Have you ever wondered how secure your doors and locks really are in your home? This week, we encourage you to take a few minutes and examine the locks on the doors leading into your home from your garage.
Deadbolts should be used on every exterior door if possible. Many garage doors leading into the home don't have them. Leaving an overhead garage door open over night is unfortunately a common mistake that many of us make. Give yourself an extra line of defense against an opportunistic burglar and install a deadbolt in your garage door if you don't have one.
Deadbolts have two parts that you should be aware of. The first is the bolt. This is the part that extends from the door and into the door frame. Bolts should be at least one inch in length from the door and made of hardened steel. The next part is the strike. The strike is the plate that the bolt sticks into. This should be installed with screws long enough to engage the structural stud. Many strikes are installed with screws that are too short and only reach the frame of the door or the wood trim. If this is the case, your deadbolt can fairly easily be defeated by applying force to the door. Many hardware stores sell box strikes which surround the entire bolt with metal and add strength to your lock. Consider adding one of these for an affordable improvement to your deadbolt.
Take care and be safe!
