How Can I Improve My Front Door Security?

How Can I Improve My Front Door Security? There’s a number of different ways you can improve the security of your front door beyond its built in security features, and in this article we will go through them one by one – hopefully giving you some good ideas on improving and bolstering the security of your front door, giving you peace of mind and an added sense of security.

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(UPDATES OCTOBER2022)

First – The Stats

A burglary takes place in the UK, on average, every 40 seconds.

Shocking, right?

Even more shocking is that 21% of burglaries occur without the burglar actually having to break in – they simply open unlocked doors and windows, and walk or climb right in.

Don’t become a statistic. Use as many of the following tips to improve the security of your front door today.

How Can I Improve My Front Door Security?

How can I improve my front door security?

Quite easily as it happens.

Here’s 5 top tips on making your front door more secure.

1. Lock Your Door – Always

It’s estimated that 67% of all burglaries gain entry through a door. And 21% of all those doors are unlocked – the offender simply turns the knob and they are in the house.

With this in mind, how can I improve my front door security?

Simple: always, always lock your front door, even if you are in the house.

Opportunist criminals are everywhere, and all it takes is an opportunist to come trying your door one day and they are straight in.

It’s such simple advice, yet people don’t take heed and have to learn the hard way.

Along with this simple advice, never, ever do the following:

2. Invest In A Smart Doorbell

Just a few years ago, these things used to set you back a couple of hundred pounds. Now they are far more attractively priced, and in range of most budgets.

The Ring Doorbell is one of the best on the market. It is wireless, has a rechargeable battery, and can be set to detect movement as well as give live audio and visual of anyone who presses the doorbell.

Of course, the biggest security measure with a smart doorbell is the deterrent factor.

Deterring someone even coming up to the door is the ultimate in security measures, and a criminal spotting a device such as this Ring Doorbell or a home DIY security system will immediately think again – the thought of being captured on camera will often be enough for that criminal to continue past your home and to another home that isn’t as target hardened.

Installation is a breeze, requiring the use of a drill and then simply attaching to the doorbell using the provided screws.

3. Light It Up

If the area around your front door is in darkeness at night, make some attempt to light it up.

If you want to go ahead and go for a wired solution (which will usually come at the cost of product + electrician to install it), go ahead. It’s probably the best option for longevity and reliability.
Cheapest option?

Invest in some solar powered LED motion detection lights.

Again, this solar technology has come on in leaps and bounds over the past few years, and I recommend these solar motion LED’s that I have installed at my own home (still going strong 2 years after purchase). They are cheap, easy to install, and are very bright – as soon as someone walks up to your door, literally the whole street is illuminated.

Installing these directly over your front door is an excellent deterrent.

Installation is an absolute breeze – all you need is a drill with a masonary drill piece, drill two small holes in your brickwork or render, and screw them in.

There’s also a number of settings on them, including having no light until movement is detected (recommended), or having a dim light always on and having a bright light activate when movement is detected.

These are truly excellent for plug and play security around your home – go for the 4 pack, and you will also have enough to install them around other perimeter areas of your home, like near gates, fences and near to rear doors.

4. Bush Trimming

We should all trim our bushes now and again, especially if you have a lot that may impede the view of your front door from street level.

Criminals love bushes, overgrown shrubs and uncared for trees, especially if it gives them a place that is hidden from main view.

Our advice is simple – if you have a lot of greenage in your front garden, go and have a walk past your own house and see how visible the front door (and windows) are from the road.

If you can’t see your own front door, neither will anybody passing by when a criminal is trying to gain entry to your home.

5. Physical Security

Adding physical security to a front door isn’t always practical, especially if you have the older style UPVC doors that are difficult to add things such as dead locks and door lock chains to.

However, it can be done, and a couple of well placed bolts or chain locks can mean all the difference between a front door being forced (easy with UPVC if its a cheaper version), and the criminal walking away because it’s taking to much time and effort or causing too much noise.

Wherever possible, install a pair of these bolts (see left), one at the top of the door, and one at the bottom – which compliments the protection of the locking mechanism in the middle, to give an all round more robust and secure front door.

Again, this does depend on the matrial your front door is made of, but is well worth investigating to give that extra peace of mind.

Look Out For Elederly Friends & Relatives

You’ve asked ‘How Do I Improve My Front Door Security’, and hopefully you’ve taken some ideas away.

But what about going a step further, and helping to target harden someone else’s front door?

Do consider your elederly neighbours, friends and relatives home security arrangements when considering your own, as they are most vulnerable when it comes to break ins and walk in thefts.

One of the easiest and cheapest security products that comes with massive benefits for older people is the door chain restrictor.

A door chain restrictor allows the person to open the door slightly without the threat of any criminal simply pushing past the occupant. This type of security has been around for years and there’s good reason too – they work, they are cheap, and they can be installed easily.

This particalr chain lock has a loop that goes over the front door handle, whilst the anchor is placed in a wall next to the door. Again, a very simple task for even a beginner DIY’er.

Want More Tips?

We have a multitude of great articles on how to improve security in general around your home, check out the following articles linked beneath:

• 75 Ways To Improve Home Security
• 25 Ways To Improve Garage Security
• Improve the Security Of Patio Doors
• Using Security Signs Around Your Home
• What Is A Door Jammer?

Comments, Questions?

We hope you found the article ‘How Can I Improve My front Door Security’ useful. If you did, let us know in the comments.

If you didn’t, tell us why and then share your own tips on how to improve the security of a front door in the comments section below.

Stay Safe. Stay Secure.