Patio door security

One More Solo

One More Solo

One More Solo

Soldato
Joined
29 Dec 2004
Posts
17,107
Location
Shepley
Apparently someone tried to get into a neighbour's house early one evening last week but scarpered after chancing it and finding the patio door was locked. We have a rear light (always on rather than PIR), burglar alarm and CCTV but I'm also wondering if there are any easy steps we can take to make our french doors more secure.

It's a wee bit paranoid but at the same time you can never be too careful about these things. We are end terrace and next to a public path (have a relatively high fence in between) so keen to take any precautions necessary.
 
Get an angry dog?

Other than this, if somebody really wants to get into your property I think that will find a way in, even with various security measures put into place.
 
I'm looking for ways to make our patio doors more secure too. I've not long moved into this house and they seem to the weak point now. I've upgraded the other external doors as they were pretty shoddy and I've had an alarm installed. I've changed the locks to ABS Avocets cylinders and got new PAS24 handles for the doors. I've also got a dog and he'd probably make some noise if anyone was coming in through the doors.
 
Or a door jammer/brace but it'll only work if your door slides open on he inside, unless you put it in against the handle.

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roadie said:
If they are new UPVC they should be very strong. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you.
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This. Can't remember when the design changed, but new ones have to lock into the frames at multiple points rather than just into the other door.

I found this out after having new ones installed after burglars entered my house by smashing one of the locks on the old doors and simply lifting the door off its hinges.
 
No point going too overboard with security on a patio door as they will just break the glass if it is toughened. As long as it has multipoint locks and a decent snap/bump proof lock that's all you really need.


Best thing to do is just not leave valuables like laptop/tablets visible through the doors.
 
Mark A said:
No point going too overboard with security on a patio door as they will just break the glass if it is toughened.
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This. Burglars are not something out a Victorian novel, with a set of special tools (because that's called "going equipped") and a host of clever ways of breaking in. They are dim scum who find something like a half brick nearby and heave it through the glass. You can fit the best locks you want, but they want stop anyone. You need to deter them from actually trying. So lights and obvious cameras are better. And the dog.
 
Can you make your rear garden anymore secure?

Echoing the above, if someone wants to get into your property they will, the aim is to make it less appealing/much harder than say your neighbours property.

Also OP, have you got patio doors or French doors? Your title says one thing, but your thread mentions French doors...

Most of the recommendations made above will only work on patio doors. I think there was a thread on here not long ago with someone asking the same question, and someone had posted a link of this clamp that goes over the door handles (looks like the old steering wheel locks).
 
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Sorry, they're French doors that open outwards into our patio rather than patio doors. The house is a new build so the doors themselves are new, but I was just checking if I was missing anything obvious.
 
dholdi said:
For French doors I've been looking at these :-
https://www.lockshopdirect.co.uk/pr...r-15247.aspx?gclid=CMCdn5-4uMoCFQkXwwodgiINXQ
Even if the hinges are removed these should stop the doors from being removed.
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They certainly can't hurt, but I do think they would just break the glass instead. It literally takes less than 30 seconds to be inside your house through a toughened glass door and makes very little noise. They can also just carry a small centre punch, rather than any large bars etc it would take to bar a door open.

Hinges on PVC doors cant usually be removed unless the door is open as all the screws are hidden. having the doors opening out does make them easier to bar open, but it would still take considerable force, noise and time. Believe me I have tried.
 
dholdi said:
Theres not a lot you can do if they come through the glass.
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Indeed. Besides breaking glass makes a lot of noise so it could be a deterrent for a start. It's like beefing up the lock and putting in a steel door, when you've got a weak wooden frame around it.

If it looks secure and is secure, then with the lights and maybe some CCTV it should provide enough of a deterrent. Just don't leave valuable stuff visible that is easily stolen (laptops, ipads etc...). If they want to come in, they will, and just smash the window.

Put them off, but spending a fortune or worrying about making it impregnable is a waste of time IMO.
 
dholdi said:
Theres not a lot you can do if they come through the glass.
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Exactly. Which is why you can add all these fancy locks and bars, but if the door is toughened glass which it more than likely will be there's no point.

The only way to make it truly secure is by replacing with laminated glass, but this is not something most people would want to go to the extremes of doing.

Freefaller said:
Besides breaking glass makes a lot of noise so it could be a deterrent for a start.
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It doesnt though, not as much as trying to bar the hinges off. Like I said it takes no time at all to be in and out. I used to work for a company fitting windows and doors on houses that had been broken into and most had broke through the glass, so I know what I'm talking about. Actually it was probably 50/50 between breaking the glass or snapping the cylinder.
 
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Okay well the glass that I've broken makes a lot of noise. :)

But it was older double glazing, so I'm sure the modern stuff is different. I'd have thought that breaking the glass, and stepping through the glass would trigger the PIR if you have an alarm and it was pointed at the door - you could even get vibration sensors on the windows if you were that paranoid.

Of course most people break the glass - it's the easiest way to get in! I'm not surprised by your findings in the slightest, I don't think anyone was arguing against that? That's what I'd do if I needed to get into a building quick (not to break in, but to help or whatever).

Putting bars up could prevent that, but they're ugly. :(
 
As I found out, the sound of a lock being smashed off with a half paving slab and the door being tossed into the garden was heard by precisely no-one down my quiet suburban street at 5 pm on a Saturday afternoon as both neighbours have good double glazing..
 
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