Moved out our front wall to enclose part of the unused front porch and installed a new 3-0 door.
There is only less than 3/4 inch (see pic) keep the bad guys out (if someone wanted to kick the door in). Framed with 2 by 6s and 1/2 inch cdx on the exterior.
This is an out-of-box door. The door trim is flush with the plywood.
Where did I go wrong?
How can this be made more secure?
Thanks for your time.
Replies
You didn't do anything wrong--that's how most doors look before the casing goes on.
Last year I got some doors, Thermatrue maybe, that had a wrap-around metal plate that reinforced the weak area. Maybe they're available aftermarket?
Now you know how to break into a house.
Use long screws that will go through the strike plates, through the jamb and into the stud. If I am reading your picture and question right. Shimming in that area will help keep things tight. May not be fine homebuilding but I often use some of the gold anodized screws you can get in up To 3 1/2". They blend fairly close to most inexpensive brass. Also use them to put in a couple of the hinges the pull them tight to jamb and stud. Usually the top one.
Rip and install a filler piece that fills the gap between the jamb of the door where the strikes are and the framing. Drill a hole to accept the full throw of the deadbolt into the well secured filler.
Predrill and install screws long enough to attach the strike plates and reach into the framing.
_______________________________________________________________
Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
There is less than a quarter inch to bite into. Due to the location of our house, being near a road, we spent extra $$$ for sound resistant glass and was planning on using 5/8 drywall to deaden the road noise.So there is really nothing I can do from the sound of it.Thanks though
You can put a strong tie strap (12 to 24 inches long) over the area. You will need to route out the back of your trim to accept it. Also use 2 to 3 inch stainless screws in the deadbolt plate.
thanks
i have always wondererd... how did you respond to all?
bc,
After clicking on reply and the message window opens in the From/To: line in the upper left of the window is a scroll down menu arrow.
When you click that and the menu window opens, a long list of names appear and 'All' is always at the top beneath the poster's name you are replying to.
Clicking that 'All' or any of the other names listed there, will address the post you are making to that particular name.
Cheersoh beloved garlic live forever
using a mac dont see it... thats probably the problem. many thanks!
You are probably in Basic View.IIRC down at the bottom of the message window is the option to go to Advanced View.
it's up at the top and a drop down arrow
You need to remove and reinstall the entire door and jamb.........the whole thing is installed too deep in the rough openingThe finished INTERIOR drywall needs to be flush with the Jamb......then the lock/strike will have support from the framing...........and the door interior will line-up with the wall surfaces ........(asyouhaveitnow......you'll have to shim the caseings almost an inch to trimout the door) The wide jambs may need to be trimmed on the exterior to suit your construction.....
We're thinking alike. Looks like he needs to pull it, break down the jamb, rip to the correct width, and rehang.
I guess that's what I get for buy a pre-hung Stanley fiberglass door.
Nail or screw some hardwood blocking 1x3 or 1x4 onto the framing so you can get some 3½" screws to hold the deadbolt striker plate.
May neighbors respect You, and troubles neglect You.
Gord
"There is only less than 3/4 inch (see pic) keep the bad guys out ..."
You have 3/4" from the inner edge of the strike opening, 7/8" from the screws. That looks like a Schlage lockset and deadbolt, so there should have been a heavy security plate and long screws with it.
The security plate fits behind the normal catch plate and it has screw holes offset to one side of center (7/8 + 3/8 = about 1 1/4" back from the jamb edge) along with a pair of #12x4" screws that will go deep into the trimmer and a little ways into the king stud.
I am a little confused, did you say you had a layer of 5/8" sheet rock under your inside paneling? If so, the security screws might not get much of the trimmer, but if you slid a pair of 4" reinforcing straps horizontally between Jamb and trimmer and aligned the hole on one end of each of them with the screw of the deadbolt security plate and another hole with a long screw through the jamb and into the trimmer, you would be re-inforcing the deadbolt with screws offset 3 inches or more and set deep into the trimmer.
Then your bad guys would never be able to break the latch out - they would have to smash the glass, reach in and turn the thumb latch.
That should make the missus feel more secure. :)
BruceT
It's a Schlage. From the outside jam, there is about 3/4 an inch to the screw holes. Where the plates go was already mortised (sp) and the dead bolt was mortised to high so the top plate for the dead bolt has barely a quarter inch of wood - not enough to drill and screw.If I were to put the longs screws in, they would maybe catch a "fuzz" of the 2x6 stud. I'd probably have to remove the door to put the straps in, right?Thanks for the input.
If you have room for shims, there must be room to slide a pair of 4" reinforcing straps in. Do you have the deadbolt security plate with its screw holes in the upper and lower corners? Those are the ones you want to anchor with the offset strap. Pre-measure for the holes. You can drill a countersunk hole right through the jamb and then run a long screw through the hole in the strap on into the trimmer.BruceT
A long time ago I worked for a door and window installation company. We did a lot of kicked-in door repairs and replacements. Roughly half the time, the jamb had been split. I could usually put a jamb back together. The other half the time, the door was split, a much more expensive job to make good. The door would usually have to be replaced completely.
