How To Secure Your Home Against Kick Door Burglary
Outside of having a home security system another great way to protect your home is to make sure that your front door is well fortified
. Burglars are looking for homes that are easy to break into. Nearly 50 percent of all break ins are kick door burglaries. These are burglaries where the invaders simply kick the door in with a great amount of force. Burglars know that the doors on most homes are pretty easy to break down.
While having a home security system is the number one way you can protect your home, fortifying your home's doors is another great way to make your home more safe. There were 2 million burglaries last year and a vast majority of them were residential robberies. Residential home invasions are known for being extremely dangerous robberies--more than other types of robberies. In nearly half of all home invasions the victims sustained some type of physical injury. To help protect your home and family from home invasion make sure your doors are secure.
The first step in securing your doors is to check what material your door is made out of. Most doors are just composed of hollow cardboard cores with any variety of veneers. So it may look sturdy on the outside but could be very easy to break right in half. The majority of homes and apartments have doors with cardboard cores unless another type of door is requested during the build. It is best to have solid wood doors or at least doors with a solid wood core. Metal doors are another good option.
The second step is to change out your locks. When you first move into a residence a great security tip is to immediately change out your locks. This will ensure that no one else has the keys to your home or apartment. And most likely the locks currently in place are not as secure as they should be. During builds contractors use cheaper locks to save money. Even if they installed a deadbolt lock it is probably a low quality lock. Make sure that you have a deadbolt lock that is made of solid metal and that is a grade 1 or 2. You should also make sure that you get a deadbolt with a long throw bolt. Most have short throw bolts, but you should have one that is at least 1 inch long.
The third most important thing to check out is your door frame. Even if you invest in a more solid door a burglar can still pry open the door frame. The majority of door frames are tacked on. This makes them very easy to pry open. Make sure that yours is well secured to your home's walls. It is best to secure it with 3 inch screws and screw them in all along the frame. Following these three tips will greatly improve your home security.