What You Need VS What You Got (Part 9)

By Robert Jones

Image by naz66

Last week we finally finished talking about your FRONT door. We’re not quite done with doors though… There’s one more area we need to cover.
Many people have sliding glass patios doors. Criminals just love these doors.

The locks are so flimsy they can be pried open with a butter knife. The door can also be lifted up and out of its track and simply set to one side. Finally, the criminal can smash the glass with something lying around the yard (wooden lawn chair, flower pot, concrete goose, etc.) and walk right into the house.

My previous entries recommended the 3-M film to make the glass shatter resistant or a folding security gate. If you are not going to do this, then the next best solution is very cheap and easy.

To solve your lock problem, take a broomstick and cut it to length to fit snugly into the floor track of the sliding door. If the door has no place to slide to, it can’t open.

You can also prevent the door from being lifted out of its track. Slide the door open and drill a line of holes in the top track about 1 ½” apart. Put flathead screws into these holes. Adjust each screw in and out of its hole so that it “almost” (but not quite) touches the top of the door. This eliminates the gap at the top of the door and still permits the door to slide open and shut. Should you ever need to lift the patio door out of its track (repair or replacement, etc.) just remove the screws.

That just leaves the option of smashing out the glass. Unfortunately, I know of NO cheap, simple, easy, solution to keep the criminal from smashing-out your glass patio door. However, you DO want to use the broomstick and screw techniques to make sure the criminal DOES smash out your glass door. The reason for this is very simple.

If a criminal smashes out a glass door or window in a house when people are at home, that criminal is a wolf (a predator who wants to do harm to you and your family). The sound of shattering glass should alert you, and give you a few moments to react to protect yourself and your family.

On the other hand, if the criminal can just break the latch or lift the door out of its track. Then, he can enter your home quietly. You may wake-up in your bed with a hand over your mouth and a knife at your throat, completely helpless. You may also wake-up to find that you child was kidnapped from her bed in the middle of the night (as was Polly Klaas).

Remember, if you can’t keep the criminal out of your house, you want as much time as possible to react to him (call for help, get your family into the safe room, pick-up a weapon and prepare to defend yourself).