Your front door is, of course, the main gateway to your home. That may sound obvious but it’s also the first place that burglars look when they are trying to gain entry. Double glazed windows are often difficult to break into and, unless you leave one open, are something that burglars will often ignore.
But if a thief can snap your front door lock, something that can take them just a few seconds in many cases, they can be inside your home in next to no time. So what things should you be looking at when buying a new front door?
First of all there are three different types to think about: Composite, uPVC and aluminium front doors.
Each has their own merits and which you choose may well come down to personal preference more than anything else.
Composite Doors
These combine a steel or wood frame wrapped inside uPVC and with high-density foam to pack out the spaces. This makes them a secure and fairly substantial door that is difficult to break down – in fact they’re one of the harder doors to force open with a police battering ram.
uPVC and Aluminium
These are also very high performance and are again designed to withstand solid impacts. Aluminium front doors are lighter weight but certainly by no means less secure. As with composite doors they can come with double and triple glazed fronts or just with panels.
Locking Mechanisms
The key to most secure doors, apart from the materials they are made of, is the locking mechanism itself. You want a lock that is not gong to be easily snapped or broken.
Older doors tend to have locks that burglars can easily get around by snapping the core. It’s a common practice and can be done in just a few seconds with the wrong lock. Today’s modern locks are built to higher standards and each door you buy today should have multiple locking points that make them even more secure.
Look for Secure by Design
We always advise people to look for Secure by Design accreditation when they are buying and installing a new door, whether it’s for the front of the house or the back. This is a not for profit organisation that looks to basically design products that are resistant to thieves. What you get when you buy a door that has this accreditation includes:
- The knowledge that you are 75% less likely to be broken into.
- It’s a lock backed by the insurance industry who think that doors and windows that are accredited could save millions.
- It reduces the risk of crime in your area because burglars simply don’t see that it’s worth the risk trying to break in.
When you realise that the vast majority of burglars gain access to a home through the door, you can see the point of paying special attention to this area of your house. The good news is that high quality, secure doors are not as expensive as they used to be.
Not only do these kinds of doors make your home a lot more secure – they are also great at improving the thermal properties of your home. That in turn could well mean you have less drafts and heat loss, saving you at least a bit of money on your utility bills.