SLIDING DOOR
Security Hardware &
Home Window Security

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Are you endangering yourself with flimsy sliding door security hardware and window security? Here are just two examples of many thousands annually of why you want to fortify them: A woman heard the doorbell ring in her Camarillo CA home, but no one was at the door when she went to answer. Then she noticed that her rear sliding door was open and turned to see a man in her kitchen threatening her with a knife.

In Westboro MA, an intruder lifted a locked sliding door off the track of an apartment, entered, found a sleeping woman and raped her.

How to Fortify Sliding Doors and Windows

Sliding windows and doors (also known as sliding glass doors, patio doors, wall doors, or arcadia doors) usually have flimsy locks and frames that can be forced open or pried away. Reinforce them with one or more of the following:

1. Lay a wooden rod in the indoor bottom track to prevent the door or window from opening. Lay it in the innermost track to help prevent it from being lifted out with a coat hanger from outdoors (between the panels).

2. The frame attaches to the wall-frame with rather short screws. Replace the original screws with 6-inch screws.

3. Insert a few extra screws partway into the upper track – just far enough in to allow the door to slide back and forth, but with enough screw protruding downward to prevent the door from being lifted out of the track.

4. Close the door, drill several small holes through the inner panel (where the panels overlap) and halfway into the outer panel, then slip a nail into each hole. Slant the holes downward so the nails won’t fall out if jostled.

5. Most patio-doors have tempered glass (3-7 times stronger than sheet glass) that resists a glass-cutter or bludgeon - but are still vulnerable. It's a good idea to add a home alarm system or DIY alarm .

The above also applies to side-to-side sliding home window security. Also see Window Reinforcement.

Pages related to Sliding Door Security

Security Products - Door
 Security Products - Apartment & Dormitory

Of course, NO security products are guaranteed to prevent any crime - but might serve you well if combined with the guidance in Home Security Overview and Outdoor Safety Overview.

Crime-Safety-Security > Security Products Overview > Sliding Door Security

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