Securing interior house doors

So come this September we'll be moving into our new house. All in all it's pretty good, except for one thing. The bedroom doors can only be locked from the inside.. So basically anybody can get into our bedrooms when we are not in.
The main concern here, is that if there's ever a break in, the contents of our bedroom are for the taking.. That mixed with a high rate of burglaries for the area, have us quite concerned for personal belongings.

So if anyone has any ideas on how to solve the issue with the doors, that'd be great

Reply 1

claireestelle

22

Original post by SmW97

So come this September we'll be moving into our new house. All in all it's pretty good, except for one thing. The bedroom doors can only be locked from the inside.. So basically anybody can get into our bedrooms when we are not in.
The main concern here, is that if there's ever a break in, the contents of our bedroom are for the taking.. That mixed with a high rate of burglaries for the area, have us quite concerned for personal belongings.

So if anyone has any ideas on how to solve the issue with the doors, that'd be great

speak to the landlord about getting a lock fitted?

Reply 2

Reality Check

22

Original post by SmW97

So come this September we'll be moving into our new house. All in all it's pretty good, except for one thing. The bedroom doors can only be locked from the inside.. So basically anybody can get into our bedrooms when we are not in.
The main concern here, is that if there's ever a break in, the contents of our bedroom are for the taking.. That mixed with a high rate of burglaries for the area, have us quite concerned for personal belongings.

So if anyone has any ideas on how to solve the issue with the doors, that'd be great

Do you have tenancy of the whole house - I presume so? If you have, then fitting a lock or something to the bedroom doors to attempt to prevent someone entering is futile. Once a burglar is in the house, he's not going to let some flimsy internal door lock prevent him from entering a room - and you can't fit a proper mortise lock on an internal door. So all you're going to do is end up risking more damage, as the burglar will shoulder barge or otherwise damage the internal door to gain entry.

The important thing is to prevent the burglar gaining access to the property in the first place - once he has, the battle is lost. Thus, make sure all doors and windows are secured when you're out, don't advertise your absence, and make sure there's window locks and 5-lever mortise deadlocks on all external doors. Also, don't leave stuff lying around outside that burglars can use to enter your property, such as ladders, gardening tools. Also consider securing or hiding your bins, as burglars can use these as climbing aids to access upper storey windows.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 3

jelly1000

21

Original post by Reality Check

Do you have tenancy of the whole house - I presume so? If you have, then fitting a lock or something to the bedroom doors to attempt to prevent someone entering is futile. Once a burglar is in the house, he's not going to let some flimsy internal door lock prevent him from entering a room - and you can't fit a proper mortise lock on an internal door. So all you're going to do is end up risking more damage, as the burglar will shoulder barge or otherwise damage the internal door to gain entry.

The important thing is to prevent the burglar gaining access to the property in the first place - once he has, the battle is lost. Thus, make sure all doors and windows are secured when you're out, don't advertise your absence, and make sure there's window locks and 5-lever mortise deadlocks on all external doors. Also, don't leave stuff lying around outside that burglars can use to enter your property, such as ladders, gardening tools. Also consider securing or hiding your bins, as burglars can use these as climbing aids to access upper storey windows.

Original post by SmW97

So come this September we'll be moving into our new house. All in all it's pretty good, except for one thing. The bedroom doors can only be locked from the inside.. So basically anybody can get into our bedrooms when we are not in.
The main concern here, is that if there's ever a break in, the contents of our bedroom are for the taking.. That mixed with a high rate of burglaries for the area, have us quite concerned for personal belongings.

So if anyone has any ideas on how to solve the issue with the doors, that'd be great

Realitychecks brilliant post has most bases covered, just to add another point is avoid leaving expensive gadgets in sight so away from windows.

Reply 4

Trinculo

21

You can't solve the issue with internal doors really. You should invest in a safe of some description. If you can get the others on board - you could jointly get a decent one and have it bolted to a floor or joist. If its just you, you may have to get a cheaper one - which won't stop a determined burglar who has tools, although if you put the shell of a cardboard box over it with "A-level notes" written on it, that may deter anyone from looking in it. Just be careful moving it obv as the big ones are dead heavy.

There's very little you can do in terms of burglary prevention in student houses, because students are generally so flaky and careless.

Reply 5

ThePricklyOne

18

Original post by SmW97

So come this September we'll be moving into our new house. All in all it's pretty good, except for one thing. The bedroom doors can only be locked from the inside.. So basically anybody can get into our bedrooms when we are not in.
The main concern here, is that if there's ever a break in, the contents of our bedroom are for the taking.. That mixed with a high rate of burglaries for the area, have us quite concerned for personal belongings.

So if anyone has any ideas on how to solve the issue with the doors, that'd be great

I've lived in one of these places. Place got burgled 2 weeks after I moved out. I don't agree with previous posters view that once burglar gets in, all is lost. The more locks you have, the more noise they have to make, and the more time they have to take to get your stuff.And burglars don't like spending too much time about - more chance of getting caught.

Your solutions are:

1) Move out.

2) Ask landlord to put in locks that require a key to open / lock from both sides. They would most likely say no, but if you don't ask you don't get so ask anyways.

3) Move all valuables into rented storage locker (you can hire one of these in most places), but hire one inside a locker shop not the ones in train stations etc. Keep your laptop/ phone etc in your bag and take this whenever you're not inside your room. Take it with you even if you're going to the loo.

4) Leave valuables at home and only have stuff in the house that you don't care about. Laptop etc as 3).

5) Keep expensive stuff in mates' house. I've kept other people's stuff in my flat, in exchange for them feeding me whenever they've got food. One time I had 3 x TVs, 1 laptop and someone's entire hentai collection.

Personally, I'd talk to the landlord first.

(edited 6 years ago)

Securing interior house doors

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