Statistics show that around 40% of all domestic burglaries involve the burglar gaining entry via a front or back door in the Leeds area. To ensure the security of your doors you need to have good locks fitted to sturdy door and frame, other security devices can be used alongside the lock to further reinforce the overall security of the door.
The Front Door
You may feel your front door is safe and secure because it has a lock, but this is not always the case! Do you know what sort of lock it is? A surface mounted lock for example, relies on the strength of its fitting for its security. This makes it easy for burglars to see how many locks are fitted to the door and judge how easy it will be to force the lock away from the door frame. If your door has only one lock make sure your local locksmith in Leeds Easy Pickings Locksmiths have installed a high security lock to the premises.
Doors with glass panels make gaining entry simple for burglars, unless the lock can be deadlocked, all a burglar has to do is simply smash the glass and reach round to open the door.
If your door is thin then a mortice lock may not even be enough to secure the door. You need a good strong door to work alongside a lock in order to ensure security.
Other Doors
Back doors tend to be a lot more vulnerable than front doors. Back doors are often made up of a lot of glass, and often fitted with sub standard locks. They also tend to be well hidden from view of neighbours or passers by so it allows a burglar to force entry without the risk of being seen.
French doors and sliding patio doors also have significant weaknesses. The hinge pins from French doors can be easily removed and door panels from sliding patio doors can be lifted out of the tracks, unless an anti-lift device has been installed.
Burglars will also take note of how easy it is to access the back door of your property. So, if you don’t have bolt on your gate or your fence is easily climbable then this also makes your back door a good target for burglars to attempt to gain entry to your property.
Surface Mounted Locks
These types of locks are also known as rim cylinder locks, they have three main components; the lock body, which is fitted to the inside of the door, The cylinder which goes through the door to the outside of the door and the steeple which is screwed into the door frame. The security of this type of lock depends entirely on the strength of fixings used to fix the lock in place. When you fit one of these locks it might be worth replacing the screws that come supplied with the lock with longer ones, this will increase the security of the locks.
The cheapest and simplest type of rim lock is a night latch. These can only be operated by a key from the outside of the lock, and by a knob on the inside of your door which also has a sliding button that can be used for night time security. This kind of lock however, is not secure from the outside as the bolt can easily be moved out of the locking position by using something flat and flexible and inserting it between the door and the frame where the lock its. Even if you use the button on the night latch a burglar could still unlock your door by breaking a pane of glass and reaching around if you have glass panels in your door.
Doors with a night latch also provide burglars with a quick exit route after they have gained entry via a different part of the house, a broken window for example. In order to ensure the security of a rim lock it must work alongside a deadlocking feature to prevent the lock being forced or operated without a key.
To ensure your rim lock is one of the more secure deadlocking rim locks you need to check it meets British Standard 3621, you can do this by looking for the BS Kitemark. If you find a kite mark on your lock then it is more than likely providing a good level of security for your door. If, however, your lock doesn’t display the BS3621 Kitemark then you should call out a locksmith to come and upgrade your locks as soon as possible.
If you require Easy Pickings Locksmiths to do a home security check on your property free of charge please contact us on 0113 805 0761 or 07456 080054