This is the single most common failure in Australian homes and the cheapest to fix.

Open each external door and look at the strike plate in the frame — the metal plate the bolt engages. Remove one screw and measure it. If it is around twenty five to thirty millimetres, it is gripping only the thin timber of the door jamb and nothing structural. A single determined kick pulls it straight through.



The fix is a heavy-gauge strike plate with screws of seventy five millimetres or longer, reaching through the jamb into the stud behind it. The cost is a few dollars per door in materials, and it transforms kick resistance more than any lock upgrade.

Does every external door deadlock?

A door held only by a spring latch can be slipped open in seconds with a thin flexible tool. This includes laundry doors, side doors, and the connecting door from an attached garage, all of which are frequently latch-only.

Is the deadbolt actually being used?

A deadlock that nobody throws is decorative. If the household habitually pulls the door shut on the latch, the hardware is not delivering what it was fitted for.

Does the bolt throw fully?

Throw each deadbolt with the door closed. If it needs force, catches, or does not extend fully, the alignment has shifted and the bolt is not engaging as designed.

Look at each external cylinder from outside. **Does it protrude beyond the door furniture?** A euro cylinder standing more than a few millimetres proud can be gripped and snapped. It should sit flush or slightly recessed.

Do you know whether the cylinders have security features?

Anti-pick, anti-bump, and anti-drill are specific, testable features that many standard cylinders lack entirely. If the hardware predates roughly 2010 or came with a builder's spec, assume it does not have them.

Walk each external door and note **any glazed panel within arm's reach of an internal handle or thumb turn.** Breaking a small pane and reaching through bypasses the lock completely, regardless of its quality. Laminated glass or retrofit security film addresses this at modest cost.

The same applies to windows immediately beside doors and to sidelights.

Ground floor windows out of public view

are the priority. Standard window latches are privacy hardware rather than security hardware. Keyed window locks, restrictor stays, or a simple track pin on sliding windows all raise the effort required substantially.

Windows reachable from garden structures

— a garage roof, a pergola, a wall, a bin — should be treated as ground floor windows.

Remember that any window designated as a fire escape must remain openable from inside without a key.

This is the test most homes fail and the one that has nothing to do with hardware.



List every working key to your home and who holds it. Include adult children who have moved out, former housemates, tradespeople given access during works, cleaners, and anyone who has house-sat. If you cannot account for every key, or if anyone on the list no longer needs access, your access control has already failed regardless of how good the locks are.

Rekeying resolves it. It is inexpensive, takes under an hour for a typical home, and resets the count to a known number.

Side gates

grant access to every rear entry point, which is where break-ins concentrate. A gate with a simple latch is not a barrier.

Sightlines.

Planting that screens a front door or ground floor window from the street provides cover to anyone working on it.

Lighting.

Sensor lighting on rear and side approaches removes the darkness that cover depends on.

Contact True Locksmith on  0421-767-767   for lock repair and replacement across Bayside Melbourne. Neale assesses the fault before recommending an approach and will tell you plainly when a repair is the better value and when it is not. Over 30 years of experience. MLAA member and VIC Police registered. Serving Sandringham, Brighton, Brighton East, North Brighton, Beaumaris, Bentleigh, Black Rock, Caulfield, Cheltenham, Hampton, Highett, McKinnon, Mentone, Moorabbin, Mordialloc, and Parkdale.