Thieves often decided to leave the glass alone. I think that's because the sound of breaking glass will alert the neighbours where the single bang of a door being kicked in will be ignored as it is harder to identify what that sound is.
All the advice you have gotten so far, which is all fairly good advice, is to strengthen the jamb side. But, if somebody decides to break into your house through the door, you have just increased the cost of the break-in.
There's a jamb reinforcement that I recommend which will swing a secondary latch around the edge of the door when you close the deadbolt. Those things, when properly fastened to the studs, are bloody hard to kick in. The name of it escapes me at the moment. Maybe somebody else knows what I'm talking about. Your thief will often move on looking for an easier target.
It isn't appropriate to use them everywhere, of course. For instance, I didn't bother to install them in my own house as a thief could break out every shard of glass in the place and nobody would hear a thing. We rarely even close the deadbolts. No point.
Ron
What is your street address, I will be right over. ;-)
reinvent,
We do have a medium large dog, half sharpei, which is a rather aggressive breed. He likes strangers - for lunch.
Ron
I have done a bunch of doors for insurance too and those slide over locks are tough but when they kick in the door those things turn the door to splinters and rip off the trim and will even break the stud.
If it were a priority I would use the bolt that goes into the floor and comes up at an angle like a chair under the doorknob scenereo.Not sure it would stop a crook but the impact to open that would have to wreak havoc on knee and or ankle.
ANDYSZ2
WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?
REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST
Justin, for clarification, how much is the inside edge of the door jamb sticking past the inside face of the framing? It's hard to tell from the pic, but it looks like too much to me.
just shy 3/4 inch
It really should be about 1/2" proud on the inside, unless they knew you planned on 5/8" rock, which they didn't. I would move the jamb out so that the inside edge is flush with where your rock will be, otherwise you'll just have more problems when you go to put the interior trim on.
The security screws in the strike plate backup are off-center, towards the framing, so they'll go in OK.
David,
I am with you. If it is a 2X6 wall and it is 3/4" past that means the jamb is 7 5/16". Never seen one unless custom. I can't tell from the pic but i think it is the outside we are viewing. I think we need an inside pic as well. Just a guess, this could be the first exterior pre hung door for the OP.Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood
Edited 11/12/2006 7:31 pm ET by stevent1
Jusstin,Dou you have a pic from the other side of the door?Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood
don't know if these will help, but here goes
If that's the outside, there's no need for long screws and such, because the bad guys are simply going to turn the thumb latch and come on in. ;)BruceT
You're right. Why can't the door jamb be removed and either rip the jamb on the exterior side or pad out the brickmold. With 2X6 studs, that jamb must be really deep. Maybe the door is set inside the rough opening rather than on top of the sheathing. Something was not done properly.Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood
I have apartments that I rent. On jambs of all of my apartment doors I add an 1/8 inch piece of steel reenforcement that's the width of the jamb and about a foot long. The latch and lock's plate screw to this steel with machine screws and the steel screws to the back of the jamb with about 10 or 12 wood screws. For extra strength I have added 2 more long screws through the finish side of the jam, through the steel and into the jack stud. I counter sink and fill those 2 holes.
I realize this makes it sound like the apartments are in a bad area of town. They are not. It's just that if one of my tenants were to be hurt by an intruder and I hadn't done everything I could have to prevent it I couldn't live with myself.
thanks.
1/16" steel plate behind the jamp works well.
I have used replacement high security stike plates that are 12" or 18" in length, similar to these on page 56
http://www.don-jo.com/catalog/
they have 4 longer screws further back on the door rabbit
Added
lately I have been getting these from the door suppliers, or try a locksmith shop
Edited 11/13/2006 1:07 am ET by ELoewen
thanks. even with the screws placed far to the "outside" there is not enough stud for screws to bit into.
Given that this is enclosing a "porch" area and since this is a prehung Stanley unit I am going to guess that it does not have a brick mold on it and that the aluminum threashold has been lined up flush with the slab edge. This would push the door to the inside by 1 inch.
When the door unit is installed "properly" the threashold will stick out into the air 1" and will not be well supported.
thanks.yep. that sounds right. the outside trim is flush with the outside plywood.
Thanks for all the input!
If this is an "out of the box" jamb, it's probably a 4 5/8". If the outside casing is "flush with the plywood" it's installed wrong,exterior casing should sit on sheathing.
Remove door, measure wall width including sheetrock (3/4 + 5 1/4 + 5/8 = 6 5/8), remove exterior casing, rip jamb extension (6 5/8 - 4 5/8 = 2"),add to jamb, reapply casing, voila !
SteveC
thanks. it does look like i've got to pull the darn thing out and reset it