How to Secure Your Sliding Glass Door

Most people love the natural light and views their sliding glass doors and French doors let in, but sometimes it’s those very views that make the doors unsafe. They offer a wide-ranging look into your home so anyone can see what you have and what might be worth taking. The problem is made worse by the fact that most sliding glass doors are in backyards where possible intruders can take their time casing out a house without anyone seeing.

A simple fix for this problem is covering your doors. Most people opt for long, vertical blinds because they can be easily opened and closed. However, these break easily—especially if you have pets or children. Other stylish options include sliding panels or shutters, which allow for opening and closing but aren’t as flimsy as vertical blinds.

Panels and shutters can get expensive pretty quickly, though. If you’re on a budget or have pets (or kids!) that can be destructive, consider using decorative window film. There are a million different varieties, but all of them will let in light while still obscuring an outsider’s view and protecting your home from unwanted eyes.

The strongest way to secure your sliding door is with a sliding door lock. These locks are installed at the top of your door where the stationary glass and the sliding glass door meet. These locks work in addition to the door locks and can only be opened by an adult or tall child. They make it impossible to jimmy the door open, from either the inside or the outside. Most of these locks come with two locking positions: one that will lock it completely closed and a second that will let you lock the door in place at either 3 or 6 inches open to allow for ventilation.

Installing these locks is more complicated than the other items on our list, but not by much.

1. Close your door all the way
2. Clean out the upper track on your sliding glass door
3. Position the lock in place and mark holes
4. Drill pilot holes
5. Secure the lock in place

Remember going to your grandma’s house and always having to pick up the dowel or broomstick she had lying in the track of the sliding glass door? She was doing her best to keep her home safe, but as any enterprising kid can figure out, if you jiggle the door hard enough, you can get it to jump the track or make the stick move. It’s not the perfect plan to keep a home secure, but it can work in a pinch.

One of the best ways to secure a sliding glass door is to keep it from sliding, and there are many varieties of security bars or “Charley bars” available that do just that. Security bars are typically placed in the track of your sliding glass door. Charley bars are placed further up the door and mounted with screws on at least one end, which allows for the bar to easily swing in and out of place. These can be great if you have small children who are likely to tamper with a security bar in the track. (Toddlers, we’re looking at you!)

The beauty of French doors isn’t just that they let in light but that they open wide for unobstructed views. But they can also pose unique challenges when it comes to security. Like sliding glass doors, the locking mechanism isn’t always the strongest and the amount of glass surrounding the lock makes it easy for a burglar to work around.

The best way to secure French doors is to literally stop the doors from opening with a security brace. A brace can withstand a lot of force and pressure, and it will keep the doors from opening by simply holding them in place. Even if the glass is broken and the doors are unlocked, a brace will hold them in a closed position.

Door braces come with two main parts and are another easy install. One part screws into the floor at the base of the doors. It should be centered across where the doors open and lie flush with the molding on the bottom of the door.

If you want to take things one step further, consider installing some form of electronic security. These options are usually less effective when it comes to stopping a break-in but are great at alerting you or the police to one.

Most of the electronic options are sensors that you put on your doors, and you can get door sensors that are part of a larger home security system. These monitors will alert you to intruders by sounding an alarm or by sending a notification to your phone.

You can buy independent monitors, or glass break detectors, for your sliding glass or French doors, too. Glass break sensors are easily installed directly on the door and will sound if the glass is smashed. They aren’t a good option for keeping your doors shut, but they’re great for letting you know when your doors are compromised.