Ask a homeowner where a burglar would enter, and most point to the front door. Ask a locksmith, and the answer is almost always somewhere else: the side door of the garage, or the patio slider around the back. These are the entries that stay out of sight, get the least attention, and carry the weakest hardware. Front doors get deadbolts and porch lights; the garage man-door often gets a builder-grade knob and nothing more. Key Fox Locksmith spends a lot of time upgrading exactly these overlooked doors across Ottawa.
Why the back of the house is the real target
Burglars prefer privacy. A door hidden from the street by a fence, a hedge, or the house itself lets someone work unseen. That is why the patio slider and the garage side door are so attractive. They combine low visibility with hardware that homeowners rarely think to upgrade. The result is a door that is both easy to reach and easy to defeat, which is the worst possible combination.
Recognizing the signs that your home is being sized up matters too. We cover the warning signals in our guide to the top signs a house has been soft-targeted before a break-in attempt, and many of those signals show up first around these hidden doors.
The garage man-door: a common weak link
The side or rear service door on an attached garage is one of the most under-secured entries in any Ottawa home. Once inside the garage, an intruder is out of sight entirely, often with tools at hand, and facing an interior door to the house that homeowners rarely lock. Two upgrades make an enormous difference: a proper grade deadbolt on the man-door itself, and treating the garage-to-house door as a genuine exterior entry with its own deadbolt.
The bolt is only half the story. A cheap strike plate on a thin jamb defeats even a good lock, which is why we always assess the surrounding frame. Our lock replacement service covers both the cylinder and the reinforcement needed to make it hold.
Patio sliders: more than a flimsy latch
Sliding patio doors ship with a latch that is closer to a convenience feature than a security lock. Left as-is, many can be jimmied or lifted out of the track entirely. Effective upgrades layer several simple defences: a secondary foot bolt or pin lock, an anti-lift device that stops the panel being levered from the track, and a bar or rod in the channel as a physical block. Together these turn a five-second bypass into a noisy, time-consuming problem that burglars avoid.
Glass is the obvious worry, but in practice most intruders prefer not to break glass because of the noise and the injury risk. They would rather slide a poorly secured panel quietly. Close that option and the door stops being an easy target.
The frame decides the outcome
Whether it is a garage door or a patio slider, the hardware is only as strong as what it anchors into. A bolt that throws into soft, shallow wood will tear free under force. This is the single most common weakness we find, and it is why we wrote about why door frames matter more for home security than the lock itself. Long screws into the stud, reinforced strike plates, and solid framing are what make an upgraded lock actually perform.
A whole-home approach
Securing one hidden door and ignoring the others just moves the weak point. Key Fox Locksmith looks at every entry, the front and back doors, the garage service door, the interior garage door, the patio slider, and any basement or side entrances, so there is no soft option left. Our practical, room-by-room thinking is laid out in our homeowner’s residential locksmith guide, and it is the same approach we bring to every assessment.
The goal is consistency. A burglar looking for the easy way in should find no easy way at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the garage man-door really a common entry point?
Yes. It offers privacy once opened and usually leads to an unlocked interior door. Securing both doors closes a path many homeowners never consider.
Can my existing patio slider be secured, or do I need a new door?
In most cases the existing door can be upgraded with pin locks, anti-lift devices, and a channel bar. Key Fox Locksmith can assess your specific door and recommend the right layered fix.
Should the door from the garage into the house have a deadbolt?
Definitely. Treat it as an exterior door, because once someone is in the garage, it is exactly that. A deadbolt here is one of the highest-value, lowest-cost upgrades in the home.
Do these upgrades work in Ottawa’s freeze-thaw cycles?
Yes, when installed correctly. Proper alignment accounts for seasonal door movement so bolts continue to seat cleanly year-round, which is a strong reason to have the work done professionally.
How do I know which of my doors is weakest?
The reliable way is an assessment. Key Fox Locksmith inspects every entry and tells you plainly where your home is most exposed and what to prioritize.
To secure the doors that matter most, call Key Fox Locksmith at (343) 800-5446. We serve homeowners across Ottawa, Kanata, Stittsville, Barrhaven, and the surrounding communities.
