About Me

Hiring a Locksmith to Help Protect Your Paperwork

Keeping a copy of all your important paperwork safe in one place is a great way to ensure that you have access to things like proofs of purchases, insurance policies, and even wills. But keeping paperwork in a desk drawer or under the bed is not the safest plan – what if a fire breaks out or someone infiltrates your home and steals all the important stuff? Consider hiring a locksmith to install a fireproof floor safe in a closet of your home or in the basement where all of your important paperwork and investments can be kept. You’ll have instant access to it all when you need it, and it will be safe from theft and destruction when you don’t. You might be surprised at how many ways a locksmith can help keep your property at home safe. Explore the pages here for more information!

Tags

Hiring a Locksmith to Help Protect Your Paperwork

Home Security Starts At Your Front Door

by Manuel Carmona

A home burglar faced with a difficult lock and door to get through will likely bypass your house and move onto the next one. They are interested in breaking in easily and without being noticed. The type of lock and door enhancements you choose can deter many thieves. Here is how to make sure your front door is your first line of defense against a home break in.

Types of Locks

The style and construction of the deadbolt is the first deterrence to a home burglary. Any lock you choose should be made of hardened steel and rated ANSI Grade 1. These locks resist being shattered by a blow from a hammer and the bolt cannot be cut through with an ordinary hack saw. The two styles of deadbolts you'll find include:

Standard deadbolt - This lock sits within the door with the steel bolt coming out of the door into the door frame. It uses a knob inside and a key outside to turn the lock and advance or retract the bolt. This is the typical lock seen in most homes and often is what is installed in new home construction.

Vertical deadbolt - If the door can be pried away from the frame enough, a thief may try to get a hack saw onto the bolt to cut through it. The vertical deadbolt prevents this by completely enclosing the steel bolt so it can't be accessed. One component of the lock mounts on the surface of the door and another on the wall next to it. When the door is closed, the portion of the lock on the door slides into the wall component. The bolt moves vertically up into the wall component in channels that conceal the bolt.

Installation Options

The deadbolt installation is another factor in stopping a break-in. Some of the ways to improve the installation over the standard out-of-the-box approach include:

Use a reinforced striker plate - With a standard deadbolt, the bolt slides through an opening in a rectangular metal plate that mounts to the door frame. The bolt then passes into the frame. If the frame is weak, the bolt could be pushed through the wooden frame so a burglar can gain access to your house. A reinforced striker plate is available to prevent that. This plate has a metal box built in where the hole is for the bolt to slide into. The steel box stops a thief from pushing the bolt through the frame.

Use reinforced hardened screws - Replace the wood screws in the standard installation kit with hardened steel screws that are extra long and have a greater angle of bite into the wood. These resist any attempts at prying the components off of the door or frame.

Reinforce the door and frame - Steel strips can be placed along the edge of the door and door frame. These prevent the door from being pried away from the frame. Contact a company like Fradon Lock Co Inc for more information.

Share