Door Reinforcement

[johnelmore]

Someone sent me a note about the Buddy Bar Door Jammer. Basically a 75 dollar metal bar which goes under the door knob which will offer a little bit more security.

[Buzzcook]

Yes that type of bar will increase your security.

[jimbob86]

If the house has vinyl siding you can cut your way through an exterior wall with a utility knife.

IDK what the building code is around your area, but most places require some sort of sheathing underneath the siding ...... 'round here, it's generally 5/8" OSB or plywood. You aren't getting through that with a utility knife, unless you are really patient and packed a lunch.

Locks, steel doors, security windows .... even gun safes: all they do is buy time and make getting past them noisy enough to deter an attempt. Determined thieves, given enough time, tools and privacy, can get into anything.

Most thieves are LAZY, that's why they steal: it's easier than working.

Make it hard, and increase the likelyhood that they think they'll get caught.

[Sigowner]

I did a great deal of research on door security last year and without exception the best security for the least cost is Medeco security locks. They have been tested by a number of organizations and found to be resistant to bumping, drilling, sawing....virtually all the forced entry methods used by burglars. All the other locks lack in one or more of the protections mentioned and only 2 have the highest UL ratings. Be careful and read manufacturers literature carefully....they love to play with words that make their locks sound as though they have the highest rating but do not. Only Medeco and Schlage have the ratings (as of last year).

http://www.medeco.com/en/site/medeco/

[Metalboy]

Some people just use door mats. In and outside.

[Metalboy]

Some guys broke into my neighbors house, but they paid no attention to the door locks. What they did is kicked the bottom hinge on the opposite side of lock(s). After max 2-3 kicks the door flew into the the foyer. The 3/4" screws did not hold anything in the casing.

[jimbob86]

The 3/4" screws did not hold anything in the casing.

Those screws were about 3" too short.

The strike plates (for door knob latch and deadbolt), the metal jamb reinforcement, and the hinges all need tho be attached with screws long enough to tie them insolidly to the framing. 3" long minimum.

[Tinbucket]

A bury guy can knock a door in often with just one body slam and with a lot less most times.
The new as in 20 years old International Building Code is a joke. Look at any of the McMansions being built.
The wall are really weak and the whole wall can flex with opening or closing a door, in some.
Assuming you have some real sheathing I would replace the entire door jam and framing with 6x6 using screws and sections of 6x6 or at least more x4s in the framing up to four feet away from the door.
Lot of trouble and expense but a steel door won't do much good on a flimsy door jamb and wall.
Steel door and jam or at least solid core thick oak doors for entry and some real locks. The common door hinges are weak too.
I haven't tried but you can custom order doors for different hing locations, which we did, and maybe they can upgrade hinges and even another hinge beside the standard two. that on a steel door and frame, assuming they are as sturdy as the one we had on our old home, no one is gettign in without dynamite.
The locks, including dead bolts on our home are a joke. Hopefully I can get that rectified this summer.

[Metalboy]

My home is all brick, but as you sad there are "other-ways". For the other ways, like windows, no dynamite is needed.

[jimbob86]

A (burly?) guy can knock a door in often with just one body slam and with a lot less most times.

If the door is solid ( or steel), the framing is solid, and the hinges and jamb plate are solidly connected to the framing with good screws, the harder that burly guy slams his body into the door, the more he's gonna hurt himself.

If someone lives in poorly constructed house, that's a choice. They can choose to live with it, or work on hardening it, or move.

Swapping the 1/2" screws that hold the strike plates and hinges for 3 1/2" screws takes 20 minutes and might cost $2 ...... adding a plate beind the jamb under the casing might cost 2-3 times that and take twice as long ..... but it will make kicking a solid door in nigh impossible ...... simple stuff, really.

Worth your time? Dunno...... I'm not you ...... you have to decide to do or do not ......

[jimbob86]

For the other ways, like windows, no dynamite is needed.

FWIW, it's a darn sight easier to walk through a door than crawl through a window, particularly it there is glass involved ..... remember, the idea is to make the thought of getting in more difficult, time consuming and dangerous to the perp.

[hartcreek]

Talking about wall flexing....An X girlfriend had a house for sale so he hired dad and I to get it ready as it had been a rental that she and her then husband had rented for twenty some years. If you closed any of the upstairs doors you could hear the walls squeeking. The place had been built in 1955 with green lumber and the builder did not let the walls dry out before dry wall so years later when you closed the door the difference in air pressure cause the drywall to flex on the nails.

[Metalboy]

My house was built in 1956 too, all brick. The good thing about it is that at that time they used Douglas fir, much better than today's soft pine.

