Being the victim of a break is an upsetting and stressful experience for anyone, with emotions lasting for a long time after the ordeal. Here are some tips to help prevent this from happening by improving the security of your front door.

Upgrade your lock

Although this seems obvious, it is a factor that is often overlooked by most people. If your locks haven’t been changed for a very long time, you could have very old, vulnerable or poor-quality security in your front door. Making sure you have British Standard 3621 installed locks not only guarantees you have a high-quality lock on your front door, but it also means that it will be approved by insurance companies. Millions of homes in this country could have locks that are not in accordance with BS3621, so if they were to have a burglary with a lock like this in place, it is quite possible that your insurance company will not pay for the damage or stolen goods. For a Southend Locksmiths, visit a site like Southend Locksmiths Brights Locksmiths

Checking the strength of the door and the door frame

Wooden doors are highly susceptible to being kicked open by thieves, so even if you have expensive high security locks, they are worthless if the door frame is weak. One option is to reinforce wood with a metal strike plate which are available from most hardware shops or you can get them on the internet. If you are not confident in installing this yourself, you can always contact a locksmith to come and install them correctly for you.

Ensuring the front door is securely screwed down is a further way of increasing the security of your door. Another option is fitting hinge bolts, which are specially designed to prevent anyone from forcing a door off its hinges.

Install deadbolts for your wooden door

By having a latch mounted to the front door, you will drastically improve the security of the property. It’s important that your deadbolt extends far into the door frame to make sure anyone who tries to kick it will not be able to kick it off. There are a wide variety of deadbolts out there to choose from all with various protection.

Additional actions

Even if you have taken all the steps above, you don’t need to stop there. One option is to have a chain fitted to your door, which provides additional protection when you and your family are at home and when you answer the door to help stop potential thieves forcing their way in.