Confession time, this series on “Hardening Your Home” is going to be a bit like a Tarantino movie.  No, these posts won’t involve snappy dialog coupled with bloody violence!  What I mean by that is the story will not be told in a chronological fashion.  For example, the deadbolts that are currently installed on my exterior doors.

Schlage Light Commercial Deadbolt

These were installed a few weeks ago, which was before I installed the EZ Armor I mentioned in the previous post.

While the timing isn’t important, the reason why I opted to update my lock hardware is.  Not long ago, I read some articles on lock bumping and decided to take measures to prevent this from happening.  Essentially, a criminal can defeat most locks in less than a minute using a bump key and a hard impact.  You can watch a video of it by going here, which shows how simple and fast this technique is.  Since my lock hardware was purchased from a big box retailer after I purchased my home, I decided it was time to upgrade and improve my defenses.

I decided to get Schlage Light Industrial deadbolt locks and passage handles.  These are only available from locksmiths and are constructed from higher quality materials than normal locks.  These locks are designed to be bump and pick resistant, which makes it more difficult and time-consuming for a would-be intruder to break into my home.  Another great feature is they can be re-keyed by a non-locksmith.  A set of these locks is about twice what a normal set would cost at a home improvement store, however the added security and peace of mind you gain is worth it.

Better locks combined with door reinforcement added an additional layer of security to my home.  In my next post, I’ll discuss how I use lighting to deter crime.