Are your PVCu doors up to it?

I received this email from a gentleman called Ian one hour ago bringing my attention to a particular weakness he has discovered with his standard PVCu doorset.

Here’s Ian’s message:

Re UPVC door security

Recently I had a break in through my standard half-glazed UPVC kitchen back door; by two youngsters.

They simply pushed against the bottom of the door on the hinge side. The bottom mitre joint of the door split open, which allowed the bottom panel of the door to be easily pushed in! There was no damage; [not] even a scuff mark, on any part of the door or frame, so no real force was needed to gain entry.

Obviously [this] shows that there is no real reinforcement between the sides and bottom of the door, which completely nullifies all security measures regarding good locks and hinges.

I replied to Ian straightaway, offering advice and comment, and agreed with his sentiment entirely stating that a door is only as strong as its weakest point.  I suggested that he might want to look at replacing the door with one that is certificated to the enhanced security standard of PAS 24, because at least we know that these doors are tested to resist the type of forces that Ian’s door experienced.

Given sufficient time any door can be forced open, but the important consideration here is ‘time’. The more you can delay a forced entry the greater the likelihood of discovery or abandonment. Also, while reflecting on Ian’s comment about a weakness in the door nullifying an otherwise good door lock, it struck me to remind you that it is important to recognise that a good standard of home security can only be achieved if all crime prevention techniques have been incorporated and used at the same time – an intruder alarm, timed internal and external lights, a good standard of security for all accessible doors and windows, marked property, a domestic safe and so on.

The New Year is fast approaching and I always suggest to my readers that once the festivities are out of the way January is a good time to start planning your home security improvements. However, when you start to add up the costs of home security you will discover that it doesn’t come that cheap. Yes, there are cheap and no cost things you can do and should already be doing, but if you are thinking about upgrading your windows and doors, installing an alarm, putting in new external lighting and buying a safe then you will soon be into the thousands of pounds. That’s why planning and priority setting is important.

I’ve no doubt that Ian’s already making changes to his home security and maybe now is the time for you to take a serious look at your own UPVC doors!

If you want a ‘starter-for-ten’ complete my confidential and free Home Security Survey on this website – you know it makes sense!