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Home Security

After reading about Farseer I thought some of you all could use some tips on securing your property. Remember that nothing is totally secure. IF there is something that the thief wants they are going to find a way in.

That being said I will list some ways to make your home more secure. It is said that if you prevent a thief from getting in in the first 10 to 15 seconds they will go elsewhere.

The best thing you can do is get a steel door. A steel door with a dead bolt will cost about $100 total. Getting someone to put it in if you do not know how will be a little more but if you have solid wood door you can wait on the steel door for a bit.

If you have a storm door buy a little rod lock. Cost usually around $.60 this is a great addition to your storm door. It only works if your home though as you can not lock it from the outside. But your other doors and windows can be. I will see about getting JB to post a pic of one of these so you know what I am talking about here.

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Just reading the last two days the local paper seems the garage is a major weak point. Many have a door from the garage area into the house and it is seldom locked. The Garage door for what ever reason does not get closed and they just walk in.

I have an old fashion manual roll up door on my garage and it is always locked. Are the new garage doors better?



I hate a/c in the summer but I do know an open window is a robbery waiting to happen what can be done with that? To keep it open some but keep the crook out is it possible?

I tend to leave upstairs windows open a foot with a lock bar in the window. I am upgrading windows over the next two years what should one look for?

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Yes the garage is the easiest place for a crook to get into your house if your garage is attached. Whether you have a roll up by hand or a garage door opener the crook can raise the garage door if it is not locked. The garage side door and windows are often over looked. A simple lock on them are easily defeated. If you have a door that leads outside you should always have a dead bolt on it. If you have a window that is less than 6 feet from the ground you should have a lock on it. The simple turn locks that lock the double hung windows together is not good enough. A window bar is the best recourse. A simple dowel cut to size will keep a downstairs window from being lifted open.

If you have a wall or window air conditioning unit you can breath a little safer in the fact that most criminals do not want to go through the time it takes to get a air conditioner out of their way. Most air conditioners are heavy or bulky and it takes too much time Key word here TIME for the thief to get them out of their way. If you wish to feel safer a simple Slide bolt on the window will keep it from being opened more. This method can be used if you want to sleep with a window open a few inches to get fresh air too.

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To lock a garage door there are two easy methods. The easies is to take a padlock and slip it through a hole in the rail drilled just above on of the rollers. This will keep the roller from advancing up the track and opening the door. Just remember to remove the lock before trying to open the garage door. Especially important if you have a garage door opener. This will burn out your motor and you will have to replace the door opener. Trust me I did this. The nice thing about this is the lock does not have to be locked.

The next method is a little harder but a lot more secure. Again if you use this method make sure you unlock/unattach the locking device before trying to open a garage door with a garage door opener. In this method you need to drill into the concrete at the bottom of the door in the center of the door. Here you will attach a metal loop used in a hasp lock. The other part is attached to the garage door itself. Once the door is closed you can put the hash over the loop and lock it securely.

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All sound easy enough to do these would be for doors on homes with access from garage to house. What about those who do not have that option? I am thinking the hasp to the ground or wooden door frame would suffice. As long as the hasp covers the screw heads to the hasp that is it folds back over itself then down over the lock ring.

I am thinking of doing that on both sides as the handles locks really are not hard to open thought I put blue lock tight on the screw on mine when I installed it they are not coming out with out some heat or drilling. I think those locks are too simple and are very quick to pick.

Home Security

Most of the locking methods I have described are for the inside of the door. This is a good way to prevent someone coming in while your at home. This will help you feel a little safer in your home. If you have a patio door a wooden dowel or a broom handle cut to fit snugly in the track will prevent this door from sliding open. If you have casement style windows you will have to have them closed and locked to prevent someone from coming in. The casement window in my opinion is the worse type of window to have in a house. You have to have it closed and locked to prevent anyone from entering the window. If the casement window is open just a little all it takes is a little pressure and it will open right up allowing access. My parents had casement windows till I showed them just how easy it is to get in. They have put new windows in. This is not a cheap fix.

If you are on a limited budget there are some cheap ways to make you house more secure. The slide bolt is your best friend in this case as it allows you to secure your house from the inside no matter what the style of door. This can be used in all rooms of the house and even your windows. The nice thing about the slide bolt is it is cheap. The down side of the latch bolt is it is cheap. But if properly placed you can make your house a lot harder to get into thus causing the crook to go elsewhere.

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Ok I have a silly observation and perhaps you know the justification.

My dad had a solid wood door his insurance company in small print had that home owners with a steel door got lower premiums. He calls and they say it is safer fair enough so he buys a door has it installed but no dead bolt....The insurance company came out and told him to install one and that it had to be in the center of the door as he want to put it lower on the door due to a small window(It can slide up) in the top of the door. They said no. So now if the window is left open any one can reach in and undo the dead bolt!

This door in in a porch and he has a second solid wood door with a dead bolt protecting actual entry to the home any how. But I thought it was strange that the dead bolt had to be installed that way and was ok beside a window that would open.

Yes he got the discount of 5% for installing the door which he was going to do anyhow just because the old one was starting to warp.


I just realized we are really talking about protecting from the pro or semi pro thief not vandals. I am so dense some times.

Edited: krakyn on 24th Apr, 2008 - 3:52pm

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Good Question. THe reason for a dead bolt in the center of a door is so that the door can not be forced by putting pressure on the corner that is farthest away from the dead bolt. If the dead bolt is up high or down low it can be forced and the door bend enough to allow entry. IF the dead bolt is near a small window use a keyed dead bolt only. This means the only ay to lock or unlock the dead bolt is with a key from either side. I hope that answers that question.

Yes we are talking only thieves here. You vandals are going to do things to cause damage only and not take anything.