Indicators of Forced Entry Into Homes

When you come home from work and find that somebody has been in your home, you panic.  What makes this type of situation even more frightening is when you see no clear indications that a break-in occurred.  If you know that an unauthorized person has been in your home, but there is no visible door or window breakage, you should look for and consider the following things.

1.  Has your door been "credit-carded"?  The scenes you see in the movies are real when it comes to this type of illegal entry.  In fact, most home door locks can be "credit-carded."  This, however, is usually only true for the knob or lever lock and not the deadbolt.  However, most contractors are not installing deadbolts correctly.  Because they are not drilling out the deadbolt bolt hole in the frame, the deadbolts are not fully locking.  This means that a talented crook can slide something between the door and the jamb and push the bolt back.  Make sure your deadbolts are being fully locked into position when the bolts enter the jamb.  The hole should be at least one inch deep.
2. Check the painted jambs and weather stripping on the outside of your doors.  Is the paint scratched off?  If so, that means somebody has been trying to pry your locks open.  If you have any doubts, and if the damage looks old, repaint the door and jamb and check from time to time to see if any paint has been broken away by a potential burglar.
3. Check your roll up garage doors for any sign of prying. These can be pried up.  Then check the inside man door that lead from the garage to the kitchen area for signs of prying.
4. If you suspect that somebody is using a key to gain entrance into your home, re-key the locks immediately.