An experienced burglar can break into a home in a matter of seconds. In many cases, thieves break in through the back door. You probably have a deadbolt on your front door, but if you have a patio door, you could be vulnerable. You need to take extra precautions to make your home less attractive to thieves and prevent them from breaking in through your patio door.
Read more “A Reinforced Lock on Your Patio Door Can Protect Your Home from Thieves”
Many public buildings, such as restaurants, stores, hospitals, movie theaters, nursing homes, and schools, have panic bars on doors leading to the outside of the building. A panic bar is a horizontal or vertical bar that a person can press to unlock a door and quickly exit a building in the event of an emergency. Panic bars are also sometimes called exit devices, panic hardware, push bars, and crash bars. All of these terms refer to the same thing. Read more “Panic Bars Can Save Lives in an Emergency”
When people move into new homes, they never know who might still have keys to the locks. The previous owners, contractors, housekeepers, and the previous owners’ family and friends could all have keys. Sometimes homeowners give keys to people and later decide that they no longer want them to have access to the house. In communities built by a single construction company, locks are often keyed so they can be opened with a master key, which creates a security risk for new residents who move in.
In those circumstances, people often think they need to have the locks changed to improve security and peace of mind. However, that is not necessarily true. In many cases, it is possible to rekey the locks to prevent unauthorized access. Read more “When to Rekey and When to Replace a Lock”
