(WXYZ) - More homes are broken into during the summer than any other time. So how can you protect your property? JoAnne Purtan has this consumer investigation so you don’t waste your money:
It takes just seconds for an intruder to kick in a door and get inside your home.
Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans: “I think the biggest misconception is people think if they lock their doors they will be ok.”
Locking your doors is not enough but the door itself is not typically the weak spot experts say.
Mike Cutler of Dearborn Heights has been a locksmith more than 50 years.
He says one of the biggest mistakes is using short screws in the door jamb to hold your dead bolt in place.
Mike Cutler: “All you have to do is kick the door, the screws will split out and everything goes flying.
Consumer Reports tested a solid wood door with the short screws and it didn’t hold. A metal door also did not hold. The door jamb split in both cases.
The key is to use three-inch screws that go into the two-by-four or main beam of your house. Better yet, a strike box and plate that hold the dead bolt in place.
Cutler says you put the three-inch screws into the strike box and into the frame. Then the strike plate is screwed in on top also with three-inch screws.
Cutler: “This will really hold back an awful lot of kicking.”
The strike box, plate and screws cost only about $10.
Also, to protect your home, if you have a sliding glass door, lodge a pole against it. Install good outdoor lighting high up so it can’t be easily disabled and keep valuables out of sight.
