State Farm Insurance - Opinion On Best Door Locks

I read with interest an article (in the website listed in the source below), offering an opinion about the quality of various types of door locks and systems that enable better security in residential applications.

From the site...

Door Locks From a Burglar's Perspective

Burglars prefer to break into a home through a door because it is quick and easy.

A good quality lock is a deterrent. When intruders are interviewed about the selection of a target, many say seeing quality deadbolt locks will cause them to move on to another house.

A burglar can enter the home through a door using several methods:

• The door can be left unlocked.
• Doors can be kicked in.
• Door locks can be picked.
• Door locks can be hammered until they fall off.
• Doors can be pried open.
• Door frames can be spread apart with a spreader bar.
• Door locks can be "drilled out" using a power drill.
• Locks can be pried off with pipe wrenches or pliers.
• Panes of glass in or beside doors can be broken so the intruder can reach in and unlock the lock.
• Sometimes thieves obtain a copy of the house key from an acquaintance.

Remember, the intruder will select the door that looks easiest to break into and that offers the least chance of being seen.

Doors going into the garage and going from an attached garage into the house many times offer an intruder the opportunity to hide from view while they are breaking in. Extra thought should go into the security at these locations.

According to a study by the California Crime Technological Research Foundation, the most common techniques used by burglars to enter single-family homes are (from most often used to least often used):

32.00% Through unlocked window or door

26.64% Forced entry by impacts

24.02% Prying or jimmying

6.79% Use of pass key or picking the lock

5.10% Entry attempted, but failed

5.45% Other or unknown₁

Learn more about how to protect your home from intruders.

Tips:

1.) Install locks with deadbolts.

In residential construction there are basically two types of bolts used on exterior doors: latch bolts and deadbolts. Some locks combine the two bolts into one.

2.) Install locks with an ANSI Grade 1 classification.

There is a grading system that measures the security and durability of door locks. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has standards, developed and maintained by The Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association Inc. (BHMA), that comparatively measure the security and durability performance of door locks.

Not all Grade 1 locks are equal. Different types of door locks are tested differently under ANSI standards. But the grade designation system is the same.

3.) Install locks with key control.

Key control is simply controlling who has copies of keys to your home. Many door keys can be copied at a local hardware or retail store. However, many manufacturers now offer locks using keys that cannot be copied except by certain locksmiths or only by the manufacturer themselves.

There are burglaries where the unlawful entry can be traced back to a key that was either knowingly or unwittingly provided to the burglar.

Key control can help protect your from the following scenarios:

• In-home help has been fired or quit, but they made their own copy of your house key.
• In-home help may have acquaintances who burglarize homes; they might try to acquire a key through them
• Mechanics may try to make copies of your house key while working on your car.

Key control may require extra effort, such as a letter to the lock manufacturer or a trip to the locksmith to get a key made. Also, there is an additional cost due to record keeping by the manufacturer or locksmith (between $10 and $50 per key). The additional cost and inconvenience should be weighed against the security benefits.

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Our company, Master Key Systems America LLC - St Louis Locksmiths, has been providing unique and secure physical security products and services, to the greater Saint Louis region since 2006. We spent many of the last 25 years honing our skills in many and varied locations around the world.

We use and recommend Bilock Extreme Security products as our preferred key control product. Our systems have been installed in various discerning businesses and households across the Saint Louis region, requested by customers who understand that the security and protection of their properties, families and colleagues is of top priorty.

We also use, sell and recommend the Strikemaster II Pro door frame casing strengthener as the most competitively priced, secure, long lasting product that effectively repairs broken door frames and prevents future door kick-ins.

Our Keyed Pocket Door Locks are the most competitively priced option on the market. They are especially designed to replace the more common pocket door hardware products found today, with very little modification.

State Farm Insurance is one of the leading insurance companies in the USA. Their recommendations in regard to security products for doors, above shows that our unique selling positions (our products), meet or exceed their recommended solutions.