A lot of hardware is available in the market for securing traditional doors. From simple door locks to advanced strike protectors – all can make your life simpler. However, this is not true in case of sliding glass doors. Many home owners prefer glass doors for that contemporary look. While it is good for the overall look of the house, it needs special door security systems as glass doors are more prone to intruder attacks.
Traditional security devices that can be used on wooden doors do not work on glass doors at all. Things like strike plates, deadbolts and latches cannot be attached to glass. Thus, it makes the job of securing glass doors very difficult. You can however, use other products that can be fitted in sliding glass doors.
Suggestions for Glass Door Security Systems
Start with securing the door locks. Most of the locks in sliding glass door are different types of latches. While they do not provide safety in themselves, a good quality latch can take more time to break and hence, can make a burglar nervous enough to avoid spending more time on the same.
Next, you can use door rods or security bars. These are rods with a V-shaped hinge made at one end of the bar and the other end is covered with a rubber strip. The side with the V-shaped hinge gets connected to the knob of the door and the other side with the rubber strip is left hanging on the floor.
Always a good idea to keep these doors locked tight as the would be thief can see exactly whats inside!
Another type of bar can be used from the wall and can be extended to the second door of the sliding glass. A wooden dowel works well for securing a sliding glass door. It can be placed on the track at the bottom and in between the door and the frame. This set up makes it difficult to slide open the door quickly. Additionally, track grips can be used to give more support to wooden dowels.
While these products help in preventing breakage, they do not protect against another risk which is common to sliding doors. This is the risk of the glass door getting lifted from the frame. Most experienced burglars do not try to break the door lock or break glass; instead they simply remove the glass from the frame itself.
The need for glass sliding door security decreases the higher up a building you stay, having said that it should still never be overlooked.
To protect against such problems, security pins can be used. They extend from the door frames. Large screws can also be used in door frames. Most of these devices are not expensive and can be installed easily, though you need to be careful as the glass can crack with undue force. Take professional help if you are not sure of the process.
The last suggestion is to use an alarm system. Use a good alarm that can signal loud and clear message in case even slight pressure is applied on the door. If you do not want to invest in an expensive door security system, you can put a cheap alarm at a fairly visible place to deter unwanted intruders.
