Sliding glass doors are the type of door that people will install in their house for the sake of comfort, convenience, and peace of mind. With this door, you can view the outside scenery while lying back in the living room watching TV or playing with the kids. It will make you feel one with nature instead of feeling confined within the walls of your house. With this door, you can also breathe the clear air from the outside whenever you want, just by sliding it open.
However, there is one drawback that you need to deal with when you decide to have the sliding glass doors in your property. According to statistics, burglars like to target the houses with this type of door, which should give you more awareness about installing a good security system for your home. Here are 5 reasons why burglars like to target houses with sliding glass doors:
1. They Can See Exactly What They Want to Steal
Intruders might do some “reconnaissance missions” to determine whether your house is worth to target for their operation or not. They will do it in various ways, such as by inspecting your house from afar, taking photos of your property, doing some peeking toward the interior of your house, disguise themselves as social workers, and so on.
In the case of a house with sliding glass doors, they can easily determine whether your property will be their next target simply by looking at the valuable items that you have inside. This type of door will allow them to see through the house interior without having to get too close to it.
2. Many Owners Usually Left the Sliding Glass Doors Unlocked
A living room that has the glass doors usually made or designed to be a place of relaxation and comfort for the family members. So, the family members might feel quite at peace when they are relaxing in the living room while viewing the outside scenery, which usually makes them forgot about the security aspect of it. Therefore, many homeowners will usually leave the doors unlocked for various reasons, such as for letting the kids in and out of the house easily, keeping the good air circulation in the room, and so on.
It is why the intruders will like to target the house with sliding glass doors. It’s easy for them to get in and out of the house as well.
3. Lots of Shades to Hide Around
If you want to install the sliding glass doors in your living room, for instance, it is usually because you want to see the outside scenery. Thus, in the outside of this room, there will be many plants and shades that you put there to increase the beauty of the scenery, and probably, there will be a tree as well.
This type of layout provides lots of covers for burglars when they are trying to break into your house. Even if you have installed some security cameras, chances are they will be able to hide their movements during their home invasion at night.
4. It’s Easy to Break and Be Used as Entry Points
Unlike the regular wood doors with deadbolt locks, sliding glass doors are very vulnerable in terms of security because it is easy to break, and the latch is usually not strong enough. It is the reason why burglars usually use this as entry point to enter your house and start stealing your valuable items. Not only that, once they’ve entered your house, they can easily get away from your house with the stolen goods.
Unless you are burglar-proofing the glass materials, the intruders can break it without producing any loud sound with special equipment.
5. It’s Usually Located in the Back of the House
Homeowners usually install sliding glass doors as a passage to the backyard area, which is usually surrounded by high fences and plants. The backyard area is usually quite isolated in terms of its connection with the main streets and neighboring houses. So, intruders can easily access your property area through the backyard, break the sliding glass doors, and enter your house to steal your valuable items.
Again, your neighbors might not be able to notice anything because the backyard area itself is quite out of reach for them. So, this is one little detail that the burglars will use as their opportunity to burglarize your house, especially during the night.