Most break-ins don’t happen the way you imagine. Here’s where your home is vulnerable – and what to do about it.
There’s a version of a break-in that lives in most people’s heads: a kicked-in front door, a smashed window, something dramatic and obvious. The reality is far less cinematic and far more preventable.
According to a 2025 survey, windows are the most common entry point for burglars in Australia, used in around 31% of break-ins. Back doors account for another 27%. And research from Crime Stoppers Victoria found that up to 80% of burglary incidents involve offenders entering through unlocked doors or windows or abandoning the attempt entirely once they discover the home is properly secured.
That last statistic is the important one. Most burglars are opportunistic. They’re not casing your home for weeks looking for an opening. They’re looking for the easiest target on the street, and if your home looks like it requires effort, they move on.
The question is: does your home look like effort?
At North Coast Blinds & Security, we’re a licensed Crimsafe manufacturer on the Sunshine Coast. We’ve measured and assessed thousands of homes across Noosa, Maroochydore, Caloundra and the broader region. What follows is an honest look at the entry points we see overlooked most often and why they matter more than homeowners realise.
1. Sliding Doors – The Most Underestimated Entry Point
Sliding doors are a staple of Sunshine Coast living. They’re on almost every home – opening to the alfresco, the pool, the backyard. And they’re one of the most commonly exploited entry points in Australian residential burglaries.
Why? Because a standard sliding door relies on a latch, not a deadlock. The glass panel itself offers no real resistance. And the sliding track can often be lifted or forced with basic tools in a matter of seconds.
Homeowners assume that because the door is locked, it’s secure. The lock on a standard sliding door is not a security device, it’s a convenience mechanism.
A quality security screen on a sliding door changes the entire equation. Crimsafe sliding door screens use the same Tensile-Tuff® stainless steel mesh and Screw-Clamp® technology as the rest of the range, independently tested to exceed AS5039 for impact, jemmy and knife-shear resistance. The security is on the screen, not the door behind it.
2. The Back Door Nobody Thinks About
The front door gets the attention. The back door gets the assumption – the assumption that because it’s not visible from the street, it’s less of a risk.
Burglars think the opposite. A back door is often less overlooked by neighbours, harder to see from the street, and critically – more likely to have been left unlocked. It’s frequently a hollow-core or lightweight door with a basic handle lock, opening onto a yard or alfresco area that provides cover while someone works on it.
Back doors are the second most common entry point in Australian break-ins at around 27%, almost as common as windows.
A security screen door on the back entry is one of the most cost-effective security upgrades a homeowner can make. It doesn’t need to be heavy or imposing, a well-fitted Crimsafe hinged security door is barely noticeable in daily use, but it fundamentally changes what a would-be intruder faces when they test that entry point.
3. Louvre Windows
These are the entry points that surprise people most when we bring them up, because they don’t look vulnerable. Louvres are common in older Sunshine Coast homes and some newer coastal designs that prioritise airflow. They look fixed, permanent and secure.
They’re not. Louvre blades can typically be removed by hand from the outside, without tools, in under a minute. There’s no mesh, no resistance, and often no alarm trigger; just an open frame.
If your home has louvre windows in accessible locations, like the ground floor, side of house and laundry, this is a vulnerability worth addressing. Security screens designed to fit louvre frames do exist, though the solution often depends on the specific frame and configuration. This is worth raising when you book a measure and quote.
4. The Garage Connecting Door
The roller door gets closed not locked; the internal door connecting the garage to the house does not, and it gets the same treatment as an interior door rather than an exterior security point.
For a burglar, an unlocked or lightly secured garage entry is low-risk access. The roller door itself can often be opened with a generic remote. Once in the garage, the connecting door to the house is usually unlocked.
The fix here is partly behavioural (treat that internal door as an exterior security point, deadlock it) and partly physical; a security screen on the connecting doorway adds another layer that changes the risk calculus entirely.
5. Alfresco and Stacker Door Openings
We covered stacker doors in detail in a recent post, but they bear mentioning here in the context of overlooked entry points specifically because of how homeowners relate to them emotionally.
Stacker doors feel like a feature, not a vulnerability. The whole point of them is openness, the indoor-outdoor flow, the view, the connection to the garden or pool. That emotional relationship with the door can make it harder to think critically about the security gap it represents when the glass panels are the only barrier.
Wide openings are harder to secure than narrow ones, and the multi-panel design of stacker doors creates more potential weak points than a single door. Purpose-built Crimsafe stacking screen doors address this properly; engineered specifically for wide openings, with locking panel connections that eliminate the gaps that standard screens can’t cover.
6. Windows Beside or Above Door Locks
This one is simple, and it’s one of the most common oversights we see.
A window located within arm’s reach of a door lock; beside the front door, above a deadbolt, next to a handle, creates a bypass opportunity. Break the glass, reach through, turn the lock. The door was secure – the window next to it was not!
Security screens on windows adjacent to door locks are a basic but often forgotten measure. It’s not about whether someone would break the window – it’s about whether they can reach through it if they do.
7. The Open Gate That Signals Opportunity
This one isn’t a physical entry point into the home, but it shapes the risk profile of everything that follows.
An open or unlocked side gate gives a burglar access to the perimeter of your home, to the back door, to the alfresco, to the pool gate, to whatever’s on the other side – without being visible from the street. A closed, locked gate doesn’t stop a determined intruder, but it changes the time and visibility required. Combined with motion-activated lighting and proper security screens on rear entry points, it adds up to a home that simply looks like more work than the one next door.
What This Is Really About
None of these entry points requires sophisticated tools or planning to exploit. That’s the point. Opportunistic burglary is exactly that – opportunistic. It’s a quick assessment of which home offers the easiest access with the least risk of being seen or heard.
Every barrier you add shifts the calculation. A security screen on the back door, a proper screen on the sliding door, a lock on the garage connecting door – none of these things individually guarantee you’ll never have a problem. Together, they make your home look like the wrong choice.
If you’d like a fresh set of eyes on your home’s entry points, we’re happy to come out and do a free measure and quote. We’ll assess what you have, identify the gaps, and give you honest advice about what’s worth doing first – no obligation, no sales pressure!
📞 Call us on (07) 5456 2199📍 5/6 Kerryl Street, Kunda Park — Mon–Thu 8am–4pm, Fri 8am–2pm
Book your free measure and quote today.