Mail slots are convenient, but intruders can also take advantage of them. Burglars are known to slip wires and cords to open front doors through vulnerable mail slots (or even a hand).1 With poor front doors and dark corners of the exterior of your house, other possible breaches may occur. What is a mail slot, after all, but a covered hole within your door?
Here are some tips about fortifying your mail slot and improving the rest of the protection of your home to keep thieves out.
It would be too simple for someone to put their hand to open a lock or to use a cable. Choosing a door with shatterproof glass is also crucial so that someone can't break their way into your house.
To avoid kicks and prying, the best safety doors are heavy and solid. To keep intruders out, you may also want to consider a screen door or a sliding door lock. It isn't too hard to install your new door, but if you want a very heavy door, you can find professionals in your area to help out.
You can do it in one of two ways when installing a new door: by calling a professional or doing it yourself. You can follow a step-by-step guide or watch a video if you want to try your hand at installing a new door on your own if you would rather do see than reading it.
To lower your chance of tempting an intruder, consider covering your mail slot. To cover it, you can go to the nearest hardware store and have a piece of thick metal cut and drill holes in your door or have someone cut a piece of wood to make a mail slot plug.
You should ensure that the inside and outside of the mail slot of your door are secured, no matter the method, so that criminals will not just pry it off from the outside and work their way in. By adding a layer of insulation between the plug or covers, make it weather-friendly and contribute to the heating and cooling efficiency of your home. When you're done, you can even get imaginative and find a pretty inlaid to glue on top to cover the plug.
Mail slots make holes that go against the grain in your door, compromising the quality of the door. When anyone wants to take advantage of the vulnerability of your door and kick it down, a second deadbolt will help to stop them from continuing.
Do three things if you plan to mount a second deadbolt: put it in a position that is not beyond the reach of the mail slot's arm, strengthen it so that burglars will not pop it out, and choose a model that has strong customer feedback.
You may be able to mount a second deadbolt yourself, depending on what your door is made of and the instruments you have on one hand. With easy tutorials, or by contacting an expert, you will find out how.
Today, there are many deadbolts to choose from, including locks with conventional keys to keypads with more advanced choices. With positive customer feedback and high safety requirements, pick a deadbolt.
For mail slots, there are hoods specifically made. These may help provide the same or better safety but are typically more costly, an air vent diverter. This is because, instead of plastic, mail slot hoods are mostly made of metal and have better material to discourage criminals.
This is a fast fix and something that you can do in minutes. You can tape a piece of cardboard, metal, or plastic over the inside of the slot if you don't have time to immediately patch your mail slot or burglar-proof your front door.
As the carrier won't be able to fit something through the slot, use anything sturdy like Gorilla Tape and make sure to put out a mailbox. It's not the sturdiest solution to use, but it'll do it in a snap.
With a home security system covering your door, one sure way to keep your home secure is. Smart locks will help safeguard against threats to your house. When someone is trying to stick their hands or items through the mail slot or cracks of your door, cameras with motion sensors near your door might pick up.
As soon as it picks up strange behavior around your door, a home security device with monitoring will help alert the authorities.
An independent motion detector or light from a motion sensor may be considered. The alarms can be loud, but when a larger object enters its field of vision, it can be configured to tone, so it won't have too many false alarms.
Your home's exterior is the first line of defense. It helps shield you from the outside world and your family and that security may be undermined by an unsecured mail slot. To fortify your home and keep burglars out, try any of these 6 tips.
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