Our home is the one and only place where we can feel completely secure and protected, but with the lack of security features and the homeowner’s lack of cautious attitude, the dangers of the outside world may follow you to your house and bring harm to your family. According to FBI statistics, there were around 1.9 million burglaries that have occurred in the United States by the end of 2013, resulting to property loss amounting to approximately $5 billion dollars. 59% of these burglaries were committed by force entry and around 74% of these burglaries have occurred during the daytime. These statistics show that no one is safe from burglary. Though complex alarm systems, closed-circuit cameras, and guard dogs may protect you from these burglars, the expense of having these security tools may be costly for your budget. To ensure the security of your family and belongings from burglars while still being practical, deadbolts are the best solution to your problem.
A deadbolt lock is a locking mechanism that uses a sliding metal bolt to secure the door to its frame. Unlike regular door locks, deadbolts are quite hard to break into since the metal bolt is tightly wedged between the door and the frame. A deadbolt has three main components: the cylinder, the metal bolt, and the thumb. The cylinder allows the owner to control the deadbolt from the outside by using a key. It is recommended that when buying a deadbolt, you should choose a lock with a tapered cylinder since non-tapered cylinder deadbolts are easier to remove. The metal bolt is the thing that locks the door to the frame. When buying a deadbolt, you should avoid buying bolts made out of soft metal such as brass and instead go for hard metals such as reinforced steel or bronze. The thumb is the mechanism that allows the person to control the deadbolt from the outside. There are two main installation types for deadbolts: the surface mounted deadbolts, and the internal deadbolts. Surface mounted deadbolts are attached to the door while internal deadbolts are built into the door.
Single Cylinders
These are the most common types of deadbolts in the market. These deadbolts have a key slot on one side and a twist knob on the other. Since you have to manually turn the bolt with the use of the key or the twist knob hence it is called “deadbolt” which means that the bolt is “dead”. These types of deadbolts are ineffective when your entrance has a glass panel since burglars can just break the glass panel and just use the twist knob to unlock the deadbolt.
Double Cylinders
Unlike the single cylinder deadbolts, these types of deadbolts are operated with a key on both sides, making it difficult for burglars to unlock the deadbolt from the inside. One of the disadvantages of these types of deadbolts is that the homeowner may not easily get out of his house in case of a fire or an unexpected emergency. You should consult your local locksmiths and contractors about state laws, fire safety and building codes regarding the installation of double cylinder deadbolts to make sure you are not breaking any laws and safety measures.
Horizontal Throw
These types of deadbolts has bolts that slide from the door to the door frame in a horizontal manner. These bolts usually extend an inch beyond the edge of the door and into the door frame. These types of deadbolts are cheap and easier to install but are vulnerable to forced entry. An intruder can just force himself through since a portion of the deadbolt is exposed.
Vertical Throw
A vertical throw deadbolt is locked by interlocking with a fixed set of metal rings attached to the door. These rings make it much more difficult for burglars to enter since none of the parts of the deadbolt are easily exposed. Among the two throws, this type of throw deadbolt is much more reliable and much safer in keeping your home protected.
No matter what type of deadbolt you may choose, it is highly recommended that you should install deadlocks on your doors to prevent burglars from entering your homes and to ensure the protection of your family and your property.