4 Security Breaches That Can Be Secured By Locksmiths

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Although your home's security system may give you a feeling of safety, the majority of its features won't actually keep you safe from an intruder that's already breached your home. For this reason, you must take preventative measures to keep an intruder from ever breaching your home's perimeter. Here are four residential perimeter breaches that can be secured by your local residential locksmith:

Door Windows

Windows on and around your doors are a serious problem if your door locks only have a single cylinder. The switch on the interior side of a single cylinder lock can easily be accessed by an intruder who chooses to shatter the windows near your exterior doors.

Your locksmith can measure the distance from the windows around your exterior doors and determine whether or not your lock switch can be flipped by an intruder. Typically, if your door switch is within 40" of any accessible windows, your locksmith will recommend installing a double cylinder lock.

Although double cylinder locks must be unlocked with a key from both the interior and exterior of your home, their increased security is well worth the few extra seconds it will take to unlock your exterior doors.

Removable Door Hinges

Your exterior doors should be installed so that their hinges are on the interior side of your door frames. However, if your exterior doors were modified or installed with their hinges on the outside of your door frames, then they can be used to gain entry to your home.

An experienced intruder can remove the pins from your exposed hinges in a matter of minutes. By doing so, they'll be able to enter and exit your home without making any excessive noise that would wake you or your neighbors.

By either re-mounting your door or modifying your exposed door hinges, your locksmith can prevent an intruder from using your exterior door hinges to their advantage.

Garage Door Fishing

Your automatic garage door opener is required by law to have an emergency release lever. Although this lever allows you to quickly and easily cycle your door open in case of an emergency, it also gives an intruder the perfect entry point into your home.

While your garage door is closed, your opener's trolley (which contains your release lever) will be within close range of your garage door. If you have a sectional garage door, or if there's a gap between your door and your garage frame, then an intruder can use a simple coat hook to pull your release lever and swing your door wide open from the outside. This method is known as garage door fishing—and it can be performed in a matter of seconds.

To prevent garage door fishing, many homeowners choose to either remove their emergency lever or disable it with a wire or cable tie. However, in the event of an emergency, a disabled release lever can mean the difference between life and death.

For this reason, the best way to prevent garage door fishing is to have your locksmith install a sturdy deadbolt on your garage door. By only unlocking your deadbolt immediately before and after you use your garage door, you can make sure your garage door assembly can't be fished by a potential intruder.

Window or Wall-Mounted Air Conditioners

Intruders will always scout the exterior of your home for the easiest point of entry. If certain rooms throughout your home are cooled with window or wall-mounted air conditioners, then your home has additional openings that can serve as easy entry points. By either pushing or pulling your air conditioner unit out of its window or wall, an intruder can gain access to your home without even needing a single tool.

Your locksmith can install a cage around the exterior portion of your air conditioner to prevent it from being pulled out of its window or kicked inside your house.

Take a walk around the outside of your home and look for these security breaches. If one or more of these breaches are present, then hire your local locksmith to secure them. Otherwise, the security of your family members and belongings will remain in jeopardy.

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4 March 2015

My Garage Sale Safe

I have always been a big fan of garage sales. There is just something about the ability to stop and pick up hidden treasures for an incredibly low price that always gets my blood flowing. So when I spotted a top of the line safe at a local sale for an amazingly low price, I simply could not help myself. After years of sitting in my garage unused, I decided to finally move my safe into the house. The problem was, I had forgotten the combination. Thankfully, a local locksmith was able to help me gain access to the safe. While watching the locksmith work, I was fascinated by the way he bypassed the safe's lock. Suddenly I found myself wanting to learn this skill. Throughout the course of research, I learned a lot about the profession of locksmiths. Today, I would like to share that knowledge with you.