To protect your exterior wood doors from sunlight, it is recommended to sand them down and apply multiple coats of an exterior spar varnish made for boats. This varnish contains ingredients that block UV rays and is more flexible than other options. It also helps secure and reinforce the hinges. For residents who have never adjusted or weatherproofed their doors, it is essential to keep them clean and clear up any dirt or water stains.
To weatherproof your front door, limit drafts and protect your timber from rot, wear, and decay. From maintenance to cleaning and oiling, the ETO Doors blog provides tips on how to maintain exterior doors to protect from the elements.
To protect your wood exterior doors from sunlight, it is important to apply the varnish with a brush and use thin layers to avoid streaky uneven finishes. Sanding your door down to remove existing stain is recommended before starting.
For added security, polish your doors once every two to three months with wood furniture polish or furniture wax. Professionally fit timber doors to ensure a snug fit and prevent swelling and shrinking.
In addition to maintaining your doors, consider installing a deadbolt lock to make them more secure. A shaded area can also help protect the exterior door from direct sunlight. By following these steps, you can ensure your doors remain long-lasting and protected against rot, wear, and decay.
📹 How to Install a ‘Fortress Door’ to Keep Your Home Safe
A crook determined to break into your home won’t always be stopped by a locked front door. Video of a burglar kicking in the front …
What is the best protection for exterior wood doors?
Polyurethane is a durable, moisture-resistant clear finish that is particularly well-suited for use on wooden entry doors. To apply, two coats should be applied, with a light sanding between each coat. The application of a fresh coat should be repeated every two years. The product enhances the natural beauty of wood, provides excellent durability, and is straightforward to apply and maintain.
How to waterproof an exterior door?
Weatherproofing your front door is crucial for maintaining a comfortable indoor environment. It involves installing weatherstripping, a door sweep, and plastic insulation. Exterior doors can also contribute to drafty homes, as cracks or compromised seals can let air in and unwanted pests in. Weatherstripping is a simple way to weatherproof a door, while door sweeps and plastic insulation are other options.
Maintaining a temperate environment indoors is essential for a comfortable living space. Cracks in a front door or compromised seal can allow air to enter the home, causing it to be hot in summer and cold in winter. By implementing these measures, homeowners can ensure a safe and comfortable entryway to their home.
How do you stop rain from coming through a door?
To prevent rain from entering your home, use sealer to fill the door gap and prevent water from passing through. Install bamboo blinds, tarpaulin, or an aluminum frame to prevent water splashes from dampening the door or letting water leak through it. Install a floodgate on the gate or entrance door.
To protect your entryway from rainwater, affix weatherstripping to the frame of the door and replace it at the door’s bottom. Remove the front door by removing the hinge pins and keeping it on a cloth for easy access. Measure and trim the new weatherstripping, press the rubber ribs into the grooves at the door’s bottom, and apply pressure to force the ribs into the grooves. Tap the ribs into the grooves deeply using a rubber mallet to ensure tightness. Rehang the door and open and close it a few times to ensure smooth operation. This new weatherstrip will prevent water from entering your home and your door.
How do I keep my exterior door from rotting?
To prevent wood rot in doors, build a covering over your entry door to minimize water infiltration. Re-paint cracked and peeling wood, remove wet debris or leaves, and seal new wooden door parts soon after installation. Wood rot on doors can occur even if entry doors are made from other materials, as door jambs, such as the side-posting or frame, may be wooden and susceptible to damage. This article aims to educate readers on how to prevent wood rot on doors or door jambs, whether they are looking for a new door or seeking solutions to their existing issues. It also provides information on which door type has a rot-resistant door jamb and how to repair rotted wood on the door frame.
How to make exterior doors more secure?
To enhance the security of your front door, consider the following steps: re-key the lock, add a strike box, replace the glazing, install a wide-angled peephole, add a reinforcement plate, install a high-security deadbolt, and replace your front door. These measures will help protect your home and your family from potential intruders. Refitting your door with new locks and other features can provide added peace of mind and ensure your entrance can withstand any attempts to break through.
What is the best way to weatherproof a door?
