Home Security Door Locks For Increased Safety

Home safety and security is a high priority for many people. If you are among them, consider taking steps to enhance your safety. The first place to look just may be your front door. Home security door locks protect you and your property against intruders when you are at home and secure your property against burglars when you are away. If you want to increase your safety, be aware that both the lock type and proper placement count.

Front door locks are the first place people think about for security, although all exterior doors and windows must also be as secure as possible. Some locales have special building code statutes that deal with front doors, such as requiring deadbolts for rental properties or forbidding the kind of double dead bolt that requires a key to get out as well as to get in.

Double dead bolt home security locks do a good job of keeping intruders from being able to break through window panes, reach in, and unlock doors from the inside. However they can present a problem in emergency situations for the occupants of the house. For instance, if there's a fire and they can't get to the key, or have lost the key, they wouldn't be able to safely escape through the door. A "captured key" however has a mechanism that provides the same security from intruders, but still allows the people of the house to escape safely.

In order for home security door locks to be really effective, they must have a deadbolt that keeps the door from being opened even if the a burglar is able to pick the lock. However, the most important part of a good, secure lock is the way the strike plate or box is constructed that the bolt fits into. According to the majority of security experts, a bolt has to be a minimum of one inch or longer in order to hold even with kicking and prying the lock

When looking for the best home security door locks, choose ones that use a strike box instead of just a strike plate. You can also replace any brand of existing strike plates with more secure strike boxes without needing to change the locks themselves. Strike boxes are available for around $10 a door which makes them a very low-cost but effective security measure. When anchoring either a strike plate or box, make sure to that the screws or nails you're using are at least three inches long.

Let's face it: it is worth the extra amount spent on superior home security door locks for that extra peace of mind. You may wish to consider steel locks, which are currently enjoying popularity due to their high security level and ability to withstand massive pressure.