Example video title will go here for this video

INDIANAPOLIS — Home security is important to all of us. 

Sunday on 13Sunrise, Pat from Sullivan Hardware and Garden said many of our homes are less secure than we think.

That's because deadbolt lock kits for exterior doors come with standard installation screws that are often too short to reach into the solid wood studs around a door frame, and can easily be kicked in.

A simple upgrade that costs less than a dollar and takes about ten minutes can make your exterior doors more secure.

Pat said by simply replacing the original screws that attach the metal strike plate in a door frame with longer screws that extend through the 1 inch door casing and into the solid 2 X 4 wood stud behind the casing, you increase the difficulty for an intruder who is trying to kick in that door.

If the door has a glass window, an intruder can break the glass and reach inside to unlock the deadbolt. Because of this, Pat also recommended installing a double cylinder bolt that requires a key to unlock the bolt from both sides of the door. The caveat to double cylinder locks is making sure everybody in the house knows where the key is stored in case they need to unlock the deadbolt in an emergency and not get locked in the house.

Pat also showed a longer metal strike plate that uses six long screws instead of the standard two to further fortify an exterior door lock.

Watch Pat's full Sunrise segment in the video player.

Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings.