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    Emily Fazio

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Sliding Glass Door Safety

March 30, 2011

Things that I’m OK saying now that Pete moved out of his apartment?

It’s really easy to break-in to homes through cheap sliding glass doors.

This is a little post about keeping it safe. Because I broke into his apartment at least twice this past year and thankfully I’m (maybe) the only one to have done so. I’m not going to tell you how, because I’m not condoning it, just take it from me and get your respective girlfriend and boyfriend house keys earlier, even if the landlord says you aren’t allowed to duplicate. There’s someone shady over at the local hardware store who doesn’t care about their “do not dupe” stamp. Of course, after some time, Pete did construct something to prohibit the cheap door from being openable from the outside. Openable is a word, right? I digress.

This is a message from the inside, which I realize sounds a little Criminal Minds-y. Don’t rely on your sliding glass door as it came from the store; do a little something to keep yourself safe with a few easy tricks to keep that door tamper-proof.

The sliding glass door in my house is pretty good. A respectable brand with a reliable lock. And I have spot lights, a public backyard, observant neighbors, and a bark-happy dog who likes flesh (ok, not really), so don’t even think about testing a break-in out on me. The previous owners had a hook and eye latch at the top of the door (high enough to keep little kids from escaping, I suppose) but I wasn’t convinced that it was enough to make the door safe from the outside in.

A well-swung hook didn't do much.

To add to the security, we cut a dowel to fit in the deep track that the door slides on, and attached an eyelet screw with a string to the end of it. The string extended up to a point on the door and was attached with another eyelet screw. This is a nice-to-have from the inside, because you can swing the dowel out of the track by pulling on the string (we used a sturdy rope) but beware, if you go out the door with the dowel still in the track and close it behind you, you’re stuck.

Eyelet hook in a dowel.

The thing about this is that it’s secure from the outside (our track is really deep, and that dowel is perfectly sized to fit with no wiggle room).

Safety, installed.

String attachment or not, I strongly encourage you to add this little hack to your sliding glass door. A little fix for a lot of security, regardless of how awesomely expensive your door is, and how blood-thirsty your dog is.

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Emily
I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. I've been a freelancer writer for 10+ years and you can find my work on popular home and garden sites, like HGTV.com. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note.

9 Comments


Cait @ Hernando House
March 30, 2011 at 11:41 am
Reply

Great tips!

Unfortunately my in-laws’ house was still broken into, even with a bar in place. Apparently after attempting kick their front door in failed, the jerkwad smashed the glass in the back slider. Thankfully they had an alarm and I don’t think he got much (maybe a tv?) My in-laws replaced the glass with thick plexiglass that should fair better if the same thing happens again, but here’s hoping you (or any of your readers) don’t need that bit of advice!



    Cait @ Hernando House
    March 30, 2011 at 11:42 am

    And also, mmmm Criminal Minds! Robert and I were just discussing watching reruns of that tonight.

    Emily
    March 30, 2011 at 8:42 pm

    Scary. It’s the kind of thing I fear a lot, but if someone wants to break in, I don’t think there’s a lot to do to prevent it – they’ll find a way. Plexi is an interesting alternative, thanks for sharing!

    And yes, Criminal Minds is the bomb. I haven’t started watching the new series yet but it’s building up on my DVR.

Barb
March 30, 2011 at 3:13 pm
Reply

We always had a wooden bar in the slider track, but then one day our lovely dog (not puppy) thought it would be a yummy snack. We came home to wood splinters all over the place. Yeah, she’s the type to gather up the cords and manuals for the robber rather than bite them.



    Emily
    March 30, 2011 at 8:43 pm

    Yum, sticks. My dog hasn’t noticed mine yet, interestingly. I’m sort of surprised by that now that you mention your experience.

patrick
March 30, 2011 at 10:32 pm
Reply

I’ve always considered the necessity to use a stick to secure a sliding glass door as a gigantic design flaw. Why can’t there just be a mechanism in that side of the door frame that pins it top and bottom?

I also would much prefer the idea of being able to move both panels-POCKET sliding glass doors!



    Emily
    March 30, 2011 at 10:46 pm

    Sliding glass pocket doors. That would be amazing. Even the ability to slide both doors would be nice (I have to assume that exists somewhere for people who have lots of money). I’ve seen some upgrades to the sliding glass door security, made available to anyone at the basic home improvement shops looking for newer models (multiple locks, stronger design). Maybe worth looking into if your (anyone’s) door is as bad as Pete’s was.

Lauren
March 31, 2011 at 3:00 am
Reply

Good tip! We can tend to get so focused on making things pretty, the basic safety stuff can be overlooked. Everyone’s got working smoke detectors, too?



    Emily
    March 31, 2011 at 8:22 am

    Yes! Smoke alarms with fresh batteries, nonetheless!

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  • HI, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

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