Sliding Glass Door Security Techniques

Posted on September 25, 2009
Filed Under Security | Leave a Comment

As has been mentioned in other articles on this site, care must be taken to secure your sliding glass doors. They are often targeted by burglars because of the perceived weakness they provide in security. However, there are steps you can take to hinder such intruders from gaining entrance. We will look at some of these in this article.

(Note, the following points are based on guidelines given for securing sliding glass doors on the City of Minneapolis website, police department, crime prevention resources)

1. Prevent forced sliding with pinning. This is to prevent movement on both tracks. The way to do this, is to get a screw long enough to penetrate the inner frame fully, and partially the outer. Drill the hole through both frames just for the length of the screw. Insert the screw to prevent movement on both tracks.

2. Prevent movement on inside track with window bar. The idea behind this is to place an obstacle between the end of the inside door and the inside of the track, which would then stop any movement on the inside track. What you need to do is measure the distance between the edge of the inner door and the end of the track, then cut a piece of wood to fit in the gap.

3. Prevent movent on outside track with slide bolt or anti-sliding block. Manufacturers provide specific instructions for installing these. You should refer to them for details.

4. Prevent prying with screws. Care should be taken to prevent any kind of prying of your sliding doors. You can address this by drilling 3 holes into the upper frame of each door (6 in all).  Insert screws. Make sure that the doors are able to glide past them.

5. Prevent prying with keyed slide bolts. The keyed slide bolt should be installed at the top of the track. Again, the manufacturer will have specific instructions to do this. Refer to them for details.

So there you have 5 steps you can take to secure your sliding glass doors.

Related posts:

  1. Maintaining The Sliding Glass Door Lock
  2. Replacing Sliding Glass Doors
  3. Cleaning And Adjusting Sliding Glass Doors Yourself (DIY)
  4. Some Considerations when Buying Sliding Glass Doors
  5. Replacing Weather Stripping in Sliding Glass Doors

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