Weatherstripping is a popular method to seal doors and reduce drafts, and installing a door sweep can help prevent drafts. A storm door is a crucial upgrade for protecting your doorway from the elements. Insulating glass with plastic film can also help keep cold air out. Foam tape can be used to fill in irregularly-shaped gaps or missing chunks of weatherstripping. Adhesive weatherstrips come in various types and can be purchased from stores.
To apply the strips, clean and dry the surface, using a hair dryer or fine sandpaper. Remove the backing of the adhesive strips and press them into place on the door jambs and doorframe edges. Nail in a tiny nail at each end of the strips using brass “weatherstrip nails”. Modern doors often have grooves for weatherstripping to insert.
Adhesive strips can be difficult to apply by yourself, so asking a friend can make the process quicker. Adhesive strips come in different widths and thicknesses, allowing you to choose the best size for the gaps along the edges of your door.
Feel is a cost-effective and long-lasting option for weatherstripping, as it can last for at least a year or two. Cut the felt into strips long enough to stretch along each door edge and fasten them using nails or staples.
How do I burglar proof my front door?
To enhance the safety of your front door and home, consider upgrading your door lock, replacing the door frame and hinges, adding a strike plate, upgrading your home security system, replacing your door, adding a peephole or door chain, upgrading the glass, and reinforcing the door. As the nights get darker and temperatures drop, your front door serves as the first line of defense against burglars and provides access to your most important possessions. To ensure your home is as secure as possible, consider making these improvements to protect your home and your belongings.
How do you weather proof an external door?
Weatherproofing doors is crucial for preventing draughts and water from entering the door during colder months. Leader Doors offers tips and tricks for ensuring doors stay weatherproof throughout any season. First, check for small gaps by conducting a visual inspection of the door and surroundings. If gaps aren’t immediately visible, try placing a piece of white paper underneath the door’s bottom and pulling the paper out. If debris is present, the seal may need reinforcing.
Other methods include applying weather stripping, draught excluders and weather bars, and weatherproof door hardware. By following these steps, you can ensure your doors stay weatherproof throughout any season and avoid the potential consequences of a poorly weathered door.
How do you weatherproof a wooden exterior door?
To waterproof a wooden door, use varnish or lacquer for a long-lasting, waterproof, and weatherproof finish. While it may not provide the same visual appeal as oil or paint, it provides the strongest protection. Regular maintenance and refinishing are crucial for long-term protection against rain and damp. Inspect the door regularly to see if moisture is still beading on the surface, and if it starts to absorb, refinish with another layer of paint, varnish, or oil.
What is the best coating for exterior doors?
Epoxy sealer is a durable solution for entryway doors, providing protection from UV rays and water damage. It prevents wood expansion and contraction in extreme weather conditions, making it a time-consuming but long-lasting choice. Paint is a popular wood finish due to its versatility, durability, and easy application. However, it doesn’t penetrate the wood and acts as a barrier between external weather conditions and the wood underneath.
If you want a finish that allows the wood grain to show through, paint might not be the best choice. Epoxy sealer and exterior varnish are both effective in protecting the wood from extreme weather conditions.
How do I protect my exterior door from weather?
To minimize heat loss and draughts, install a weatherstrip along the bottom or entire door frame. Caulk is another method to prevent draughts and heat loss, especially in cooler winter months. It is often applied during door installation to prevent moisture and draughts. However, caulk tends to wear down over time. Old or damaged caulk can be easily removed using tools like a flathead screwdriver or knife. A new layer of caulk can be applied, often supplied in a tube with a nozzle for precise application.
📹 How to Reinforce and Burglar Proof Your Entry Door
Reinforcing your entry door and making it burglar proof may not be sexy but keeping your stuff and your family safe is a …
Speaking as a former Deputy, no door is burglar proof, best to refer to it as burglar resistant. This reinforcement kit looks like a good investment. Doors are likely the primary entry point, but don’t forget that if the doors are too tough, they will probably move onto the windows. Note that anything that slows them down could prevent a burglary from happening.
The whole point to pre-drilling is so you don’t split the wood. Doesn’t matter if you have an impact driver or not – that doesn’t change the physical characteristics of the wood the screw is going through. When you don’t pre-drill you essentially “pre-split” the wood. That means your screws are not as strong as they could be. If you are spending $100 on a security device, why would you want to sabotage your efforts by NOT PRE-DRILLING? Seems counter intuitive to me. Never take shortcuts on anything that is safety or security related.
