You’ve likely chosen the design of your front door to welcome guests into your home and showcase your sense of style. You must now take action to prevent uninvited guests from entering.
Numerous articles in home magazines and on websites for interior designers are devoted to curb appeal: pick this color to stand out, or pick that one to make your home attractively blend into the neighborhood and landscape. The front door is the most visible entrance to a home, but if it isn’t secured, a burglar can quickly force their way in, take all of your belongings and even potentially harm your family. Modern options take steps to make front doors both secure and fashionable. In the past, securing a front door meant hefty locks and heavy, unsightly doors that made homes feel more like fortresses. In this guide, we go over eight ways you can drastically improve your front door security.
Which one of these ways do you have or plan on adding?
Install new door locks
The first thing you should do after moving into a new house is to have the locks changed or rekeyed. Whoever previously resided in the home may have given out keys to friends and family members who might not be aware that someone new has moved in. If you don’t know who has the keys to your house, it’s not secure. The locks on your home can all use the same key if you want them to, or they can all use different keys if you prefer. A good locksmith can make new keys and adjust the tumblers in the lock to match. However, if the locks are more aged, the locksmith might advise changing them. Tumblers and lock mechanisms can deteriorate and become less secure with use and time. That means that even if the locks were changed or rekeyed when you first moved in, if you’ve lived in the house for a while, it might be time to do it again.
You have how many keys to your front door? Think carefully; your family members most likely each have one, in addition to the ones you gave to your neighbor in case of lockouts, the contractor who renovated your home last year and the neighbor. Moreover, did any of them create copies? Rekeying the locks regularly can help keep your home secure by letting you know exactly who has access.
Reinforce the door
Your door can be strengthened further to increase security. A deadbolt, which can only lock (and unlock) from the inside, is a common form of reinforcement. A deadbolt can be installed yourself and will help to provide additional security as long as your front door is not made of steel. Another choice is a door chain, which leaves a clear trail of evidence in the event of an intrusion because it needs an external force to be opened from the outside.
For even more security, you can decide to install steel or nickel reinforcements around the screws, locks and hinges on your doors. With these in place, it can be almost impossible to kick down a door because the interior metal acts as armor. The security of your front door can also be greatly impacted by a high-quality door handle. A door handle of poor quality can be easily forced, snapped or broken, providing quick access to your house.
Install keyless door
A keyless lock can increase security. There are many options available if you want to secure your door from the inside, but only a small number of them will significantly increase the security of your front door. One of our favorite door security products is a keyless door reinforcement lock because it’s affordable, simple to set up and easy to use. Screw it to the jamb above your existing deadbolt to complete the installation. Therefore, even if you’re not a big fan of DIY, installation is not a big deal and can be completed in a short amount of time.
Using a smartphone app, you can check to see if your door is locked from anywhere and lock it if you discover you haven’t done so before leaving your house. Additionally, keyless locks let you maintain security by changing the code as necessary and grant temporary access to family members or contractors without handing over a set of keys.
Keep the area well-lit and visible
Darkness is an intruder’s friend because it offers cover and prevents them from being immediately discovered. Add lighting to deter burglars from trying to enter through your front door (or any door, for that matter). Several layers of lighting make up good security lighting. By adding fixtures, cleaning the glass surrounds of existing lights and increasing wattage, you might improve the basic door lighting. Additionally, you can connect those lights to light sensors or a smart home system to have them automatically turn on at dusk and turn off at dawn. This will save you the trouble of having to remember to do it and will also protect your house when you come home at night. Also, take into account the lighting directly inside the door. Interiors with adequate lighting imply that someone is at home and that occupants might still be awake and moving about the property.
Consider adding motion-sensor lighting to your front yard in addition to conventional entryway lighting. It’s crucial that these lights can be set to react to various intensities of motion. A cat stalking through the yard or a bunny hopping by will trigger the sensors if they are too sensitive, making them simple to ignore. To alert you to anyone approaching your home without permission, these lights should ideally be directed at the door and any shadowed or obscured areas nearby.
Install a home security system
A home security system can secure your front door in several ways. First of all, they frequently stop criminals before they even approach your home. In general, burglars will opt for the less secure home to avoid the lights, cameras, and sirens that frequently come with security systems when given the choice between two homes with and without obvious signs of a security system. A home alarm system is always necessary for adequate home security. However, the added hassle and higher costs deter most people from installing a specialized security system.
These systems send you (or your professional monitoring service) an early-warning signal to let you know someone has been seen in the yard or walking toward the door. If they manage to break in, the cameras linked to a security system can capture anyone getting too close, which will aid law enforcement in finding the burglars. However, modern security systems (whether professionally installed or DIY) come with technological benefits in addition to deterrence and monitoring services. Most operate via Wi-Fi, allowing you to connect extra devices and create a smart home system. To integrate smart lighting, appliances, HVAC and other systems, many security companies work with Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant.
The ability to see who is at the door and communicate with them from any location—upstairs, in the basement or even thousands of miles away—without the visitor knowing where you are, is a feature of many security systems. This can make it appear as though you’re home even when you’re not, and it can help you screen visitors without having to open the door.
Add a door barrier
Another excellent way to increase the security of your front door is to install a door barricade. Similar to a keyless door lock, it secures your entry door from the inside, but it operates entirely differently. There are both portable and permanent door barricades, but we advise choosing a permanent one because it is more secure and more durable.
The base plate and the actual barrier are the two main components of a door barricade. To lock your door, all you have to do is slide the barrier in with a single motion after screwing the base plate to the floor (you can unlock the door by simply sliding out the barrier). Door barricades don’t rely on the door’s toughness; instead, they rely on the strength of the floor. This means that burglars won’t be able to enter your home even if they manage to get around the deadbolt and other security features attached to the door or the jamb.
Install a peephole
Installing a peephole will enable you to see who is at the door and decide whether to open it, even though it is of little use when you are not home. With a peephole installed, thieves and scammers lose the element of surprise that is essential to many of their schemes, making them less likely to try a door.
Install a door with a solid core
Wood doors found in many older homes have started to rot or split and aren’t strong enough to withstand a hard kick or shove. Older doors with big glass panes and hollow-core doors, which are designed for indoor use, are both a huge liability when installed in an exterior entryway. Look at the available doors if your front door evaluation indicates that it is time to think about a replacement.
Security doors come in a wide range of designs, so it’s easy to find one that complements the house’s aesthetic. Measure carefully before choosing a replacement to ensure it is the right size; don’t assume the door is a standard size. For security reasons, look for a solid-core door with a wood core made of wood, steel or even fiberglass. Solid wood and fiberglass options aren’t far behind steel security doors in terms of strength and resistance to breaking and cracking. There are many security doors with decorative glass elements, but you probably won’t find any with particularly large panes of glass because they are too easy to break through.
Replace a full-view glass or screen storm door with something a little heavier for an additional layer of security. A second barrier between a potential burglar and the front door is created by security screen doors and security storm doors, both of which come in decorative designs. However, they are less likely to add style. Plainer metal screen doors can also increase security.
These are a few of our suggestions for securing and making your front door burglar-proof. Installing a strThe key issues are: installing (or doors) and getting a more reliable locking sysues. All of these, however, are prone to failure, which is why we advise purchasing an alarm system like Mimic GOTM that can alert you whenever your home security is jeopardized.
Continue reading our blogs for additional security advice, and don’t forget to pass it along to your family and friends so they can increase their own home and personal security. And if you’re ready to increase the security of your front door by installing a new one, let the stress-free experts at Valor Home Services help. We will help you with every step, including picking out a door. Get your appointment booked today by contacting us.
