I recently dealt with this myself. We talked to our contractor about adding double cylinder locks to some doors. We have some french doors, and the manufacturer didn't want to talk about adding a second cylinder, to lock them from the inside.

We have added some simple barrel bolts to one door, the least secure one.

No matter how many and how good your locks are, you cannot keep someone who is determined from getting in. You can only slow them down. I think the best contributor to the security of our home is our neighborhood. Some of that is from the homeowners' association and paid for, but a lot of it is the neighbors watching out for each other.

If you have layers of security then defeating each layer takes time and effort, all of which gives you time to respond or get assistance in doing so.

In all honesty, if I was worried about it, I would just replace the door with one more suitable (and probably the frame), as well as replace or re-key all the locks in the place.

That takes care of the door and it takes care of any former owners or neighbors still having a key to your place.

Another option would be to replace the glass with something resistant to breaking/shattering (i.e. polycarbonate/lexan). The only thing to keep in mind with it, is that it scratches much easier than glass and it breaks down over time when exposed to UV light. Therefore, you'll probably end up replacing it every few years. I'd still have the locks re-keyed/replaced though, for the same reason mentioned above.

By storm door, you mean an outer door over your main door?

If so, would probably not bother with a lock at all on the storm door (assuming it is glass?) and only deal with the primary door (assume it is more sturdy than the storm door).

In this, I agree you can make it too complicated and hamper egress.

-john

Agreed, although in our case, it is going to be a lot harder going than they might realize. 1 3/4" solid oak plus two reinforced deadbolts plus the latch (probably hard to hold the latch while they kick).



30 seconds could be a REAL long time when someone is trying to break into your home with the aim of doing you harm.

-john

I know that captive key deadbolts are offered as a solution to this dichotomy. Captive key deadbolts are a hybrid of single- and double-cylinder deadbolts, where the inside thumbturn is removable when the deadbolt is unlocked.

While you are at home, you leave the thumbturn in the lock for fire escape purposes. When you leave the home, you unlock the deadbolt, remove the thumbturn from the lock, then lock the deadbolt again from the outside.

As far as any door only providing 30 seconds of security, that isn't the case either.

There have been times when the fire department has been called to some of our commercial buildings. They've tried and failed to get through some of our rear man-doors using Halligan bars (basically big crow bars) and sledgehammers. After that, they usually resort to cutting the door with a gas powered cut-off saw.

Do they eventually get through? Sure. How long does it take? I'm not sure as they always get there before I do and when I do get there I open the door with the key if they still haven't gotten through yet, but it's at least a few minutes and it requires making a lot of noise. Both of which fit into my expectations of what a simple, but security rated, entry way should do.

Fact is, houses are typically some of the least secure buildings out there. Just a little security, properly installed, can go a long way to slowing someone down or making your house/apartment less appealing than your neighbors.

What are pins for windows? I'd like to keep ours open at night about 3 or 4 inches with our attic fan on, but can't figure out how to secure them.

Blast can tell you how to get through just about any door in a few seconds

But it'd be more fun to show you.

Sidenote: we have double cylinder deadbolts on all our doors with keys hanging out of reach from the window. We felt the extra protection they give outweighs the chance of our kids being trapped in the house.

-Blast

Window locking pins can be almost anything. I drilled a small through the window frame, main window casing and fixed window casing. Then I just stuck a nail through it. It prevents the window from moving at all. I preferred my method with nails because it is cheap but very effective. You cannot lift the window out of its track while open.

You can buy ones with a sliding latch that screw into place on the window sill. If the latch is a bolt that slides into a hole you drill into the window casing, you could have several positions (closed & 2-3" open) it could lock into place. Some also have keyed locking pins.

Keep the placement of the locking pin at the back of the window opening. And don't allow the window to open too much. Just because you may not be able to reach though the opening or have long enough arms to reach the pin from the outside, it doesn't mean someone else won't. There are some long skinny armed folks out there. Anyway, be conservative on how open you place your open pinned position.