Glass doors and home security

[davidtx]

I didn't want to hijack the thread about the late night delivery, but it did remind me of a question I had.

All true, but in homes with energy efficient double pane windows, the difficulty, danger, and noise involved in a window entry drives burglars and home invaders to prefer doors as entry points as a general rule.

All 5 of the exterior doors in my house are glass. We have a front courtyard with a double Cantera door and two side doors that are almost entirely glass. There is a rear slider on to the patio and another mostly glass door from the MBR on to the patio.

I have a couple of issues:
1. Securing against break-in. They are unlikely to get through the Cantera door, but the others are of concern. Do Excaliber's comments about window entry apply here?
2. The side courtyard doors have shades on them, but the Cantera door isn't. Anybody entering the courtyard can see right into the living room. At night, they are likely to catch me watching the tube in my recliner (carrying). The house is quiet enough that the dogs are sometimes surprised when somebody rings the bell. I haven't figured out a good way of dealing with surprise visitors when I'm in the living room.

[snorri]

If you want to stay with glass, I hear good reports about 3M's Scotchshield security film.

[davidtx]

If you want to stay with glass, I hear good reports about 3M's Scotchshield security film.

Thanks, I'll look into it.

[Mel]

Be careful using security film on thermal pane glass doors. Check with the door manufacturer. They usually recommend against it and will not honor any warranty.

[ghostrider]

On glass doors, also consider a double cylinder deadbolt (one that requires a key to unlock from either side). With a standard single cylinder deadbolt, its conceivable someone could break the glass & reach in to unlock the deadbolt.

[gemini]

Having laminated glass installed would be the best solution without breaking the bank.
Also, you might look into wireless driveway alarms with PIR. Similar to this item
http://www.prlog.org/10641859-driveway- ... entry.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Prior warning someone is in your courtyard etc. might give you the advantage......

[glbedd53]

With the double key deadbolts be aware of the fire hazard that goes with it.

[VoiceofReason]

I would suggest motion sensor flood lights in the courtyard.

We have motion sensor lights at the front and back doors and a motion sensing floodlight for the driveway.

You can also get an infrared beam unit that could be set up to turn on a light, activate a buzzer etc. when someone enters the courtyard.

Also a good security sign might help.

[PappaGun]

Be careful using security film on thermal pane glass doors. Check with the door manufacturer. They usually recommend against it and will not honor any warranty.

While it is true that a warranty for failure of a double pane unit would likely be void, the reasoning behind it is
sound and you likely would never have an issue regardless.
I have 14 years experience in the window industry with a high end manufacturer.
The way they put it is that they won't honor the warranty because their product has been modified. A reasonable point.
In the service department, we compared it to automobiles. If you modify a part of the car, that part is no longer covered under warranty.
But in those years, I never saw a failure due to any applied window film.
Even if one were to occur, and you had to eat the cost of replacement, the upside of the security gained from those types of film outweighs the downside of insecurity IMHO.