Safety comes before everything else
If you arrive home and see a broken window, a door standing open or signs that someone has been inside, do not walk in. The person responsible may still be there, and nothing in the house is worth the risk. Step away, get to a safe spot outside or at a neighbor's, and contact emergency services from there.
Wait for officers to clear the home before you enter. They will walk through, tell you when it is safe, and usually take a report. Resist the urge to touch things while you wait, because the entry point and any items that were handled can matter to the investigation.
A break in is stressful even when no one is hurt. Give yourself permission to be shaken, and ask someone you trust to stay with you. The practical work of repairing the lock and door will go better once the first wave of adrenaline has passed and you have had a moment to breathe.
If children or older relatives live with you, think about what they need to hear. Keep the explanation simple and honest, tell them the police have helped, and let them know that the locks are being fixed. Familiar routines such as meals and bedtime give everyone something steady to hold onto while the practical work goes on around them.
Leave the scene alone until it has been documented
Before you tidy up, photograph everything. Take wide shots of each room and close shots of the damaged door frame, the lock, the window latch or whatever the intruder used. Photos of missing items, open drawers and disturbed furniture support an insurance claim and help the police build a record.
Resist cleaning the broken glass or straightening the frame until the report is filed and you have your photographs. If the door cannot be closed safely in the meantime, tell the officer you need to secure the opening, and ask what they would like preserved. They can often tell you when it is acceptable to begin repairs.
Write a simple list as you go through the house. Note what is missing, what was moved, and anything that looks wrong even if you cannot explain why. Include small items such as spare keys, garage remotes, fobs and key cards. Those objects are easy to forget and matter a great deal for the lock decisions that follow.
Keep a folder, paper or digital, for everything connected to the event. The report number, the names of officers, photographs, repair estimates and receipts all belong there. Insurance companies and property managers tend to ask for the same details more than once, and having them in one place spares you from hunting through messages at a stressful time.
Understand how the intruder got in
The way someone entered tells you where to focus. Some break ins come through a door that was left unlocked or a window that was never latched. Others involve a forced door frame, a broken lock, a smashed pane beside a deadbolt or a garage entry door that gave way. The pattern points to what needs strengthening.
Damaged hardware is not always obvious. A frame can look intact while the wood around the strike plate is cracked, which means the next push will give way easily. A deadbolt can appear normal while its bolt is bent or its cylinder is loose. A locksmith can examine the whole opening and tell you what is still sound and what is not.
This is also the moment to be honest about habits that might have contributed. Hidden spare keys, doors that are left on the latch, sliding doors without a secondary stop, and garage remotes left in parked cars are all common. Naming them is not about blame. It is about closing the gaps while the motivation to fix them is at its highest.
Climate plays a quiet role in South Florida homes. Humidity swells wood frames, salt air corrodes thin latches, and older sliding doors often have tracks so worn that the panel can be lifted out. A locksmith who knows the local conditions can point out which weaknesses come from age and weather and which come from the break in itself.
Secure the opening right away
Once the police have finished, the first practical task is to make the home closeable and lockable. If the door was damaged, a temporary measure may be needed to keep it shut through the night, such as a properly installed board or bracing arranged by a professional. A broken window may need to be covered until a glass company can replace it.
Call a locksmith and describe what happened and where the entry point was. The work and the price are explained before it begins, and we can tell you whether the lock can be repaired or the whole assembly should be replaced. If the frame is split, a new lock alone will not restore security, so the frame has to be addressed too.
If you must stay in the home before everything is repaired, choose a room you can secure and keep your phone charged. Do not hesitate to stay somewhere else for a night if that feels safer. A calm night and a proper repair serve you better than an improvised fix that leaves you lying awake.
If you are not certain whether the door can hold through the night, say so when you call. We would rather talk through temporary options than have you guess. Describe the damage plainly, including whether the frame is split, whether the latch still extends, and whether the door still closes against the stop.
Assume your keys are no longer private
After a burglary, the most important lock question is who now has access. If any keys were taken, or if the intruder had time inside to take a spare from a drawer or a hook, then every lock those keys opened should be treated as compromised. The same applies if a garage remote or key fob went missing.
Rekeying changes the inside of the cylinder so old keys no longer work, without replacing the hardware itself. Our guide on how rekeying works explains the process in plain terms. For many homes it is the sensible response when the lock hardware is undamaged but the keys cannot be trusted.
If the lock itself was forced, rekeying is not enough because the parts are damaged. In that case replacement is the right answer, and it is a good moment to move up to stronger hardware. You can read more in our article on lost keys and whether to rekey or replace, which walks through the same decision from a slightly different starting point.
Think through the less obvious keys as well. Cleaners, dog walkers, relatives and former tenants may hold copies, and a break in is a natural moment to ask who still needs access. Rekeying lets you decide that afresh, issuing new keys only to the people who should have them going forward.
Choose hardware that addresses the real weakness
Not all locks resist force equally. A basic deadbolt with a short bolt and a soft strike can be defeated by a good kick, while a better built deadbolt with a reinforced strike and long screws into the framing makes the whole door much tougher. The strike plate and the screws are often the real difference.
