How to Secure Your French Doors
Read these 5 tips to make the classic glass doors in your home more safe and secure
French doors are a beautiful enhancement to a home. When used in place of sliding doors, they can transform otherwise ordinary exits into inviting gateways to decks or gardens, imparting an old-world flavor that is hard to beat. Unfortunately, this elegant home design feature is also hard to secure. Luckily, there are steps you can take to significantly improve security around your French doors.
Why Is It Hard to Secure French Doors?
French doors are difficult to secure for several reasons, involving the following weak spots:
French doors are difficult to secure for several reasons, involving the following weak spots:
- When French doors open outward, the hinges are exposed on the outside. This means anyone can remove the pins and take the doors off the hinges.
- Traditional wood French doors have many small panes of glass. The panes are only held in place by short, decorative pieces of molding called muntins. This design is attractive but it can be weak. In many newer metal doors, the muntins are just decorative metal grids placed over single large panes of glass.
- Because French doors have large glass areas, they leave no place to put locks out of reach of mischievous hands. No matter where the lock is, a burglar can break or cut the glass and reach inside to unlock the door.
- Double French doors are vulnerable where the two doors come together in the middle. There is generally only an overlap of molding where the doors meet. If the doors open into the room, this weak spot makes them extremely easy to kick in.
5 Ways to Improve French Door Security
While not foolproof, there are several ways to strengthen your French doors.
1. Get impact-resistant glass. If you are buying new doors, get them with impact-resistant glass. This type of glass is required in hurricane-prone areas because it can withstand a tremendous amount of force without breaking. That unusual strength is also effective against burglars.
Expert tip: Don’t confuse impact-resistant glass with tempered glass. They are not the same. Tempered glass is a little stronger than ordinary glass, but it is still easily breakable.
While not foolproof, there are several ways to strengthen your French doors.
1. Get impact-resistant glass. If you are buying new doors, get them with impact-resistant glass. This type of glass is required in hurricane-prone areas because it can withstand a tremendous amount of force without breaking. That unusual strength is also effective against burglars.
Expert tip: Don’t confuse impact-resistant glass with tempered glass. They are not the same. Tempered glass is a little stronger than ordinary glass, but it is still easily breakable.
2. Use a three-point locking system. This is very important for double French doors. That’s because the bolt of the lock doesn’t extend into the solid door frame, it extends into another door, and that door is just not as strong as the door frame. Three-point locking systems include metal rods that extend from the door up into the top of the door frame and down into the floor. Combined with the deadbolt, these rods make the doors much stronger than the deadbolt alone.
3. Use a high-quality mortise lock. Mortise locks are a type of deadbolt lock. Instead of being inserted through a hole bored through the door, though, the mortise lock is a complete metal housing that is installed through a pocket in the edge of the door. Since the entire lock mechanism is protected by the metal housing, mortise locks are harder to breach than standard deadbolts.
Browse door locks
4. Install a double-cylinder deadbolt. A standard deadbolt only requires a key on the outside. The inside has a thumb-turn that operates the lock. With French doors that don’t have impact-resistant glass, anyone can break the glass, reach in and unlock the door. Double-cylinder deadbolts require keys on both sides, so they prevent someone from doing this.
Safety tip: Be careful, though, if this is your only way out from this area of the home. A double-cylinder deadbolt can be dangerous. In an emergency, such as a fire, where you need to get out quickly, you may not have time to locate the key. In this case, double cylinders are better secondary locks that are only used when you leave the house.
5. Install security hinges. This is important for doors that open outward, with the hinges accessible from the outside. Without securing the hinges, it won’t matter how strong your doors and locks are. Set screw hinges, stud hinges and hinges with nonremovable pins are all effective security hinge options.
Browse door locks
4. Install a double-cylinder deadbolt. A standard deadbolt only requires a key on the outside. The inside has a thumb-turn that operates the lock. With French doors that don’t have impact-resistant glass, anyone can break the glass, reach in and unlock the door. Double-cylinder deadbolts require keys on both sides, so they prevent someone from doing this.
Safety tip: Be careful, though, if this is your only way out from this area of the home. A double-cylinder deadbolt can be dangerous. In an emergency, such as a fire, where you need to get out quickly, you may not have time to locate the key. In this case, double cylinders are better secondary locks that are only used when you leave the house.
5. Install security hinges. This is important for doors that open outward, with the hinges accessible from the outside. Without securing the hinges, it won’t matter how strong your doors and locks are. Set screw hinges, stud hinges and hinges with nonremovable pins are all effective security hinge options.
Security can also be stylish. Now you can fully enjoy your French doors, knowing you’ve maximized their security. And the good news is, you don’t have to sacrifice appearance in the process. High-security doors and lock hardware come in an amazing array of materials and finishes to enhance all architectural styles and personal tastes. And with it all at your fingertips, it’s easier than ever to bring beauty and security home.
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