How To Improve Your Front Door Security

Are you worried about someone breaking into your home? Do you have an older lock on your front door or does your front door lock need to be repaired? Hiring a residential locksmith to ensure you have the best front door security can go a long way to giving you the peace of mind you desire. Here are a few of the best ways you can improve front door security.

Choose the Right Lock/Door Knob

Most door hardware is installed into a hole that is created within the door. This hole weakens the door and becomes a target of those looking to break in. You can combat this issue by using a metal door-and-lock reinforcer. This type of product is made of brass, stainless steel, iron or another strong metal.

In addition, you need a good lock cylinder and a good door knob or handle. You don't want something cheaply made and easy to destroy. Burglars will often try to pick the lock, drill it, bump it or use another trick to get past your lock cylinder. Choosing the right lock and lock hardware goes a long way to improving the security of your front door.

Install Inward Facing Door Hinges

Another area of your front door vulnerable to break-ins are the hinges. There are two types of hinges used on doors: inward facing and outward facing. By installing inward facing door hinges, you will make the hinges inaccessible to a criminal trying to break in.

In addition, you can add a few other components to the hinges of your front door to ensure it's secure. Enhanced security studs, 3-inch set screws and corrugated pins make it much more difficult to break in by compromising the hinges.

Add a Strike Plate

Using a strike plate on the front door gives you a more reinforced area making it more secure. However, if this plate isn't installed correctly, it can make your front door less secure. With a properly-installed strike plate, it's much more difficult for an intruder to break down your front door. Make sure to have your strike plate professionally installed with longer screws.

Use a Solid Wood or Metal Door

Sometimes, homes are created with hollow core front doors. These doors are not nearly as secure as a solid wood or metal door. A solid door will be a bit more expensive, but it's incredibly secure compared to a hollow core door.

Add a Camera and Motion Sensor Lighting

The final step to improving your front door security is to add a camera and a motion sensor light. The light will scare off many burglars before they get close enough to even try to break in. The presence of a camera also helps to ensure burglars won't break in because they will be caught red-handed.

If you want to secure your front door and gain the peace of mind you deserve, use the above tips. Make sure to hire a professional locksmith to install everything you need to gain better front door security.

Prevent Garage Break-Ins with the Correct Garage Door Locks

If you’ve ever worried about a garage break-in or have experienced one yourself, you know that this can be a challenging situation in the protection of your home. It’s an important aspect to keeping your home safe and often times people will leave the door unlocked from the garage to the home assuming that their garage is secure.

Unfortunately, standard garage door locks aren’t very secure and are easy to be bypassed by a criminal. Take a look at how you can prevent a garage break-in by updating to one of these correct garage door locks.

Garage door locks

There are a few different garage door lock types you can choose from with electronic options bringing new technology into garage door safety. You’ll find the most popular options that most homeowners are choosing now include electronically-operated locks, a garage door deadbolt, and a keyless digital lock.

Garage door deadbolts are great for those that prefer to leave technology out of the picture and just use a good old-fashioned deadbolt lock. You can get a single cylinder or a double cylinder; both options being great for deterring criminals from being able to break in. A single cylinder works by operating a knob from the inside while requiring a key from the outside. The double cylinder option would require a key from both sides of the door.

Electronic locks

If you like the idea of using technology in your lock, choose an electronically-operated lock that require fingerprint activation. These are great because criminals can’t possible have a copy of that to break in and they would likely see your house as not worth the hassle.

You can program any fingerprints you want to be able to access the garage door. The only downside is that you’ll lose the convenience of hitting the button from your car and entering your garage in a jiff, but you’ll have an added safety measure that can’t be matched.

Keyless digital locks

Lastly, a keyless digital lock is a similar option to your electronic lock option, but with a higher tech operation. You’ll use a digital keypad in this scenario where you enter a code of your choosing to gain access. These are difficult to break into compared to a regular garage door lock and you’ll likely be able to get a warranty in the event that an intruder damaged it trying to break in.

Garage door home safety tips

The first tip to having better security for your home is to change your older garage door lock into one of these new options. Your traditional garage door lock is not very secure but your local professional locksmith can upgrade it for you in not time.

If you choose a lock that comes with a garage door remote, be sure to avoid putting it in your vehicle and having it on display since an intruder could break into your car and open up the garage that way. A keychain remote opener is a better alternative since it stays with your keys.

Despite the update security, you’ll want to secure the door into your house from the garage like you would your front door. Don’t leave the garage door open and cover up garage windows. Despite having a more secure home, an intruder may try anything to have the chance to steal something that they’ve eyed from outside.

You can prevent garage break-ins by choosing the correct garage door locks. Check out these popular options that a locksmith can update your home with right away.

What do Avoid doing when locked out of your house

Do you know what to do when locked out of your house? Getting locked out of your home isn't fun. It's a frustrating situation and may lead you to do something you shouldn't do. There are certain things you should do when you get locked out and other things you should avoid doing. Here are five things you never want to do when you get locked out of your home.

Kick in the Door

It may be tempting to kick in your door, but it's a bad idea. First, this isn't like the movies or TV shows and you'll likely hurt yourself trying to kick in the door. There's a reason why police officer use a battering ram when they need to get in.

Second, if you do successfully kick in the door, it will probably need to be replaced. You'll likely cause damage to the door and the frame of the door. It's best to keep your anger under control and avoid trying to kick in the door. If you do, however, we also offer door installation in Chicago!

Break the Doorknob

If you want to cause yourself more headaches and more frustration, go ahead and break the doorknob. This means you'll need to replace it and it will likely cost you more than it should to get out of this jam. It's best to leave the doorknob alone so that you don't have to pay for a replacement.

In addition, if you break the doorknob, you'll probably damage the door and possibly the frame of the door. It could require an entirely new door, which will cost you far more than just calling a local locksmith in Chicago.

Pick the Lock

You're not an expert and just because others on TV can pick a lock with a paper clip doesn't mean you can. It's more likely that you'll damage the door lock and may even make it impossible to get a key into it. You may end up needing a replacement door lock due to your genius idea to pick the lock.

Break a Window

It's not necessary to break a window in order to get into your home. If you make this decision, you'll have to hire someone to replace your window. It will cost you more than you think and if it's an older window, you'll have one newer window to go with your home full of older windows.

Freak Out

There's no sense in freaking out if you've locked yourself out. Where there is a problem, there's also a solution. You don't need to freak out if you're locked out of the house. Instead, call The Professional Locksmith and let us help you get back into your home.

After you've gotten back into your home, consider having The Professional Locksmith help to keep this problem from happening again. How to prevent getting locked out again:

• Go keyless with smart locks requiring a code to get in instead of a key.

• Have a lock box hidden with a code to get in and put an extra house key in it.

• Get extra keys made and give them to close family members or friends.

Once you've been rescued, you can make one of these changes to ensure you don't have to worry about getting locked out again. Even if you do find yourself locked out again without a spare key, The Professional Locksmith is always just a phone call away!