Burglars can come at your home or residence from a dozen different angles. If there's a way in, they will, most likely, find it and in short order. This goes double for homes with glaring security weak points like a glass patio door. While they may look nice, and provide you with easy access to your patio, deck, or back porch, they are a would-be burglar's dream. Large, often slim panels of glass on rollers, which can be opened easily, even when locked. They're essentially a giant, shoddy window that you don't have to boost yourself up to reach.
So, what can you do to prevent a thief from using your sliding glass patio doors as a way in to your residence, you might be asking. Well, there are a number of modifications you can make that will turn your patio doors from the ultimate weak point into a strong point. Best of all, each of these methods is most definitely DIY, or 'Do It Yourself', which will help cut down on the squeeze on your wallet.
Patio Door Locks
First off, most patio doors lack proper locks. Instead, they have latches. Now latches can be forced open from the outside by the proper application of physical pressure, i.e. you shove the door, the latch pops free. A simple way to prevent this is to place a wooden rod or block in the door track. This block will act to prevent the door from being shaken open.
Patio Door Roller
Patio doors are also prone to being simply lifted up and out of their tracks by patient thieves. With a bit of jiggling, a patio door can quite literally be popped loose from the frame and set aside. Since patio doors are mounted on rollers, they are not secured to the track in any fashion. In order to prevent your glass door from being popped loose like this, first make sure that your rollers are in good, if not perfect, shape. Make sure your patio door isn't wobbly in the frame, and fits snugly and moves smoothly. If it doesn't, get it repaired or replaced immediately, in order to ensure that a thief cannot simply pop it free of its housing.
Perhaps the best way of protecting your sliding glass door from tampering by criminal hands is to install an auxiliary foot lock on the bottom of the door. Most types of foot locks have steel rods that extend into the roller track, creating a sort of deadbolt for your patio door. What this does is prevent your door from being opened even when it isn't latched above, and stops the door from being lifted by connecting it directly to the track.
Patio doors, while they might seem like a good idea for a home are, in reality, anything but as far as home security doors are concerned. They can be easily jimmied open, broken or even wholly removed, leaving a gaping hole in your house's defenses. However, while patio doors can be easily broken into, they can also be easily reinforced with simple DIY techniques. Using the above techniques, you can greatly improve your patio door security and make it safe from casual burglars looking for an easy entrance into your home or residence.
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