Door construction matters as well. A hollow door or one with a weakened edge may not hold hardware securely even if the lock is excellent. Our article on deadbolt grades helps you understand what the ratings mean, and the piece on whether your locks are good enough offers a way to judge your current setup honestly.
Think about secondary protection too. A door viewer, a wide angle peephole or a secondary lock gives you more control over who enters. Our page on door viewers and secondary locks covers the options, which are especially useful for people who now feel uneasy answering the door.
Condos and townhomes add a wrinkle because exterior doors and frames may belong to an association even when the interior hardware is yours. Before replacing a door, ask the association what is allowed. Requirements differ between communities, and getting approval first avoids having to redo work that does not match the building.
- Reinforce the strike plate and use long screws that reach the framing.
- Replace damaged cylinders and bent bolts rather than patching them.
- Add a secondary lock to sliding doors so they cannot be lifted or forced.
- Consider a door viewer so you can see who is outside before opening.
- Check that every window latch closes fully and holds.
Do not forget the garage and side entrances
Burglars frequently choose the entrance that looks least visible from the street. That might be a side door, a back patio slider, or the door between the garage and the house. People tend to secure the front door carefully and treat those other openings as an afterthought.
The garage entry door is a particular weak spot because it is often a lighter door with a basic lock, and the garage itself may be left open while people come and go. Our article on garage entry door security explains why this door deserves the same attention as your front door.
Walk the whole perimeter after the break in and treat every opening as if it were the one used. Try each door from the outside after you lock it, check each window, and look at any gate latches or storage shed locks. A weak point you find now costs less than the one you discover later.
Consider where valuables are kept
Many thieves go straight to the bedroom, the closet and the desk because that is where people keep small valuables. If your household stored jewelry, documents, cash or electronics in obvious places, it may be time to rethink where those things live. A properly anchored safe changes the equation by keeping the most important items out of easy reach.
Safes vary in quality, and anchoring matters as much as the body. A light safe that can be carried away protects very little, while a secured one forces an intruder to spend time and make noise. Our home safe buying guide explains what to look for, and if you already own one that was tampered with, our safe opening service can help you get back inside.
It is worth separating items that need protection from fire and water from items that need protection from theft. Passports, deeds and backup drives often belong in a different place than jewelry. Spreading valuables across more than one location is a sensible way to reduce the damage from a single event.
Documentation of your valuables also helps. Photograph serial numbers and keep receipts for significant items in a place that is not the same as where the items are stored. After a burglary, a clear record makes the insurance conversation and any police follow up much easier to handle.
Smart locks and alarms as part of the rebuild
After a break in, many people want to know more about what is happening at their doors. A smart lock can let you issue and cancel access codes without handing out physical keys, which is helpful if you share the home with family, a caregiver or a cleaner. It can also provide a record of when the door was used, depending on the model.
Smart locks are not a cure all, and they should sit on top of a solid door, frame and strike rather than replace them. They also need good batteries and regular attention. Choose a model that fits your door, and have it installed correctly, because poor alignment turns a convenient device into an irritation.
Alarms, cameras and lighting contribute to deterrence, but they work well when the physical barrier is already strong. A visible camera beside a weak door tells an intruder only that you tried to notice them, not that you made entry difficult. Build from the door outward, then add the electronics that suit your home.
Think about who in the household needs access and how. Code based entry can suit families with teenagers or visiting helpers, while a physical key still suits people who dislike technology. A mixed approach, with a keyed deadbolt and a code option, gives flexibility without relying on a single method.
Recovering your own sense of security
The lock work is only part of recovery. Many people feel uneasy in their own home for weeks, hearing every noise and checking doors repeatedly. This is a normal reaction, and it tends to ease as the home becomes visibly more secure and routines return. Letting the repairs be thorough often helps your mind settle.
Talk to the people you live with about new habits. Agree on who locks which doors, how spare keys are handled, and what to do when someone arrives home late. Small agreements prevent the drift back to old habits, and they reassure children and older relatives who may have felt the event deeply.
If your property is a rental or condo, tell the landlord or association what happened and ask what they require or allow for lock changes. Rules vary, so check your lease and governing documents before altering exterior hardware. This page is general guidance for Broward County residents, and a call to us can help sort out the practical steps. For a broader look at our work, see our house lockout and rekey service.
A short order of operations to keep nearby
When you are overwhelmed, a simple order helps. First, get to safety and contact emergency services. Second, wait for officers to clear the home and file a report. Third, photograph the scene and list what is missing. Fourth, secure the opening temporarily and call a locksmith. Fifth, decide between repair, rekey or replacement based on what happened to the keys and the hardware.
After that, address secondary entrances, strengthen the weakest points, and rethink where valuables are stored. Notify your insurer with your photographs and list, and keep every receipt related to repairs. Finally, set new household habits so the improvements last.
None of this has to be done in a single day. What matters is that the entry point is secured immediately and the keys are dealt with promptly, because those two items carry the most risk. The rest can proceed at a pace you can manage, with support from people you trust and tradespeople who explain the work before they begin.