Do you know how to secure a sliding glass door? Also, did you know that 22% of all unlawful entries and burglaries occur through the backdoor? While we talk quite a bit about front doors, we shouldn’t avoid paying attention to your balcony or patio door, especially if it’s a sliding door. Most of us love this kind of door as it creates a great visual connection between the outside and the indoors, but we don’t think about securing our patio door that often.
Sliding glass doors are great and easy to use – but they also have the reputation of being less secure than your front door. Most sliding glass doors are missing a door lock or a deadbolt and can’t be as massive as your front door. However, with this article, I would like to show what easy steps you can take to enhance your sliding door security and probably avoid unauthorized access or forced entry. It should be a part of your home security plan and help you feel safe.
5 Tips on How To Secure A Sliding Glass Door
Cover the door/Window
WINDOW PRIVACY FILM
One of the easiest things you can do is, block the view. Burglars can learn so much about your house just by looking through your windows or glass doors. Every uncovered window shows your big-screen TV, new laptop, or gaming console, and it shows them if someone is in the house or not. I know it won’t always be possible, but whenever you get the chance and leave the building or go to sleep, etc., close the curtains and block the view from the outside. This might even help with saving money on your electric bill.
Depending on your situation and your interior design, if curtains are no option, you could also look at window films. They come in all different kinds of colors and designs. If my garage or back door had windows, I would frost them, just as an example. In that way, I still get sunlight in, but nobody would be able to look inside.
Block the door track with a security bar for sliding doors
You might remember my post about How To Stay Safe In A Motel, where I mentioned a bar to block windows to be pushed open. Here, we are looking at a very similar use case – a locking bar for the door. To secure sliding glass doors, we need to remove the feature of sliding the door open. The easiest way is indeed to block the track. There are two options on how we can do this, a pro version and a DIY version. Both versions work the same way, you place a stick or a bar onto the track, and the door won’t have any more space where it can be pushed open and effectively block it.
The only downside with this is, that you have to remember it. It might not be convenient to remove the bar every time you want to get out and put it back when you leave the building or go to sleep, but it is really effective against sliding the door open.
Security Bar For Sliding Doors
SECURITY BAR
Security bars come in all different kinds of materials like metal, plastic, and wood, but I would always choose metal if I have the option. I feel more secure knowing I got a piece of a metal tube or bar securing the door than a piece of plastic – for me, it is one of the easiest and best ways to avoid any possible break in.
This particular bar comes in different colors and designs. According to the description, you are able to adjust the length, which makes it very universal for various door sizes.
DIY Security Bar
If you got some scrap wood, a broom handle, or something similar left, you are almost done with your project and it is probably the cheapest way to secure a sliding or a patio door.
- Measure the distance within the frame from the wall to the sliding door
- Transfer the length over to your wood stick, metal tube, etc., and mark the end length
- Cut it at the mark
- Place your new security bar inside or on the door track and check if it blocks the door
- Customize it: From here, you can add any color you want or make adjustments to it.
Door Locks – Locking Systems
Please take a look at this picture – This is NOT a door lock; it is a latch even when it might be called a patio door lock. There is no real locking mechanism. While it is convenient, it is probably not very helpful in terms of locking the door. Burglars are able to push the door off the track and gain access to your property.
Let’s take a look at different door locking types and ways to lock the door.
Locking pin
SECURITY LOCKING PIN
My apartment balcony sliding door had this option already in place, which I like a lot. The security pin is actually very long and would make it very hard to push the door off the track. It can be locked with or without the key. We don’t have issues using it without the key.
Depending on where you live, you might want to think about your patio or balcony door as an emergency exit as well, so it might be wise not to lock it with the key or keep the key somewhere visible to not get trapped in case of an emergency.
If you have one metal pin located at the bottom of the door, please make sure kids are not able to play around or lock the door by accident.
Double Bolt or Two-Bolt Locks
TWO-BOLT LOCK
The two bolt locking system might be one of the best solutions you could install on your patio door and often come already as a commercial solution. The two-bolt system secures the door by sliding a steel bolt into the door frame when moved into the lock position. Many homeowners are able to install these locks on their own and won’t need any professional help.
Reinforce the Glass – Securing Sliding Glass Doors
WINDOW SECURITY FILM
If everything fails and the burglar is desperate or just out for a quick smash and grab, they are going to destroy your window. Remember: Burglars don’t care about your furniture or any damage they might make; they want to go in and out quickly.
To slow them down, you could always add window security film to your sliding glass doors to avoid a quick entrance via a smashed glass panel. The good thing with security films, they are usually transparent, and you can install them wherever you need them. There is no need to cover all windows in your house with the film, sure you could, but it is common to use the film on doors with glass panels/windows or areas where someone could smash a window to reach in or get through.
Security Films vary in their thickness, and a good rule of thumb is, the higher the mil specification, the higher the tear resistance. However, that also means that installation might be a little more complicated since the window film is thicker. Typical grades are 4 mil, 8 mil, and 12 mil. Again, the higher the number, the more resistant the film, but it might be more challenging to install.
Home Security System
If you have a home security system in place or are planning to get one, think about adding a door sensor to the sliding door as well. It won’t effectively prevent opening the door, but you’ll be made aware as soon as someone tries to enter through the door. In addition, you could also add a glass break sensor that alarms you the second it recognizes the sound of smashed glass. You’ll get these sensors also as a standalone version without the need for any alarm system.
Noteworthy mention
Impact Resistant Doors
Those doors are running under the term Hurricane or Stormproof sliding doors. While those are a more costly option, they probably might fit your security need as well since they most likely can’t be easily broken.
Conclusion
Is there anything you can do today to enhance your home security, right away? Yes, if you already have any lock installed, test it and make sure it works properly and you are indeed using it. While sliding doors are not the perfect doors to prevent any unlawful access, at least we are now able to upgrade the door or the locking system and make it harder to go through the door. I hope you were able to learn more about How To Secure A Sliding Glass Door.
If you have any other recommendations, please let me know.
– Stay safe!
