Secured doors – we had burglars kick in our front steel door (yes, the dead lock was engaged, but unfortunately the security alarm wasn’t). The intruders were very selective, took all the wife’s good jewelry…costume stuff left behind. Sheriff says that this M/O has been occurring in our NE Ohio community. They ring the door bell and/or call the home to see if anyone (or an animal) is present, and if not, then kick in the door, stay hidden and listen for 5 minutes to see if an alarm (or a dog) is engaged, and if not, then enter. They first check for exit routes before ransacking the house primarily for jewelry & cash (left the big bulky electronics alone, even though the keys to my van (with my tools inside) were in the ignition in the attached garage). Deputy said that the vandals seem to prefer houses like ours with MB in front so that they can monitor the driveway. Spent the day taking inventory and canceling credit cards even though they were left on the dresser; will be notifying the bank ‘cause they had our check book out. They could have photographed/recorded most anything. Will see about getting jump on potential identity theft tomorrow- i.e. old paychecks with social security numbers one them were thrown about the room. Only good thing is that they didn’t trash the house – had to be pros.
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Needless to say, I now need a new and more secure front door. So is there a particular brand that stands out as being more secure, and/or are there techniques/ devices that should be incorporated for adding security when installing a new door? Thanks in advance – jimz
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Wow. Hope every thing turnes out OK. I install plenty of doors, but couldn't tell you a better one from the rest security wise.
I've never liked doors with sidelights for security reasons, and always try to do a good job getting long deadbolt screws in. I guess unless it's a heavy commercial door, I've always thought if they wanna get in, they will. As you said, this wasn't their first time! I'd be willing to bet any door would have suffered the same fate!
Sorry for the losses! Hope insurance come through for you!
ADH Carpentry & Woodwork
Quality, Craftsmanship, Detail
Ouch! What failed with the door? Surely it wasn't the door itself?
I had previous employees try to kick down a steel door on my shop on two consecutive nights. Unsuccessful. Bent deadbolt was the only damage. Apparently too drunk to try a window.
Unless you want to live in a vault, electronics will be the only good answer. And, as you now know, susceptible to user error.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
I'm sorry you got burgled. Bummer.
Been thinking about some of this before. My conclusions of things that can be done to make things tougher:
Some time ago I read about lining both sides of the rough opening, a slightly oversized one, with quarter inch aluminum plates the same depth as the studs. These plates were drilled and countersunk in a zig-zag pattern to accept deck screws every few inches. It can also be glued.
The door and hardware is installed with screws through the aluminum plates and into the wood. The idea being that this greatly reinforces opening. It largely eliminates the wood splitting and spreads the load from dead bolts making the door more sound.
The other tip is to install the doors so they open out. Any kicking working against the stops. They would have to pry or pull the door open. This also frees up space inside.
Install at least two widely spaced dead bolts and at least three interlocking hinges with non-removable pins. These spreads any load over a wider area and makes it harder to spread the frame as you have to spread a longer length of frame as opposed to just the center.
Combine the three, aluminum reinforcements the full length of the door on both sides, door installed to open out, two deadbolts and hinges that have difficult to remove pins and interlock with the frame, and you have a system that makes breaking in much harder. Thieves are lazy and if they have to work too hard, if they didn't mind working they would hold a job, they will find easier pickings.
The other tip is to install the doors so they open out.
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If the door opens out, the hinge pins will be on the outside where they are easily removed. Once the hinge pins are removed or the hinges cut off, the door can be easily opened with the deadbolt still engaged.
Sorry about your burglary. I have found if you want a lot of light that a nice heavy full view door is the Andersen Full View which has a nice 3 point locking system that i dont think could be kicked in and you could probably special order Herculite or other type of shatter proof glass.
I agree about sidelights making it hard to make it burglar proof unless you go to a commercial grade $$$$$
I don't understand what difference having sidelights makes. If their going to break in thru the sidelights they can also kick in a window and get in that way. H*ll most houses these days have french doors somewhere, lots of ground level windows, etc, sidelights are probably the least worrisome issue. Other than the fact you could reach thru them and unlock the door, assuming you just have a handle on the inside, not another key.
Robert
a dead bolt is of little value if does not come with a heavy duty strike plate that has fasteners that go into the framing
always install a heavy duty strike plate
http://www.thekeyshop.com/torturetest.asp
The reason they don't break
The reason they don't break windows is they don't want to chance getting cut and leaving blood. As for the door, it takes commercial hardware and reinforcements attached to the framing to prevent a forced entry. A simple motion sensor light aimed at the entrance and any kind of loud alarm siren might be just as effective.
Another concern is "lock bumping". Most locks can be easily opened in 30 seconds or less by an untrained person through "bumping". Worse yet, it leaves no sign of forced entry, making insurance claims more difficult.
Kwikset makes some "bump proof" locks, other manufacturers are starting to offer them, too.