The “next step” is to replace ALL of the screws with 2.5- 3″ long screws, on both (left and right) sides… so the hardware is SECURED into the vertical studs. (this alone will make the door 3x harder (or more) to enter. Then even if you don’t have this “kit,” you just made it MUCH harder to force the door (front, back, side, etc.) in!
Many front doors are quite flimsy- you need a solid wood door in conjunction with the security kit shown. The door shown in this episode could still be kicked in because the locks are fastened to narrow vertical slats that are easily broken. The reinforcing shields for the locks, which were not used, add important stiffness to the edge of the door, so they should be used.
Just a friendly heads up, make sure there is no electrical in the opposite side of your door jam, sending 3″ screws could possibly strike a wire or plumbing, also just because you have a impact doesn’t mean you don’t have to pre drill, pre drilling your holes helps not to split the framing when your sending screws into it.
Being a landlord for 30yrs I have first hand experience with the processes and benefits of “fortifying” entry doors. In general I was with you until you removed the screws in the door hardware and simply replaced with longer ones (w/o predrilling I’ll note too) which really does nothing. Everything you did to that point does help a lot. But you can accomplish the same thing much cheaper simply by going down to the hardware store. Also, it helps to replace the screws going thru the hinge into the door as that interface is a weak point. Installing a shield to the outside of the frame covering the area where the bolts interface the striker plates is another inexpensive fortification. For the people who mentioned the window…I’ve been intalling lexan instead of glass on first floor windows. But in the end the only way to defend againt a break-in is a dog, a gun, and training.
My Uncle Gus is old school…. “Well, I’m ready for them! I got 50,000 volts running through the bar’s over my window’s. I got a bucket of battery acid over the front door, & a .30-06 rigged to the back door!” “But Uncle Gus,” I had to ask, “How do you get IN your house???” He glared at me, & replied, “Wouldn’t YOU like to know!” 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😝😝😝
For everyone assuming that ez armor doesn’t work, look for more articles and proof on here. It really stops kick ins rather perfectly. Of course there needs to be layers to one’s home security such as doing the windows, lighting, a dog, camera, alarm, fencing, etc. This just shows how to install one of those things….
I disagree about not using the door shields just because you can’t close the door. It’s an important part of the system. Go buy a wood chisel to make it fit. Most of the wood is already removed for the existing plate. You only have to shave off a little bit above and below it. You don’t even have to be too precise because the shield will cover any mistakes.
Really enjoyed your article. And that’s OK for a spec built home because the door framing is all ‘standard’ sizing and can be kicked in easily as the latch is short into the framing. If you’re going2 invest in that mortgage make your home safer & spend a few hundred extra bucks having commercial doors & framing installed. Your insurance company may Thank You for it with a discount on homeowners insurance. Thank you for sharing.
First off, you mean burglar resistant, ain’t nothing proof! Don’t waste your time & $ on any residential dr & frame combo. Pull that junk out and get a good commercial door, frame & hardware. Then put in the steel dr & frame swinging OUT. Here is why, there is a 5/8″ stop all the way around the 3 sides of the frame. There isn’t a punk out there that can kick a steel door through that opening, drive a stolen car through it, yes, kick it… Not just no…BUT Hell No! Now, when you swing the door out, you will need NRP Hinges, NRP= Non removable pin, you can’t pop the hinge pins with out having the door open to access the set screw. Fill in those sidelights, transom panels are usually OK. Most scumbags don’t carry a ladder, just crow bars & stolen guns. Get your steel dr & frame prepped for 2 dead bolts and a lockset. Buy 2 sgl cyl DB’s & 1( at least grade 2) lockset, have them keyed alike (KA). Have the 2 DB preps centered(1 above the lock, 1 below the lock) between the head & floor and the lockset. Your frame should be 16 ga, the door a min of 18 ga. They do offer Insulated & Galv for cold/hot and wet areas. Panel doors are available in 1, 2, 6 & 8 panel drs(depending on the Manuf). I would suggest ordering as a unit and having it factory prepped, it will cost less and have the factory warranty. You’ll pay more for what I’ve told you about, but it’s a real door, frame & hdwe, it will hold up way beyond the cheap res junk. What is your family & your things worth? There are other things you can do, but the above is FAR beyond what 99.
