How to make your doors more difficult for burglars

There is no way to completely burglarproof house, you can take steps to discourage intruders. Follow these steps to keep your doors more secure.

• A favoured point of entry for burglars is the sliding glass door. Glass is very breakable and the slider can be lifted out of its tracks and removed by someone with strong arms.
• You can foil door removal by inserting metal spacers or protruding screws in the top grooves of the moving door's tracks. Drive screws partway so they don't interfere with the top of the door but fill the space.
• To prevent the door from being forced sideways, lay a length of pipe or a cutoff broom handle to fit between the frame and the jamb.
• You can also buy a lock-and-pin set made just for sliding doors.

• Door security boils down to the sturdiness of the door and the hardware used when it was hung. It makes no sense to install quality locks if the entry doors are weak.
• Solid-wood doors, at least 44.5 millimetres (1 3⁄4 inches) thick, offer reasonably good security.
• Consider metal or metal-clad doors. Some are handsome enough to satisfy even the most discriminating tastes.
• If a door has glass insets, or if there are side light windows on either side of the doorframe, security is somewhat compromised. The glass lets the burglar see inside and they can break the glass to reach inside to unlock the door.
• One smart security measure to take is to have the glass replaced with shatterproof plastic.

There's no surefire way to stop burglars, but there are things you can do to dissuade potential home invaders. With the right doors and some quick tricks, you could make your home much less appealing and keep your home safer.