The primary access points to any home, from the smallest cottage to the largest mansion, are the doors and windows. Keeping the doors and windows secure, therefore, is one of the most vital aspects of home security. Fortunately, there are many steps that can be taken, from the simplest to the most sophisticated, to keep the entry points to the home safe and secure.

The defenses for windows can range all the way from locking shutters to bars, on the window, and what you need will of course depend on the nature of your home and the nature of the neighborhood in which you live.

Once the windows are secured, it is time to take a hard look at the doors on your home. It is of course essential to have a good strong locking system on every door in the home, including doors that you do not regularly use. Installing deadbolt locks on every exterior door is an important part of any plan for home security. Of course it is important to keep the doors locked at night, as no lock, no matter how expensive or sophisticated, will work without the assistance of the homeowner.

The strength of the doors is an important consideration as well. Even the most expensive locks will do no good if the door can be opened with a few good kicks, and many modern doors are indeed that weak. It is important to use security doors that are designed to be kick-proof, and to improve the strength of the door frames if needed as well. Often reinforcing the existing doors and door frames is a more cost effective alternative to installing expensive security doors.

Another good security measure is to replace the glass that game with the door with stronger reinforced glass. This reinforced glass is very difficult to break. A cheaper alternative is to use Plexiglas, but Plexiglas, though very strong and hard to break, is easy to scratch and not very attractive to look at.

Homes with sliding doors are a different challenge altogether, and glass sliding doors can be quite difficult to secure. The glass in most sliding doors is quite easy to break, and stronger security glass can be prohibitively expensive and too heavy to use. Plexiglas can be a lighter and stronger alternative, but again it tends to scratch easily. One of the most low tech yet also most effective methods for securing sliding doors is to simply place a broom or a metal bar in the inside floor track of the sliding door. This simple security measure makes it impossible to open the sliding door from the outside without breaking the glass. While this may not stop a determined thief, most burglars will want to avoid the telltale sound of broken glass, and will simply move on to an easier target.

Brooke Sikula is a freelance writer based in Ventura, CA and writes on a wide range of topics from home improvement to credit repair and everything in between. She is a regular contributor to http://www.home-improvement4u.com and http://www.get-home-improvement.com For more information and advice on home security, check out http://www.home-security4u.com