1)Replace all the hardware screws with ones that are 3″ or longer. 2) Buy 2 door hinges with removable pins. 3)Remove hinge pins and sand/grind the shafts to where they slide in and out of the hinges freely. 4)Mount the hinges on the opposite side of the door from the upper and lower hinges. 5)When the door is closed,just insert the hinge pins. This set-up is inexpensive,easy to make/install,and will make it to where the door/frame has to be destroyed to breach. 99% of the time when a door is breached,it’s on the latch side. (Note:You can also toss the hinge pins entirely,and use two Phillips screwdrivers instead.)
Pre-drilling is not for your ease of install, its to avoid cracking wood. The wood will also crack less easily if somebody tries to get in with brute force. Using this on a cheap door that is not solid wood but instead made of thin panels of plywood is similarly pointless as somebody could punch or smash straight through the door and turn the lock.
While it is an effort to improve security, the results are untested. There are a few problems with this kit. 1. The hinge armor plate does nothing to prevent the short screws from where the hinges screw to the DOOR ( not the jamb ) from stripping and ripping out of the 1/4″ thick piece of wood that makes up the edge of the steel clad door ( some doors DO have a big wooden hinge lock block behind the edge trim, most do not ) The hinge leaf on that door is ENGINEERED to be surface applied, it was not just something someone goofed up. The door width took the thickness of that hinge leaf into consideration to result in an optimal 1/8″ gap on the lock side of door. The hinge leaf on many steel door has a PROJECTION that recesses into a divot in the mating hinge leaf, to prevent pin removal and thus entry on an OUT-SWINGING application. This projection would interfere with these hinge reinforcing plates. Also, these plates prevent the hinge leaves from coming together, putting stress on the hinge pin area, and thus bending the hinges. This will cause uneven door closure, and squeaking, unless you get a third plate for top hinge, and thus all three hinges can distort EVENLY. 2. The strike plate reinforcer is a lightweight version of an armor plate locksmiths have sold for decades. The one from Lock Shop will be 12 gauge, and is meant to be set FLUSH with the door jamb, thus replacing the strike plates that likely do not fit properly. a simple routing of the jamb area to a 1/8″ depth allows such a plate to be set properly.
What about the door side of the hinge? I watched this to see about the kit though I generally make my own (I’m in property management) including welding the hinge pin for outward swinging doors. But with these cheap standard metal doors which are standard now I’m trying to find a way to secure the door side of the hinge. Really a good storm door or solid slab makes all the difference but not all my customers can afford all that.
for anyone wanting to fortify their door save yourself some money and just go buy some three or four inch screws and replace the little tiny half-inch screws that come with your striker plates and just put big long three and a half 4 inch screws in also install 3 and 1/2 inch screws in the hinges and done and if you’re buying a new front door buy a door that opens out for the most part that will solve your problem right away have you ever tried to go inside your house and kick the door open from the inside if the door opens inside your house you’re relying solely on the striker plate to defend yourself if the door opens outthen you have three quarters of an inch of material on each side of the door stopping the door from being kicked in
The Long screws are the important thing with plates they’re what fail. Not the metal plates. Just replace the screws and u are most of the way there. Deadbolts are another one.. Not the plates they give u to replace existing metal ones. Go to the hardware and get longer screws (3″ if I remember correct?)
The longer 2 1/2″ screws for the bolt and latch don’t help anything at all and could interfere with the locks as standard backset for residential locks is only 2 3/8″ Also you should have installed the knob strike OVER the guard as it doesn’t have(or appear to have) a “lip” to push the latch in when closing the door
This seems like the kind of solution that makes you feel better, but I can’t see how those thin bits of metal are going to reinforce anything. Also, in the unlikely event that the “jamb shield” and the “bolt shield” actually fit, then you must have had a pretty badly fitting door in the first place. Might be great for climates where you don’t need to worry about rain or cold air getting through the gaps!
I had to kick in my own door today because i had been locked out and did not have the time to wait for a locksmith, i have to say that your statement that anyone can kick in a door is no joke. After it was said and done i went in thru the garage and kitchen in less than 2 minutes, it really opened my eyes to how vulnerable my house was. Damn doorjambs on that outside door must of been made of pudding, no resistance at all. Im definitely doing this to all 3 outer doors now.
