Did you know that over half of all residential burglaries involve forced entry through a front or back door? Your home should be the place where you feel safest, which is why it’s essential that your exterior doors not only be made of durable materials but also have high-quality, durable locks. These include a knob or handle lock as well as a deadbolt.
Deadbolts help to safeguard homes against forced entry, as they extend directly into the door jambs when locked and remain that way until manually unlocked by key or thumb turn. There are many specific reasons why exterior doors should have them:
- Resistant to Lockpicking – Deadbolts have advanced internal mechanisms that defy traditional lockpicking tools, making it very difficult for a burglar to gain entry this way.
- Resistant to Force – Because deadbolts are made of strong, durable materials like steel, as well as have metal strike plates and screws for reinforcement, they can resist an enormous amount of force. The highest grade of deadbolts can resist 10 hammer strikes of 75 pounds of force.
- Deters Intruders – As strong as deadbolts are, they are not foolproof. They don’t guarantee that an intruder won’t get in, but they do deter intruders because of how difficult they make it to enter homes without attracting notice and getting caught.
To learn more about deadbolts and why your exterior doors need them, reach out to our locksmiths at Eastway Lock & Key, Inc. today.