The door is your home’s first line of defense, so make the most of it with these suggestions:

1. Make sure it’s solid. Some track homes are built with flimsy, hollow doors, which look pretty, but are easily kicked in. Your exterior doors should be made of solid fiberglass, solid wood, veneer over a solid wood core, or reinforced metal. A metal door should have a lock-block inside, to prevent it from being jimmied away from the frame.

2. If you are in the process of building, find out if you can install your exterior doors and frames so that the doors swing outward. This makes it much harder to open by force.

3. Remove and replace doors that contain glass windows, or reinforce the glass with a metal security grate. These grates come in many decorative patterns, so your home doesn’t have to look like a prison.

4. Don’t install windows within two feet of an exterior door, if you are building. If you have windows close to the front door, consider adding a polycarbonate panel behind the outside pane.

5. Inspect your door frames, jambs, hinges, and hardware. Be sure all plates and hinges are secured to a stud, not just the frame. And check periodically for signs of wear, corrosion, and wood rot. A door is only as strong as the frame that holds it.

6. Lock your door. A shocking number of daytime burglars simply walk in through the front door, because the owners left it unlocked. Don’t be easy pickings.