I had a door just like it: a metal door. Unfortunately, I found out when somebody kicked it in, that the door just peels apart because the metal is just GLUED to the SOFT WOOD that is in the edges. When somebody kicks in the edge of the door, the metal peels off the glue (or the soft wood breaks). When, this happens the lock completely falls apart because nothing is holding it together! The jam did not give way. The hinges were not the problem. The door peeled apart. My door company explained why I should have gotten a VINYL DOOR: It has HARDWOOD at the edges, the vinyl goes all around the edges to bind the front to the back – all around, and the door has steel reinforcement in it – to keep it from warping in the heat. I found out the hard way that metal doors are terrible at preventing forced entry. Maybe a reinforcement that completely wraps around the door edge at the the lock, and fits underneath the lock, would hold the lock together – however, you door would be so bent up that it would have to be replaced. Vinyll will flex a little with the blows and probably will not be bent out of shape.
Or… buy a quality security door that opens outward which takes away all the kicking issues. So, they go around back and kick in your rear door. That one has a security door? They break a window. Just saying that if they have the time, they will get in. This idea is to make them choose a different house if yours is not a quick and easy entry.
my girl friend had reoccurring issues so on her French doors I replaced all the screws on hinges and strike plates with 3.5 inch deck screw that I had three nights later while she was at my place someone attacked the French doors…. they battered the hell out of the doors (old style with real mullions) they got nowhere near gaining entry
A door guard can be purchased on line, it’s place under door knob lock in place, burglar tried kicking in my door could not get in: came home caught him in the act, he ran. Easier less time consuming than drilling holes that may not work: best you have a dead bolt where key is required for back door: once they in your home you don’t want to make it easy for them to walk out with your belongings.
That product isn’t doing much re-enforcing and looks pretty cheap as far as I can tell. The “hinge shields” do absolutely zero to enforce the door. The fact that the door didn’t have the cutouts for the hinges weaken that part of the door anyway. Now instead of the hinge itself helping to secure the door against forced entry, only the screws running through the hinge into the door are doing that task. A real way to secure the hinge part of the door is to use heavy duty hinges, or better a stainless steel piano hinge. Use either a metal door or a solid hardwood door. Before the door is hung, use a 4-5′ piece of solid steel, connect it to the door frame on the side opposite the door, with a cutout for the deadbolt to come through. Pre-drill the steel for 4″ long high grade screws to run through from the inside of the jam, through the steel plate and into the doorway frame of the house. You can also install a longer piece on the backside of the frame where the hinge screws would come through. As before, pre-drill the holes for the hinge screws and use high grade 4″ screws that will go through the door frame, the steel plate and into the house framing. Now when someone comes to kick in your door they are going to be denied.
Good stuff but a few things: 1. Still get an alarm system. Someone who wants to get in, will get in, regardless – by means of crowbars, shotguns, whatever means – or going through a window. 2. A dog is a great alarm system, in addition to being another loud alarm, the idea of having to deal with a dog is off-setting for most burglars, probably more so than the racking of a shotgun slide. 3. Own, practice, and be proficient in firearms safety and response – Safety first, as in knowing how to operate firearms you own with proficiency under stress, with discrimination, so as to not shoot family members you’re intending to keep safe. 4. Have a plan for invasion – they may come through windows instead of doors, as stated before – and rehearse the plan. The plan should be independent of communication with the spouse and/or other family members, as in a shooting situation when the alarm is blaring, you may not be able to communicate well with other family members. Know and rehearse their immediate responses and yours. If it is to barricade in their room or safe place, which needs to be established well before something goes bump in the night, including their line of defense (firearm, hatchet, pepper spray, whatever it is), and code words for situation CLEAR should be established and well practiced, in the event a false alarm (weather changes can set off security alarms when sweating on sensors occurs, due to changes in such), or, if perpetrators have been silenced, when you attempt to re-establish contact with your family.
