Improve Your Front Door Security

According to the FBI, there were over one million burglaries in 2019, and 55.7 percent of burglaries involved forcible entry. This means you need to ensure your home’s front door is as secure as possible.

At Action Lock & Key, our locksmiths see firsthand the results of door break-ins and help our Burlington, MA, area homeowners to better secure their homes. We know it takes more than a lock on your door handle to make your home’s exterior doors stable.

Protect Your Home’s Front Door in Burlington, MA

Here are five top ways we recommend you reinforce your doors and door jambs:

1. Reinforce the door jamb of your front door.

The door jamb is constructed of two vertical wood component parts that surround your front door, forming your frame. They are the parts to which your door’s hinges attach on one side and your door’s strike plate on the other.

The strike plate is the metal piece surrounding the hole where the latch enters.

Since the jamb typically consists of wood, it can give way under force, such as with a kick. A higher-security door jamb product, typically made of high-gauge steel and featuring long screws, is highly effective at strengthening your door jamb.

Your front door’s hinges should also be secured with 3-inch screws, replacing the short ones that came with your door, to offer premium protection against applied force.

2.  Reinforce existing locks on your front door.

Any locks that open with keys should be reinforced. Adding cylinder guards around the locks prevents anyone from loosening the lock with a crowbar or other tool. Ask the locksmith experts at Action Lock & Key for various options.

3.  Use a high-security deadbolt on your front door.

If your exterior door only has one lock––on the door knob or handle––you should install a high-security deadbolt. Having two quality locks on your door goes a long way in stepping up your protection.

Think about installing a strike box for the deadbolt as an added measure. A strike box replaces a normal strike plate and is embedded into the door frame instead of sitting on top of the jamb. Be sure the deadbolt has a Grade 1 ANSI (American National Standards Institute) rating for top-quality performance.

4.  Reinforce the door and strike plate in your front door.

Reinforcing the front door itself provides an additional level of protection. Just like the jamb reinforcement, a door reinforcement increases the strength of your door. It’s a piece of strong metal shaped like a U and wraps around your door, over the deadbolt or your door latch.

The moment a piece of the door is removed to install your door handle or your deadbolt, your door is structurally weakened. But a door reinforcement helps to compensate.

Your strike plate is typically manufactured from thin metal and attaches to the door jamb with ½-inch screws. To up your front door’s reinforcement, you should replace the strike plate with a heavy-duty plate (or even consider installing a strike box instead, as mentioned above) and 3-inch screws. By reinforcing both your door and strike plate, your door can withstand much more force.

5.  Replace hollow core doors.

If any of your exterior doors are hollow-core doors, you should replace them with solid-core doors. All the strongest doors are solid. To tell which one you have if you are not sure, just knock on it. If the knock echoes, it’s hollow core. If it doesn’t and sounds flat, it’s not. Pretty straightforward. If you do have a hollow core, replace it with a door constructed of solid wood, solid wood core, fiberglass, or metal. These are sturdier options.

DIY Home Security Tip

Additionally, a small DIY step you can take to enhance your door’s security is to install window security film on glass panes, especially if you have windows in your doors. This holds glass pieces together in the event someone tries to break the window, making it harder to get through. Ask our locksmiths for reliable brands.

Keep in mind that everything in your home needs maintenance, even your doors. Our expert locksmiths know a well-maintained door will do a much better job at keeping intruders out than a neglected one. We take our jobs very seriously, as we want to help keep you safe,

Learn More Home Security Tips

Schedule a free consultation—have one of our home professionals reinforce your exterior door and door jamb. We know brands and styles, using only the best, as well as time-honored tricks of the trade. Our Burlington, MA, locksmiths can also assess where your door’s weaknesses lie and give you recommendations on how you can address them. Call Action Lock & Key at 781-229-9992 or request consulation today to help secure your home.