Most of our homes are not nearly as secure as we would like them to be, or even as secure as we believe them to be. To truly be prepared, there are many things we can and should be doing to increase the security of our homes. Here are a few ideas.

Hinge screws in doors. The screws securing the hinges on your front door are only 3/4 of an inch long and are only anchored in the door frame itself which is not very strong. Replace them with 3 1/2 inch case hardened #9 screws that should go all the way through the door frame and into the stud backing it making the hinge joint much more secure. I personally prefer the GRK torx screws you can find at your local home improvement store.

The next thing to look at is the deadbolt strike plate. These are typically installed into the wooden door frame, making another weak spot where the door can be kicked in. The security of the small striker plate can be improved dramatically by installing a security striker plate which distributes the kicking force of an attempted break-in across a much larger area of the door frame. Amazon also sells door reinforcement kits that include not only the larger striker kit but also hinge shields which protect the door hinges from attack, and door shields which protect the dead bolt and door latch as well. Don’t forget to use your 3 1/2 inch #9 case hardened screws for attaching these to the studs surrounding the door frame.

Door clubs are a simple and inexpensive addition to your home security, making kicking in the door nearly impossible. It hooks under your door knob and goes to the floor, securing the door from the inside. Another advantage is their portability, making them a good option for securing hotel room doors while traveling.

Sliding glass doors are a very weak spot in homes that have them. Typically they are found in the back of the house where it is hard to see if someone were trying to break in. If possible, they should be replaced by regular doors, though you might be able to make them more secure with window security film.

For all windows, security film is a good option. It makes the glass difficult to break by adding a clear thick film to the inside of the window. This keeps the window together together if the glass breaks. The film comes in different thicknesses and tints, so they may also have the added benefit of reducing your electric bill if used on the hot side of the house.

Security bars are a good solution for the windows around your house. As a deterrent, part of their job is psychological. A statistic teaches us that burglars want to spend no more than 60 seconds breaking into a home. So often just a sight of security bars is enough to deter a would-be attacker.

An interesting compliment to window security film and security bars is defensive shrubbery. Spiny thorny shrubs around your windows make breaking in to your house through the window even more difficult than just bypassing the security bars and film. Popular deterrent shrubs include holly and cacti. Bougainvillea and Pyracantha also produce attractive flowers while providing spiky protection. Contact your local extension office to find out which plants grow well in your area.

Most of us store valuables in our garages. At a minimum, we probably all have tools that would like to keep safe. The garage is also another ingress to the main house for lot of us. Aluminum garage doors are not very secure. The locks are easily bypassed or punched out. Add a lock to the garage door track. A padlock or bicycle lock in the track for the garage door will make it extremely difficult to raise the garage door if the original lock is broken.

A key skill to develop to improve the security of your home is to think about the different ways a burglar could potentially get access to your home. Then figure out how to fix that weakness. As you can see, there are many inexpensive ways to make our homes more secure. Please comment with any others you can think of, or that you have done.