I recently restored my Victorian front door and before fitting new architrave I fitted a length of thick aluminium to the striker side of the frame. This will have strengthened the side of the frame that would take the most impact should anyone try to break in. Now, with the architrave over it, it’s impossible to tell it’s there. At timeline 9.16 youtube.com/watch?v=0JAR5jKFAAY
I put 2″by4″ or 2″by6″inside backing the doorjam as trim or molding.i lag bolts them to the framing.then I put bolts on the top and bottom of the deadbolts after I drill holes in the door.this keeps the door from splitting at the deadbolt the 2″by’s keep the jam from splitting.a pile of shit tried to break in it held . The pile only bent the deadbolts
Hey Man, nice article, but I have some friendly advice… I believe the instructions advise to pre-drill the holes is to eliminate the jamb splitting… which can happen much much easier when screwing a few inches apart in a straight line, parallel to the wood grain. An impact driver won’t save you from that. Well done tho, thank you for the article
I am a full time locksmith. You can’t fix cheap with a few light weight steel plates. I guarantee you that the bad guys can easily kick that door in with little to no effort even with the plates you installed. You want a door that can’t be kicked in? Buy a commercial steel door and commercial steel frame and always swing the door outward. Not even the sheriffs during a raid will get in a commercial steel door that swings outward.
ALWAYS PRE-DRILL. I agree with using 3 1/2″ screws, preferably stainless steel…300 series. Dip the end of the screws into vaseline for easier installation. I see no purpose in a door shield or hinge shield. The JAM SHIELD I agree with. I made my own for free, being an ex sheetmetal worker. But I used 1/8th ” steel. The kit is over priced and a waste of money.
Some guy in my apartment block stole my door light…. most people wouldn’t complain, only worth 80 cents. more annoying than anything else. But then i thought about it more…. if someone is prepared to steal something that costs 80 cents, which ANYONE can afford!!!….. then they are certainly prepared to steal something that can’t afford….. like my 50-inch flat-screen sony curve….. i’m not bragging, but I live in Egypt and im the richest guy in the building, I’m already noticed, and due to the communal entrance people can see everything I bring home!!!!! F**king annoys me, cos now i need to spend my emergency medical money reinforcing my door. I’ll be leaving to go home to England for 6 months….. i won’t sleep at night if i don’t reinforce my door!!!!
We had burglers kick the door of our cabin in and they took whatever they wanted. The previous break in was via living room window where I am guessing they were cut up because they cleaned up all the broken glass! Weird but maybe they did not want their dna ID’d? After we fixed that window I transpanted the most GNARLY wicked cactus species under that window! But that is when they kicked in the door several months later. I carefully glued the door frame all back together and added steel reinfrcement and many massive long screws throuth the steel and into the walls framing …I sold the property but I know if anyone kicked that door in again at least it was NOT easy! Hopefully they sprained something too! Nothing pisses you off the same as habing your home briken into! Its to be VIOLATED!
In this case, you need to predrill even with an impact driver. Please do not listen to OP here. Pre-drilling is done on dry wood (like your house’s frame) so the wood wont SPLIT under stresses from having metal in it. THe wood can split days or months after the screw goes in. Wood shrinks and expands with humidity and temperature. Steel… also does, but way way way less. Predrilling removes some material, leaving a pocket for the relatively static screw around the dynamic wood. If you split the door frame, well, it’s half way kicked in now isn’t it?
10:1 the door is a hollow door that a good kick in the middle will put your foot through it. Easier of course it the nice big glass window with no security on it about 3 feet to the left of the door. Either that or just drill the locks. I personally would be upgrading the whole door to a steel plated fire door.
As others have said…pre drilling protects the wood from splitting. The shank of the screw displaces wood when driven in. It can cause splitting. Always pre drill for screws. The drill should be the diameter of the shank of the screw (the unthreaded portion in the center of the screw). The device you use to drive the screw makes no difference. I would prefer heavier duty metal reinforcement and mortising them in place, but that is more than many homeowners can do themselves. Also, when installing in a home made of concrete block, you may not be able to get 3-1/2″ screws to seat flush. Use as long a screw as possible until you hit the block. Good devices. Not “burglar proof” but you don’t have to be, you just have to be harder to break into than your neighbor.
