhaul to make a home much harder to force. A few targeted upgrades close the gaps burglars actually rely on.
When a door gets kicked in, the lock itself almost never fails. What fails is the strike plate, the small metal plate the bolt slides into, held on by two short screws that bite only into soft trim wood. Swap it for a heavy-duty strike plate secured with three-inch screws that reach past the trim and sink into the wall stud behind the frame. It is one of the cheapest upgrades in home security and one of the most effective, because it turns a door that pops on the first shove into one that holds. Pair it with a real deadbolt that throws a full one-inch bolt. If you are buying new hardware, look for an ANSI Grade 1 or Grade 2 deadbolt rather than the lightweight builder-grade units that come standard on many homes.
Front doors face the street and get the most attention, so intruders often prefer the privacy of a side gate, back door, or sliding patio door. Sliding glass doors are a common weak point in South County homes: the factory latch is flimsy and, worse, many sliders can simply be lifted out of their track. Drop a solid bar or a cut-to-length wooden dowel into the floor channel so the door cannot slide open, and add anti-lift screws in the upper track so it cannot be popped off its rollers. Give side and back entry doors the same reinforced strike plate and deadbolt treatment as the front, since a lock is only as strong as the least-protected door in the house.
Hardware stops force, but visibility and light stop people before they try. Trim back tall shrubs near windows and entryways so there is nowhere to work unseen, and add motion-activated lighting over dark side yards and back doors. Put inexpensive secondary locks or pin locks on ground-floor windows, especially any that are hidden from the street. Finally, if you have recently bought or rented your place, rekey every exterior lock rather than trusting that you hold the only copies; you have no way of knowing how many keys a prior owner, contractor, or property manager handed out over the years, and rekeying is a small cost for the certainty that your keys are the only ones that work.
When a door gets kicked in, the lock itself almost never fails. What fails is the strike plate, the small metal plate the bolt slides into, held on by two short screws that bite only into soft trim wood. Swap it for a heavy-duty strike plate secured with three-inch screws that reach past the trim and sink into the wall stud behind the frame. It is one of the cheapest upgrades in home security and one of the most effective, because it turns a door that pops on the first shove into one that holds. Pair it with a real deadbolt that throws a full one-inch bolt. If you are buying new hardware, look for an ANSI Grade 1 or Grade 2 deadbolt rather than the lightweight builder-grade units that come standard on many homes.
Front doors face the street and get the most attention, so intruders often prefer the privacy of a side gate, back door, or sliding patio door. Sliding glass doors are a common weak point in South County homes: the factory latch is flimsy and, worse, many sliders can simply be lifted out of their track. Drop a solid bar or a cut-to-length wooden dowel into the floor channel so the door cannot slide open, and add anti-lift screws in the upper track so it cannot be popped off its rollers. Give side and back entry doors the same reinforced strike plate and deadbolt treatment as the front, since a lock is only as strong as the least-protected door in the house.
Hardware stops force, but visibility and light stop people before they try. Trim back tall shrubs near windows and entryways so there is nowhere to work unseen, and add motion-activated lighting over dark side yards and back doors. Put inexpensive secondary locks or pin locks on ground-floor windows, especially any that are hidden from the street. Finally, if you have recently bought or rented your place, rekey every exterior lock rather than trusting that you hold the only copies; you have no way of knowing how many keys a prior owner, contractor, or property manager handed out over the years, and rekeying is a small cost for the certainty that your keys are the only ones that work.
Call (669) 258-3700 and describe the situation, your exact location, and what you need. Timing is confirmed on that call rather than promised in advance.
Call for help: (669) 258-3700 — a straight answer and an honest estimate before any work begins.