How to Make a Lock Resistant Against Lock Picking

Install locks with pins that frustrate the efforts of traditional lock picks. Top or driver pins, spoon pins, and serrated pins offer slight modifications of the traditional lock mechanism. The pins modify the mechanism only slightly and do not add much to the cost of the lock.

Use double-ball padlocks that have two steel balls that hold the padlock in place and help prevent it from being picked. Combination padlocks offer another option, because they can't be picked as easily. And you never lose the key.

Employ high-security locks with sidebars. Sidebars prevent the lock from rotating unless all the combinations of the key have been met. Cuts or grooves in the side of the key deactivate the sidebars.

Purchase a specialized product designed to prevent lock picking. Spray gels and fluids into the key hole to make the pins difficult to move. The pins will only move when the correct key is inserted.

Secure a keypad over the lock. Use hinges to tighten it to the door. The keypad hides the lock, and the thief will try to figure out the combination rather than lift the keypad to see the lock beneath.