For all the “brick through window” comments. Most break -in’s are targets of opportunity. My goal is to make my house difficult and not worth the time. Camera’s (Arlo/Ring/Nest) in obvious and not so obvious places, obvious door reenforcement like this guy did, pick resistant locks (no kwikset/promax), security signs, lights, and in our case dogs. If someone really want’s what you have they can probably get it but random thieves looking for an opportunity will probably bypass our place. And yeah, you should pre-drill.
you forgot to use long screws on the door side of the door hinges, also you forgot to recess those door hinges that way you could have fitted the door lock reinforcement plates which are critical at helping to prevent the door from cracking / splitting and compromising the locks. You did a ok job but for good job you need to do these two things as a minimum maybe even add 1 more hinge to the door and a second lock.
you don’t need to pre-drill if your using self-tappers “Self-tapping screws are fasteners that are designed to drill their own hole as they are screwed into wood, plastic or metal. … However, it is helpful to drill a pilot hole when working with harder material. When drilling a pilot hole, make sure to use a smaller bit than the screw so it may still serve its purpose”
Groovy … now that you’ve done all this weird crap … go ahead and leave those Kwikset … or Kwikset knockoff locks in place. Being a locksmith of several years, I can say this is better than nothing on a Home Depot type wood frame but the “Best” part is simply get and use Longer, Harder Screws in both Door and Frame. Just don’t pull your frame out of true in the process.
Burglers want want fast entry. You have to consider the building as a whole. This kit is a good way to improve your door and come home to a broken window instead. Please, buy and use this kit, but only after you’ve improved your exterior lighting. It’s amazing how effective good lighting and a fake camera are at deferring crime.
That kit is kind of pricey for what you get. Your article has made me at least go out and window shop to upgrade my current DeWalt 20v cordless drill to an impact driver. I can see the difference in user effort and am going to get a lot of use out of an impact drill. Do you recommend a specific brand? I have always purchased DeWalt. My girly muscles 💪 have a hard time without pilot hole drilling. I probably still will drill pilot holes so I don’t split the wood. Looking forward to your recommendations for drill & impact brand.
Bad advice is no advice, Pre-drilling prevents the lumber behind the door frame from splitting as you force the screw in with your “Impact” tool, so don’t be a TOOL and DO pre-drill this will actually make the product perform as advertised, Don’t always believe the internet. Oh and be sure you check to see if I am right or not, and, no wood doesn’t always split as you put a screw in, but it dose at a high percentage, go run some screws in wood for a living and you will see, why be sloppy?.
The term you want to use when you are cutting the space for a hinge or the security devices you are talking about is mortise. “Grooving out” is something I did in the 60s, and it had nothing to do with installing security devices :). Another suggestion, if the work you’re doing calls for drilling a pilot hole, then you should drill a pilot hole. It makes no difference whatsoever what kind of drill you use to insert the screw into the wood. The type of drill does not negate the need for a pilot hole. Nevertheless, your security ideas are good. However, to use the word “burglar proof” is far from accurate. Burglar resistant maybe, but to claim something is burglarproof means that I burglar will have no chance under any circumstances for success. Given enough time, a burglar with the right tools can get in anywhere they want to.
Burglar proof? Impervious? I don’t think so. Don’t fool yourself. If a burglar wants in, he’ll get in. Hell, while a neighbor was out of town a few years ago, a burglar pried off an external wall panel of his house, kicked in the adjacent internal wall panel, and walked right in. Nobody heard or saw a thing.
Judging by how cheap that door and lock is… be faster and less effort to lock pick both of them. Less noise and you can get in and out without anyone knowing lol. Get a quality lock folks like a Medico. A good lock picker will take anywhere from 6- 30 minutes to pick it, criminals will be much more destructive.
“Burglar Proof ” = total bullshit. There is no such thing. There is only “burgulary resistance”. Longer it takes to break in and more noticeable (noise / sight ) the break in is the higher risk they have to be cought. What that kit does is adds like 2 second to that door’s burguary resistance. Competent burgular goes through that door in less than 6 seconds. Incompetent burgular will just kick in that door splitting it in half.
For those not willing to spend that much money: I get it, times are hard. What you can do is just buy a pack of 10 or so 3 to 3 1/2 inch screws and drive them in everywhere there is a strike plate or on the hinges (you don’t have to replace every screw on the hinges). Even doing that will take your door from being kicked in on the first or second try to being far more difficult to kick in. Most doors break at the strike plate which is only attached to the door frame. Getting a screw into the frame of the house (usually a series of 2x4s) prevents that. $5 east fix in just a few minutes that is easily affordable. You can scale up from there.
