There is no type of lock that is impervious to a determined thief or burglar. Professional burglars know how to quickly pick common locks and even if you have high grade ‘pick-proof’ locks they can be drilled out or simply smashed open with enough force. Therefore it is important to have a functioning residential alarm system installed and working to give yourself maximum protection.
That being said, it is still important that you understand how locks work and what you can do to improve your home security. By using deadbolt locks rather than the typical door knob style spring loaded latch lock, you can cut down the chances of anyone other than a determined professional breaking in.
A deadbolt lock is not spring loaded. The locking mechanism, a solid bar that extends into the door frame, can’t be pried back or pushed open by using a credit card or thin strip of plastic. In order to open a standard deadbolt lock, you must use your key to turn the lock when you are outside the door, or turn the closing latch from the inside.
Another advantage of this type of lock is that by having the solid part of the lock extend usually one inch or more into the door frame it makes the integrity of the door much more solid. Anyone who tries to break down the door or kick it in will have a lot more of a problem as opposed to doors with the small standard knob locks.
Since the lock extends into the door jamb, it helps prevent the trick of ‘springing’ the jamb. Crooks know that they can often open a locked door not by trying to force the door, but by pushing on the door jamb on the lock side to move it away from the lock and let the door open. Check the jambs on your doors, especially in older homes, and make sure the jambs near the lock area can’t be easily pushed or pried away from the lock.
A keypad deadbolt lock is a special kind of deadbolt that allows you to open the lock by entering a number code. You can set your own code sequence of usually four digits and when you want to unlock the door you just enter your code.
The advantage of a keyless deadbolt is obviously that you can still open the door if you lose your key, but also that you can set other codes to let tradesmen, friends or relatives into the house if you are not at home. Separate codes can be set up for different occasions or needs and later deleted from the lock memory. If you have children, a keypad deadbolt lock makes it easy to always keep the doors locked but still make it easy for family members to unlock the door.
If you don’t have deadbolt locks on all of the exterior doors of your home it would be a very good idea to have them installed. If your doors are already pre-drilled for these but they have not ever been put it, it is an easy DIY job to put in the lock.
Take a few minutes and check out the doors to your home. And if you don’t have them already, put in deadbolt locks on all the doors that don’t have them.