Sliding glass doors really are beautiful and they make a great addition to any home. The only problem is that they pose a variety of weaknesses that burglars can easily exploit. Did you know that it only takes a good, experienced burglar a minute to enter a home? When you combine this with the vulnerability of the sliding glass door, you are truly looking at one scary situation. This doesn’t mean that you have to spend thousands of dollars replacing those sliding glass doors. With the right know-how, you can secure up any sliding glass door.Whether you are looking to get the best custom shower doors in NJ or secure your sliding glass door, you can so easily if you know what to look for.
Below, you’ll learn more about that.
Simple Latching Systems
The biggest problem with sliding glass doors is that they come equipped with simple latches. These doors usually have latches that hook onto a piece of metal in the door’s frame and are operated by simply moving a lever up and down. Even if you are good about locking the doors before you the leave the home, these systems can easily be manipulated by just jarring the door a little. Investing in extra locks can reinforce this simple latching system. There are heavy-duty, hardened steel locks available that you can install at both the top and bottom of the door.
The Track System
Another major problem with sliding glass doors is that they operate off a track system, which is what gives them the ability to slide back and forth. Hinges are much more sturdier. With the track system all burglars’ need is a crowbar and they can simply lift the door off the track system and completely remove it from the home. This problem can be corrected with the anti-left lock. This is a simple hinged bar that will not allow the door to slide when it is in the horizontal position. Also, there are key-operated locks available that use a pin mechanism to secure doors to the floor and upper doorframe, so they cannot be slid open.
Weak Single Glass Panels
Most people desire the sliding glass door because it is just that, a piece of glass that provides a beautiful and easily accessible view to the backyard. Unfortunately, this is also one of the biggest weaknesses that the door possesses. A hammer or even something as simple as a rock can easily shatter the large, single glass plates. Due to the fact that the glass is tempered it will shatter into tiny little pieces, which means the intruder won’t even have to worry about getting cut when entering through the broken glass.
The best way to counter this issue is by investing in laminated glass. Laminated glass is actually two pieces of glass that are infused with a special sheet of PVB in the middle. This means that when the intruder breaks the first initial piece of glass he or she will then have to cut through the clear PVB film. This will not only take additional time, but it will require another tool. This alone will add time to the entry and might detour the intruder.
