Deadbolts are the Best Locks for Securing your Home

If you’ve been looking to buy the right locks for your household, you’ll soon discover that there’s a virtually endless selection of locks for you to choose from. We all want our home to be safe and sound ~ a place of sanctuary where we can completely relax and be ourselves. When it comes to choosing which locks will most effectively provide the very dependable security needed, any locksmith expert will tell you that deadbolts are a highly successful way to keep your place secure and safe, at a reasonable cost. Overall, residential locksmith professionals agree that deadbolts are the finest locks you can have in your home.

There are numerous kinds of deadbolts. Residential locksmith specialists worth their salt recommend that you install them on all your outside doors. The reason they’re referred to as “dead” is because they do not have springs to operate the bolt. In other words, a deadbolt is operated manually, using a key or a thumbturn.

Four of the most familiar deadbolt locks:

The most well-known deadbolts are: single-cylinder, double-cylinder, lockable thumbturn, and jimmy-proof.

1  A single-cylinder deadbolt lock is the basic deadbolt lock that normally comes to mind when we think of a deadbolt. Used for a solid wooden or metal door, there’s a key cylinder installed on the outside, and a thumbturn on the inside to open and close it. The one shortcoming to a single-cylinder deadbolt is that if there’s any possibility for access to the inside (through a window close by, or even using the peephole), then your door can be opened by an intruder with the thumbturn.

2  One way to remedy this disadvantage is the double-cylinder deadbolt, which has a key cylinder on the inside of the door as well as on the outside. This means that if the door is locked, a key is required to open it from the inside. A double-cylinder deadbolt is ideal if your door has any glass as part of it, or if there is a window near your door, because it prevents a thief from breaking the glass and reaching in to unlock it; but the drawback is that in order to provide security in case of fire, you must always leave a key on the inside that’s accessible to those who are home. That way, in case of an emergency, everyone will be able to leave quickly and safely.

3  The lockable thumbturn deadbolt is the deadbolt that gives you optimum security and flexibility. It’s essentially the perfect combination of the single-cylinder and the double-cylinder deadbolt. The way it functions is that it has a thumbturn on the inside, which works like a single-cylinder deadbolt; yet it can also be locked with a key, so that it cannot unlock or lock the door. This means that the thumbturn can be left in an unlocked position when you’re home, but it will operate just like a single-cylinder deadbolt. When the family is away, particularly for a long time, the thumbturn can be easily locked, so that even if a robber gains access to your door from the inside, the deadbolt cannot be unlocked.

4  A jimmy-proof deadbolt is a surface-mount lock often found on double doors, most commonly at apartment buildings. A surface-mount lock means that you screw the lock into the inside of the door, rather than with an intricate drill pattern, the way a traditional deadbolt does. A jimmy-proof deadbolt is popular because it requires minimal modifications to the door. In this style of deadbolt lock, the deadbolt interlocks with the jamb bracket, keeping it from being pulled apart or from being forced open from the outside.

Additional viable deadbolt locks:

In addition to these four no-nonsense deadbolt options, there are also five more kinds of excellent deadbolts, which expert residential locksmith technicians will typically advise you to purchase: vertical, mortise, rim, keyless, and digital.

  • A vertical deadbolt is bolted on the top inside face of the door, making it impossible for a burglar to pry it open by sticking a bar between the frame and the door (which can be done on some horizontal deadbolts by an experienced criminal).
  • A mortise deadbolt lock is a conventional lock you can install in a mortise or in a recess pocket, cut in the door’s edge, making it very difficult for anyone to tamper with it. This lock is durable and tough. One downside is that, because you have to penetrate the door frame to make the hole, it may slightly weaken the structure of the door itself.
  • A rim deadbolt is also bolted to the inside face of the door, but its advantage is that it locks automatically behind you whenever you shut the door. That way, you won’t forget to lock it. Both the vertical and the rim deadbolt are relatively effortless to install. One minor issue with both the rim deadbolt and the vertical deadbolt is that they’re somewhat inelegant, and thus not as pleasing to look at as a standard deadbolt.
  • A keyless deadbolt also mounts on the inside of the door, but instead of a keyhole, you use a keypad. Rather than putting in a key, you enter a code. You won’t ever have to be concerned about losing your key again, or stressing over your key possibly being stolen. Furthermore, for exceptional security, you can change your code as often as you wish.
  • A digital deadbolt is like a keyless deadbolt, with a keypad instead of a keyhole. It’s different in that a digital deadbolt requires electricity or batteries in order to function. With a digital deadbolt, you must make sure you periodically check on the power level. Always keep the batteries charged, in case of a power outage!

To find just the right deadbolts for your home’s needs, bring your questions to a reputable local locksmith you can trust. If you’re located in Bolingbrook, Illinois, it would be a good idea to hire a staff mobile residential locksmith expert at Fast & Secure Locksmith.

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