I like your article. this door is ‘metal clad” the middle is just wood around the edges and foam in the middle. kick it and the door will split. a shield around the door knobs is also needed to slow down a “bad guy, or a warrentless search.” I can build/ retrofit to make a home secure. It will cost about as much a car. ” Locks just keep honest people honest.”; my dad.
I’ve never seen when someone kicks in The door,their kicking at the deadbolt Side of the door,not on the other side Where the hinges are.i could see that Giving you more peace of mind. But the impact would be on other Side of door.my aunt put up a 4×4 Piece of wood,mounted on brackets Talk about solid.
I wonder if this is something you could easily make in your garage out of 1/16th inch steel and completely customize it to your doors? Seems like that would be a LOT less expensive than $60 per door. You cut pretty easily cut the steel using a Dremel or angle grinder. If you don’t have a Dremel or angle grinder, you could head to Harbor Freight and buy one for $15… then you have an angle grinder, which you can use for more home project, as well as door shields. Also, what about windows?
This is of no value if your front door is like 90% of front doors in america and made of sheet metal. That insulated metal door of yours bends like a beer can if you kick on it. I worked at an apartment complex in Tucson and used to watch the cops kick in front doors regularly, despite the three locks every door had. The locks don’t fail. It’s the door itself bending in half that makes breaking in easy.
Please, I’m not disliking your vid, but I’m curious about one thing. People in general really don’t think about how secure their home is. What gets me is the window to the left of this door. You could have the most secure door, but if there is a full window, how secure is your home? I just wish my own home was more secure. But then too, if they want in they will find a way. Thank you for posting. I didn’t know about door shields.
Okay dude, there is NO such thing as “Burglar proof”, I worked in building maintenance for over 20 years and in that time I never ran across a door that I couldn’t get into and “Burglar proof” just means it’ll take five minutes instead of one minute to get into. It’s just a case that how much is the stuff in your house is worth and is it worth the trouble and now close you are with your neighbors. So “Burglar proof” is Burglar resistance to make your home more trouble than it’s worth
When installing security screws through the door frame into the wall structure, be sure not to over tighten. Any amount of draw will take your door out of adjustment. Applying this same concept, if both sets of reinforcements on the latch side will not fit, you may be able to increase the available gap by tightening the 3 1/2″ screws in each hinge. This may draw the door just enough to widen the gap on the latch side. Subtle adjustments in this way can make all the difference.
Oh yes longer screws make the entry door stronger and a small, not too thin sheet of metal will reinforce the doorway a lot ! But if you leave a LARGE Dog food bowl outside with the word KILLER written on it and leave a note on the door that says, hey Frank killer is sleeping on the couch and he is really ticked off today done chewed the couch up already, but that 12 foot anaconda is laying in the living room and I’m not moving that thing so don’t trip over it when you come in, and oh yeah the door is unlocked, be back later !
Putting longer screws into the door lock does nothing. This is where the door will fail. It will split open. These door lock reinforcers are equally useless as the screws would be in the wrong plane, further adding to the door splitting apart. They need to be bolted from one side of the door to the other. This door would fail pretty quickly at the lock area. The jamb will hold up but not the lock area.
The number one thing that he’s not telling you is it is the door it’s self you must have a strong reinforce design door along with a strong reinforce door frame that is already hard to kick in and that is built that way,Because if you have this kit and have a frenzy weak Unreinforced door and weak doorframe the burglars still can break in to your home so please get a high-quality strong security door and strong high-quality door frame and along with this security kit It will be very difficult or impossible for someone to break in, and also have proper lighting around your house in the back of your house and in the front of your house and on the side of your house with cameras. If you can afford it please do it that way.
The reinforcement plates on the door are more important than the jam on the handle side. When you break down a door with 3 in screws in the strike plates, the door always gives before the strike plate side. If you have to choose an evil here, use the door reinforcement plates and 3 inch screws in the strike plates on the jam. Of course reinforcing everything is way better if you can swing it. No pun intended lol.
I just ordered this! one question…I live in an apartment there are gaps underneath the door, at the top of the door, and the side of the door. how can I close those gaps? Do I just buy wood and measure it and nail it? what about the plate at the bottom of the door?how do I seal the gap between that and the door? it’s a little flimsy when I step on it and I want something stronger