A deadbolt can help make your home safe

A good alarm system or a loyal guard can be helpful to keep burglars away but an experienced locksmith will tell you that a quality deadbolt will give you the best resistance. Burglars commonly try to gain access to your home by using forced entry. A deadbolt has a steel bolt that extends into the door frame and this makes forced entry very hard. With properly installed deadbolts your home become less of a target to burglars.

The three basic parts of a deadbolt lock are a key accessible cylinder on the outside, the throw or bolt that slides in and out of the door jamb and the thumb turn that allows for manual control of the bolt from the inside of the home.

All deadbolt locks should be made of steel, bronze or brass. Avoid die cast materials which can break apart.

The Single Cylinder Deadbolt

The most basic cylinder deadbolt is a cylinder deadbolt which requires a key to access it on the one side. On the other side the deadbolt can be accessed manually. Using these types of locks work great if there are no windows or breakable glass nearby.

The Double Cylinder Deadbolt

These locks are more secure than the above mentioned locks because a key is required to access the locks form both ends. These type of locks are ideal for doors with windows nearby or have breakable glass.

The Jimmy-proof Deadbolt

A vertical or surface mounted deadbolt engages by interlocking with a set of cast metal rings affixed to the frame of the door. The rings surrounding the bolt make this lock virtually pry-proof making a vertical throw the safer choice of the two deadbolts.

 The Key-less Cylinder Deadbolt

Instead of a key, a key-less cylinder deadbolt lock is accessed by scanning a fingerprint or entering a password or pass code. It’s by far the easiest type of deadbolt lock to access, but one drawback is that it’s also often more expensive than the other types of deadbolt locks on this list.

Unfortunately not all deadbolts are of the same quality. Burglars use a technique known lock bumping to gain access to some deadbolts. We can install quality deadbolts that are very resistant to lock bumping. An important consideration to take into account is what door will be used to install the deadbolt. Choosing the right door in combination with a good quality deadbolt will ultimately give you the best security.

When a burglar kicks down your door it is usually the door frame that breaks and not the door itself.  One way to prevent this from happening is to install sturdy screws to reinforce the doors strike plate into the studs of the frame of the house. A home security door and frame reinforcement kit is well worth the investment to protect both the frame and the door.