Nothing will bring natural light into your indoors more than glass sliding doors. These doors are easily stackable thus maximizing your indoor space, offer spectacular views, come in varying designs and configurations and are stylish.
They are your perfect choice if you want a seemingly unhindered transition between your indoors and the outdoors. Even with these benefits, few property owners are willing to invest in sliding glass doors owing to their perceived compromised security.
It is understandable that you might steer clear of cavity slider doors because of this reason since the current burglary statistics are not too reassuring. There are nevertheless techniques through which you can benefit from the aesthetic value of a sliding glass door without compromising your security.
The ideal solution lies in picking the right hardware for your door. The following are some of the hardware types designed to make your glass door burglar-proof.
Slide Locking Bars
A slide locking bar might seem complicated, but this is a thick metal bar or wooden dowel which is installed in the bottom rack of a sliding door. The bar will be cut and customized to fit your door.
The metal bar or dowel is simply fitted into your door’s track and will thus keep your door from being opened from the outside even if there is no latch.
Door Chains
These work in much a similar manner as the locking bar but are considered more aesthetically pleasing. Chains will work best for double sliding doors though there are ways it can be retrofitted into single sliding ones.
When using door chains, one end of these is linked through the handle of your door and the other end installed in your other door or the wall in the case of single doors. This way, the chain prevents the opening of the door from the outside. Door chains come in different materials, and it is prudent to pick a material that is hard to cut through.
Auxiliary Locks
Sliding doors feature simple locks but these might at times not be enough for those aiming for high security. You can add an auxiliary lock to your door which offers higher security levels compared to that offered by your primary lock.
There are many technologies nowadays for auxiliary locks including alarm sensors, fingerprint locks, and password systems. These will guarantee the safety of your property even if a burglar might bypass your primary latch.
Additional Door Plates
At times, a sliding door can be lifted off its track. The best way to counter this is by using an extra door plate. This is screwed into the upper tracks’ cavity of your door. The plate should be big enough to avert the raising of the door from its track and yet small enough not to hinder the movement of your door.
You might wonder how all the above hardware will improve the security of a glass door yet the glass can be easily broken. Nowadays, however, there exist shatter-proof and tempered glass varieties that cannot be shattered.
Alternatively, you can fortify the glass with security film. These options coupled with the above hardware when professionally installed will guarantee your property’s security.
