Front Door

You may find this hard to believe but most burglars will use your front door to gain entry to your property, however this is the case with 34% of home burglaries the point of entry is the front door, this is higher than any other point of entry. Burglars will look for an unlocked door as an easy target, they will also look under doormats, plant pots and any other potential hiding place for spare keys. And if there is no easy access to your front door burglars will kick the door down, smash glass panels or use tools to bypass the lock.

 

Here are a few tips to protect your front door:

  • Always lock your door even if you are at home

  • Have secure locks installed

  • Make sure you have a sturdy door and it is not made of cheap wood

  • Use a chain lock at night

  • Use a motion sensor light to light up outside your property at night

  • Have a burglar alarm installed

 

Back Door and Sliding Doors

The second most common point of entry is the back door. 22% of burglars use this as a point of entry! It is also more common at night time as it is hidden from the street and there is less chance of being seen by a neighbor. A lot of people tend to leave their back doors open as they are not used often. Sliding doors are also very vulnerable as they can be smashed, and the lock mechanisms can be opened quite easily. It is also possible to lift them off their tracks even when locked!

 

Here are a few tips to keep your back door or sliding doors secure:

  • Always lock the doors

  • Upgrade the locks to safer more durable locks

  • Use a dowel in the tracks of sliding doors

  • Use a sliding bolt to prevent sliding doors being lifted off tracks easily

  • Install motion sensor lights at the back of the property

  • Install CCTV

 

Garage Doors

Garages that are joined to your house are a target for burglars to gain entry to your home. Roughly 10% of burglaries use this method to enter your home. This is a target because most people think that because the garage door is locked there is no need to lock the door from your home to your garage! This can be a costly mistake. Garage doors are quite easy to break into, so once a burglar gets in your garage they have easy access to the rest of your home and they are hidden from the view of neighbours. Not only will the burglar have access to your property, but they will also have access to any valuables that are stored in the garage itself such as power tools!

 

Here are a few tips to protect your garage doors:

  • Lock both your garage door and the internal door to your property

  • Upgrade locks to durable stronger locks

  • Ensure garage door is made from a strong material such as metal

Overall whatever security measures you have in place remember there is always room for improvement and upgrades.

 

If you need to upgrade your locks or would like help implementing any of the other security methods mentioned, then contact our Locksmith in Southampton – 02380 453 539