Sliding Glass Door Security – 5+ Solutions

Sliding glass doors give a modernistic touch to a house. However, as much as we love sliding doors, they are very vulnerable to break-ins.

Putting an efficient sliding door security system in place is extremely important if you want to ensure your family’s safety.

Here are a few steps to take to secure and lock sliding glass doors in your home. 

Quick Summary:

• Install a security system on the sliding door panel
• Add locks
• Install a Glass Break Sensor for doors
• Add shatterproof window film

Sliding Glass Doors: The Problems

Here are the reasons why they are prone to break-ins.

Latches instead of locks

Sliding doors do not naturally have locks; they have latches that can be easily manipulated. Unlike locks, they can be opened up quite easily.

Door tracks

Under the sliding door are the tracks prone to malfunction, or manipulation, a drawback absent in traditional doors. 

All that glass

Glass is highly susceptible to breakage. Anyone can break the glass if it hasn’t been reinforced.

Sliding Door Security: The Solutions

Install a Security System

In this day and age, an alarm and a camera system are crucial. The alarm system alerts you if any unauthorized person breaches the sliding door and gets access to your home.

Burglars are considerably less likely to intrude on a house and door equipped with an alarm system since their visibility may scare them away and cause an additional barrier to entry to the house.

Add a New Locking System

Sliding door locks protect your home’s patio door from break-ins or intruders.

Typically, you’d have to purchase the sliding door lock separately.

Depending upon the design and operation of the door lock, there could be two options for locking the door, completely or partially, to keep the sliding glass door open a little for ventilation.

There are plenty of sliding door locks to choose from. If need be, you could also browse through an array of locks from a local hardware store. 

Slip in a Security Bar 

A security bar can prevent a glass door from being opened. These are commonly placed between the window and the door and prevent the door from being opened through pressure on the bar acting as a wedge.

Close the Curtains

We recommend covering the sliding panel door with curtains or blinds to prevent anyone from seeing inside and noticing any valuables you may have left out. 

Get a security door brace

If you have the resources, barricade your french doors for extra security, and install a three-point locking system.

Security Pin

People also use security pins to enhance safety when installing sliding glass doors. You could purchase the pin from your local hardware store if need be.

Glass Break Sensor

You don’t necessarily have to go for a sophisticated alarm system. Still, if you can afford it, you should splurge on a comprehensive technology with a glass break detector.

The detector will alert you with a loud alarm if a door is cracked due to an impact. If a burglar caused the breakage, you could contact the police before any more damage is done.

Security Bar

Installing a security bar can make security tighter. These metal bars can fold and brace to lock the sliding glass door. This lock is pretty simple to install. 

Auxiliary Locks

Another way to reinforce the first lock and secure sliding glass doors is to install a secondary lock. The auxiliary sliding door locks are usually installed across the top frame.

Although the design may differ from manufacturer to manufacturer, all of them would add additional patio door security. 

Reinforce the Glass

Another option is impact-resistant sliding glass doors, which work the same way and protect your house from burglary and natural disasters.

Security Gate

You can also barricade the doors using a security gate. The process of installing the sliding door gate varies tremendously from gate to gate. Therefore, it is recommended to hire a professional for this job. 

Get a Deadbolt Lock

A deadbolt lock is also an option. You could consult the seller directly regarding installing the deadbolt lock if you bought it from a physical store.

You could also consider installing a digital lock if you have the extra cash to splurge. These sliding door locks are accessed via a card and automatically lock sliding glass doors. 

Add a Rod in the Tracks

You can add a rod in the door tracks to prevent it from opening. 

Add Window Film

A Shatterproof film can protect the glass door from several factors, including burglars, break-ins, and vandalism, and solidify the door security. Some even apply it to their sliding patio door to protect themselves from a natural disaster like a hurricane. It can defend your home from debris flung during stormy weather and provide added security. (1) 

Reinforcing the sliding glass door lock or sliding panel door

While sliding panel door locks can render an adequate level of security, there is no harm in providing it with some additional reinforcement. (2)

FAQs

References
(1) natural disaster – https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/natural-disaster
(2) reinforcement – https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Two-types-of-reinforcement-and-their-examples-in-operant-conditioning-22_fig1_273134980