[gman3]

I used an oak 2x6 stud behind the jamb, oak 1x6 jamb glued and screwed to the stud, 1/8"x2"x4Ft steel strip recessed and screwed to the jamb face, then oak 1x5 screwed and glued to the jamb. The lock bolt also passes through a steel plate which is screwed into the jamb and stud with 4" screws.

With a 2" thick solid mahogany door, it is pretty sturdy. It is burglar proof? Probably not, but it will take several attempts to loosen it all up.

Someone mentioned the 14 lb Rat Terrier setting off the warning commotion...That is a fact. My 26 lb Rat (Fat Terrier) is very irritable when it comes to things being outside that aren't supposed to be there.

The 125 lb German Shepherd that lives in the back yard however, did allow some suspects to remove about $10,000.00 worth of tools from my shop without telling anyone, or even being a good witness.

I think he may be upset and was expressing his resentment of the relative life of ease and comfort that the Fat Terrier is enjoying.

[gman3]

Passive Alarm system.

[JeffK]

How about a good dog that barks?

Guy I used to work with was robbed during the day when no one was home, and the robbers distracted their dog by opening up the fridge and pulling out food. When they got home, the dog was fat and happy, and they were cleaned out of everything valuable and small enough to carry away in a backpack. They figure the dog must have barked like crazy at first, but the neighbors didn't hear or pay attention before the dog was distracted.

A really, really loud obnoxious alarm system seems to me to be the best deterrent along these lines.

[Tinbucket]

When they stole mu firearms and a few other things they came in the basement den window. The steel door was not an option.
The window frame was heavy aluminum and the windows were double panes and aluminum with aluminum cross pieces actually one pieces forming the traditional small panes. The lock was heavy aluminum.
The window was left unlocked and they must have had a ladder. Not smart.
They broke in while were at work and school as were our only neighbor.
They tried to break in at the rear windows especially the laundry room several times messing up screen frames etc but they didn't get in.
The broke in while were asleep via the kitchen door which is heavy and still there somehow. There are still pry marks on the door, at the old home.
The framing was solid around the doors and windows.
Our new home or new to us they broke in through the window wall windows which are the expensive double pane vinyl jobs by just prying and breaking the latch and raising it after removing the screen. We weren't aware of it until after we bought and had moved in. All doors and windows are drilled and wired for alarm system, which for some reason the people that updated it took out along with other things.
Someone is always here as is dog. and a budget is set for hopefully this summer to probably replacing them all. Not cheap. When we are gone there will be a house sitter.

[FireForged]

door devil anti kick plate

[johnelmore]

I have ADT and no one can break in without an alarm going off. There are opening sensors on each entry point, there are motion sensors and glass breakage sensors. There are also cameras at each entry point and in key places inside. Automatic lights outside. Panic buttons. I can go to bed and arm the entire system. Once armed Im safe in my room. No one can make it to my room without an alarm going off. A motion sensor right outside in the hallway, on the stairwell and at the bottom and a sensor on my bedroom door.

When the alarm goes off its a high piercing tone in the interior along with lights coming on. It will wake you up and scare most people. Once the interior alarm sounds doubt anyone will stick around.

Ive tested it out to see if I could sneak past the sensors. Maybe an expert crook could do it, but I cant.

Highly suggest ADT.

[campingnights]

I had ADT once, found out that they didn't bother to call like they were supposed to when the alarm tripped. I went to fake outside video cameras, so far so good. The houses around me have been hit, but the crooks seem camera shy.

I locked myself out and was astounded how easy it was to push in my back steel door. Locks just broke out a piece of the doorframe. Now I reinforced the doorframe with a strap of 3/16 steel about 4 foot long and longer anchor screws. I think it will suffice to discourage someone, probably would choose to go through a window now *snickers*

[FITASC]

Something like this will work well:

[TimSr]

[old bear]

Door Reinforcement,

My set up is close to the O/P's, strong door jam, with a deadbolt heavy duty screen door. One other tip. When facing the door, set main door hinged to the left side and screen door hinged to the right. The reason is, screen door has to be held open by something or someone to get to the lock/jam of the main door. This is not much but in an emergency every second or two can make a huge difference.

Added:

As a deputy sheriff, I saw a couple of cases where the home owner had steel doors and that kind of reinforcement. The bad guys crashed trucks through the plain old 2x4 wall, one through French doors. Another gang used half a railroad tie as a battering ram to drive a window air-conditioner back through the opening.

Sort of like those pick proof locks. Maybe the FBI picks locks, maybe the CIA picks locks, but I have never known of any burglar who picked a lock. Most burglars are about as subtle as an armored strike force.

Jim

James, you are correct, but I still go on the theory that "locks only keep honest people honest." If someone wants in my or any house badly enough they will find a way in, but I'm going to try and make them work hard to get in.