10 Home Security Tips That Actually Work

There's no shortage of home security advice on the internet. Most of it is either obvious, expensive, or focused on technology that responds to a break-in rather than preventing one.

This list is different. Every tip here is practical, affordable, and focused on the entry points where break-ins actually happen.

1. Upgrade your strike plates

The strike plate is the metal piece on your doorframe that the deadbolt slides into. Most residential strike plates come with ¾-inch screws that only reach the door trim, not the wall studs behind it. Replace them with heavy-duty strike plates and 3-inch screws. This single upgrade dramatically increases kick resistance on any door.

2. Audit your double doors

If you have double doors anywhere in your home, check whether your passive door (the stationary one) has functional flush bolts at the top and bottom. If those bolts are loose, short, or missing entirely, your double door setup is relying entirely on the center latch to hold both panels. That's not enough.

3. Add secondary reinforcement to double doors

A deadbolt secures one panel to a frame. It doesn't address the flex point where both panels meet. The Aries Double Door Guard bridges both door knobs simultaneously, eliminating the center-seam vulnerability and distributing force across the full width of both doors. It requires no tools, no drilling, and stores in place when not in use.

4. Replace hollow-core exterior doors

Many builder-grade homes ship with hollow-core doors on secondary entries. Hollow-core doors offer almost no resistance to forced entry. If yours are hollow, replacing them with solid-core wood or steel doors is one of the highest-impact upgrades you can make.

5. Secure sliding glass doors

Sliding doors can often be lifted off their tracks from the outside, bypassing the lock entirely. Place a cut-down wooden dowel or metal security bar in the track to prevent sliding, and add an anti-lift device to prevent the door from being lifted. Both fixes cost under $20.

6. Add motion-activated exterior lighting

Darkness is a burglar's ally. Motion-activated lights at all entry points eliminate the cover that makes a low-visibility entry attempt feasible. Solar-powered options make installation straightforward even without nearby outlets.

7. Don't advertise your absence

Piled-up mail, an unlit house for multiple nights in a row, and social media posts about being on vacation are all signals that a home is unoccupied. Use light timers to simulate occupancy, ask a neighbor to collect mail, and hold off on the vacation posts until you're home.

8. Secure your garage

The garage is one of the most overlooked entry points in home security. If your garage has a door leading into your home, treat it like an exterior door: solid core, deadbolted, with a reinforced strike plate. If you use a keypad, use a code that isn't your address, birthday, or anything guessable.

9. Trim landscaping near entry points

Overgrown shrubs near doors and windows provide cover for someone attempting a break-in. Keep plantings near entry points low enough that there's no place to hide, or switch to thorny varieties (roses, holly, hawthorn) that discourage anyone from lingering.

10. Think like a burglar

Walk around your home and ask: if I were locked out, how would I get in? Whatever answer you come up with, that's your vulnerability. The goal isn't a perfect fortress. It's making your home demonstrably harder to enter than the next one.

Most break-ins are crimes of opportunity. Remove the opportunity, and you remove the risk.