Most homeowners assume their uPVC door is secure. After all, it looks solid, it locks, and it’s been there for years. But looks can be deceiving — and burglars know exactly how to exploit the gap between appearance and reality.
According to data from the Office for National Statistics, 70% of UK burglaries involve entry through a door, not a window, not a back gate. Your front or rear door is the single most targeted point of entry in your home. And in England and Wales in 2024/25, there were 166,577 home burglaries recorded — that’s one every 189 seconds.
What makes this more alarming: someone is at home in nearly 7 out of 10 burglary incidents. This is not a crime that happens only while you’re on holiday. It happens while you’re watching television, cooking dinner, or asleep upstairs.
The question isn’t whether burglars target doors. They do. The question is whether yours is giving them an easy way in.
Lock to door stiff or jamming - we can re-align! This important task ensures long-term functionality and performance, preserving energy efficiency and security.
Misalignment leads to difficulty in opening or closing, drafts, and security concerns. We can re-align, fit new handle locks, and replace gaskets and seals.
Extend the life of your locks, doors & windows. Servicing helps identify and address potential problems before they escalate into situations where you're locked out of your home or business.
uPVC doors are fitted with euro cylinder locks as standard. They’re convenient, they’re common — and for many years, they’ve been a burglar’s easiest route into a home.
The technique is called lock snapping. It requires no specialist knowledge, no lockpicking skill, and no expensive tools. Using pliers, a screwdriver, or even a hammer, a burglar can snap a standard euro cylinder in as little as 15 to 30 seconds— often silently, often in broad daylight. Once the cylinder is snapped, the door opens with a simple screwdriver. All your other security measures — bolts, chains, alarms — become useless in an instant.
Police estimate that around 22 million doors across the UK may be vulnerable to this technique. Research from the Master Locksmiths Association found that lock snapping was involved in over 8% of all burglaries — and in some areas of the UK, West Yorkshire Police have recorded the figure as high as 25% of all break-ins in their region.
And once a burglar is in? The chances of justice are slim. The Home Office reports that only 4.3% of residential burglaries result in a charge or summons. In the vast majority of cases, the criminal simply walks away.
The most effective defence isn’t an alarm. It’s a door that can’t be defeated in seconds.
A uPVC door that sticks, drags, or doesn’t close cleanly isn’t just a nuisance — it’s a security failure waiting to happen.
When a uPVC door falls out of alignment (which happens naturally over time due to settling, temperature changes, and wear), several problems develop simultaneously:
A door that’s slightly stiff today can become a door that won’t lock properly tomorrow. Don’t wait for a lockout or a break-in to find out your door has been failing you.
D & C Locksmiths carry out professional uPVC door re-alignment across Stevenage and Hertfordshire, restoring full multipoint lock engagement, eliminating frame gaps, and ensuring your door performs as it should — in every season.
We specialise in uPVC door repair and security upgrades for homeowners across Stevenage, Welwyn, Luton, St Albans and Cambridge. Every job is carried out by a DBS-checked, professionally trained locksmith — with no call-out fee and a full parts and labour guarantee.
uPVC Door Re-alignment We restore your door to perfect alignment, ensuring all locking points engage correctly and the frame seals fully. This resolves sticking, dragging and gaps — and brings your lock back to full working security.
Lock Cylinder Upgrades If your door still has a standard euro cylinder, you’re at risk. We recommend and fit SS312 Diamond-rated or TS007 3-star anti-snap cylinders — the highest independently-tested standards available. These locks feature a built-in sacrificial snap line: if a burglar attempts to snap it, the outer section breaks away while the internal mechanism stays locked. Your door remains secure.
Full Security Assessment Not sure how vulnerable your door is? We offer free site surveys across Stevenage and Hertfordshire. We’ll check your cylinder, alignment, handle security and frame integrity — and give you an honest, no-obligation assessment.
A stiff door, a worn cylinder, or a misaligned frame can be the difference between a secure home and a break-in that happens in under a minute. D & C Locksmiths can assess, repair and upgrade your uPVC door — usually on the same day.
