How to Secure Glass Windows and Doors

Securing the glass windows and doors in your home should be one of the most important items on your home security checklist. These areas of your home are perfect invitations for a burglar or vandal to enter your home and rob you of not just your possessions, but your peace of mind as well. This article will describe a few of the ways to safeguard your glass window and doors and your home and your family.

Securing Sliding Glass Doors

When it comes to glass window and doors, the sliding glass doors of your home are the easiest means of entry for a burglar. The latch locks on these types of doors are very unreliable and often malfunction after a short time. These failures make sliding doors very easy to pry and force open. There are a few different ways to secure the sliding doors of your home.

Step 1 – Use Wood

Place a thick wooden dowel or metal bar in the track where the doors slide. This bar prevents the inner doors from sliding open from the outside.

Step 2 – Close Doors

Close all the doors securely, lining up the door frames of the inner and outer panel.

Step 3 – Drill Hole

Drill a hole completely through the inner door panel and into the inner frame of the outer panel. Then, insert a metal rod into the hole from the inside.

Do this on all the inner and outer panels where the frames meet. This pin will prevent the doors from sliding open, as well as prevent them from being lifted out of the tracks and pulled free.

Securing Windows

Windows are left open and unlocked more often than doors, in order to allow in fresh air and ventilation. This is more of security issue for the ground floor level, although upper floors have their issues, as well. Security issues for horizontally sliding glass windows and doors are pretty much addressed the same way. This section will discuss securing windows that open vertically.

Step 1 – Placement

Before you start securing the windows, you need to make sure that placement of various things around your window are kept at a safe distance. Keep your shrubs and flowers trimmed below the level of the window, so burglars won't have a place to hide while trying to open your windows. Also, avoid placing trellises directly below or adjacent to upper windows, so thieves can't access them in that way.

Step 2 – Drill Hole

Close all vertically sliding windows securely and latch them shut. Next, drill a hole through the upper frame of the lower window into the lower frame of the upper window.

Step 3 – Install Metal Pin

Install a metal pin completely through the lower window frame and into the upper window frame.

Step 4 – For Extra Security

For a better safety, consider installing a home security system. These systems include magnetic sensors installed on your glass windows and doors. Most systems are not very expensive, and can provide peace of mind, knowing that someone is watching out for your home and family. These systems should be installed by a professional security company.

If a home security system is too costly, you can still apply security stickers to your glass windows and doors. Most thieves would rather try to enter a home without a security system and this trick just might fool them.