TikTok is a great place to watch a funny video or learn a new cooking technique, but it is also a place where you can find simple do-it-yourself tips that can make your life easier, and in this particular case, safer.
In a quick video created by TikTok user Cathy Pedrayes, you can reinforce your front door with a simple, inexpensive, and easy DIY change.
"Take out the screws in the strike plate and replace them with screws that are 2.5- to 3-inches long," Pedrayes says. "This will reinforce your door, making it harder to kick down."
The strike plate is the part on the door jam into which the bolt of the lock slides. If you replace the screws on both your door knob and deadbolt plates, they will penetrate deeper into the joist surrounding the door and provide greater security.
If you aren't comfortable with using a power drill (which will greatly help screw in the longer screws), you can hire a handyman to do it for you, but most homeowners can use a drill bit to extend the current screw holes, and then switch to a bit that will secure the screw in place.
Many experts suggest you do this on all of your entry doors (front, back, side, basement, etc) and on garage side doors or tool sheds as well.
Odds are, you will never have a thief trying to kick in your door, but if you do, these longer screws will make the task much more difficult, and give you extra time to get out another door and call 911!