How Difficult Is It to Pick a Deadbolt Lock?

Easier than you think. As YouTube has proven, even little kids can pick a lock. Make sure that your deadbolt isn't dead-easy to crack open. The DIY experts at Stack Exchange offer answers on keeping your deadbolt locked tight.

I wonder how secure my deadbolt lock is.

How difficult is it for a professional to open such a lock?

— Originally asked by TCL

Any lock can be opened. The questions are:

- How long will it take?
- How much skill is required?
- What tools are needed?

Depending on the particular deadbolt, it will be somewhere between trivial and moderately difficult. At some point, anyone who wants to get in will just move to the windows or other weak points.

— Answered by KeithB

In general, a professional is going to be able to open anything you have, because that's what they do all day. The reality though is that with the exception of high security locks like Medeco, it doesn't even take a professional to open them. But you ask about a deadlock, so let me provide some background...

A deadbolt is more about resisting kicking open or using a credit card to slide in and raise the bolt. It's not so much about being harder to pick, as the lock mechanism in it is going to be extremely similar to a normal door handle lock.

The things that really matter in a normal (not a high-security lock) are how tight the tolerances are, and how many pins. For example, the 6 pin Kwikset Titans (aka UltraMax) are quite a bit harder to pick than the 5 pin regular Kwiksets, and a Schlage 5 pin is harder than a Kiwkset 5 pin. But they both are dramatically easier to pick than a Medeco which has additional features to make it much harder to pick.

However, bump keys can make most traditional locks quite easy to open. And anyone who has time and space to drill can get in to pretty much anything. And don't forget: putting a strong lock next to a window may just mean the window gets broken.

One thing you may want to consider is putting a high security lock on your house may advertise to thieves that you have something you particularly want to protect.

— Answered by Sean Reifschneider

A couple of tips for making it harder to pick a lock:

- Keep the lock well lubricated. This prevents some of the pins from becoming stuck at the shear line (meaning that they are effectively already picked).

- Install the lock upside down, so the jaggy side of the key goes in facing down instead of up. A locksmith friend of mine said he found they are harder to pick upside down, and my experience is the same.

Beyond getting a better lock (higher quality, more pins, higher security design), these may be alternatives for slowing someone down.

— Answered by mohlsen

Illustration by Sean Gallagher.

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