Burglars gaining entry through a sliding glass door is a big concern for most
homeowners. With chain latches and deadbolts, the typical house door is relatively easy to secure and protect. Sliding glass door security is not as easy. Like some windows, a sliding glass door can be pried open or lifted off of its tracks allowing an intruder to enter your home. Most all of the sliding glass door security items that are mentioned in this article can be found at your local hardware store.
Unlike normal doors that lock with a deadbolt, sliding glass doors are only secured with a latch. The good news is that there are several products that are available that will enhance your sliding glass door security. One popular deterrent is the sliding glass door security bar. One end of the bar screws into the frame of the sliding door and hangs down. To secure the door, you left the security bar up until it fits snug against the sliding glass door frame. The security bar now prevents the sliding glass door from sliding open. A very popular method that provides the same result is using a wooden dowel that lays down on the bottom track between the sliding glass door and the frame. There are plenty of other products on the market that will provide sliding glass door security by keeping the door from sliding open. An effective product that is known as track grips work well and are small in size. They straddle the track and placing it next to the door. Depending on the type of track grip, they either tighten by a thumbscrew, latch or a key. These are all very easy ways to help achieve sliding glass door security.
The one problem that all of the suggestions that were just mentioned have in common, is that none of them prevent the door from being lifted up and off of the tracks. In order to achieve true sliding glass door security that will keep the more determined burglars out, this problem has to be addressed. If you have even seen sliding glass doors installed, you know that they lift right out of their tracks. In the sliding glass door security section of most hardware stores will have anti-lift products. One product that actually works as a anti-lift as well as preventing the door from sliding open is a security pin that extends through both the sliding glass door frame and the upper or bottom track frame. If you enjoy do-it-yourself projects, you can prevent the lifting of the glass panel by installing large head screws into the top of the sliding glass door frame. Drive the screws in so that the head of the screw just clears the top of the sliding glass door when it opens and shuts.
For the extreme sliding glass door security, you can replace the ordinary glass with laminated, tempered or even wire reinforced glass. Fortunately sliding glass door security can be accomplished with little effort and it will not cost a fortune to get that added piece of mind.
