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Most exterior doorway hinges & lockplates are attached to the doorframe with crappy little screws. That fault makes them relatively easy to kick in for a couple big bad guys.
To make them more secure, remove those short screws, drill the holes deeper, and replace them with 3" ones which will be screwed well into the door frame.
Do that for the hinges, striker plates, and lock plates (including the dead bolt assembly).
That will make it much more difficult for bad guys to break your doors down and force their way into your home.
You might want to do that for your "retreat" room elsewhere in the house too.
Not a cure-all, but a simple and wise precaution.
Last edited by Bo; 01-28-2012 at 07:11 PM..
Reason: Moved from Austin forum.
I vouch for this too. It just might fix a sagging door as well.
My front door was sagging so the first fix I was recommended to do was replace the screws. Turns out half the screws they used on the hinges were barely 1/2" long..definitely not right.
I've read if a couple big bad guys want in your home this isn't going to be much but an annoyance to them. They will get in if they want. Worst case by breaking a window instead.
Also, most homes have only a single-cylinder dead bolt on the front and back doors. Pop one small pane of glass, reach in and the house is wide open. We have double-cylinder dead bolts with the key within reach but not stuck in the lock. Again, it won't stop someone intent on breaking in; but, it will slow them down or make them look for another target.
ScoPro's tip is especially effective on homes that are much older. Back when 'real' wood was used in home construction, the doors were framed in using some seriously hard lumber. Definitely want to pre-drill those holes before installing longer screws. Unfortunately, the soft, younger wood used in construction nowadays is less capable from a 'holding' standpoint. Still makes sense to attach strikeplates, hinges and locksets with more capable hardware. On a much newer home, it can be as simple as replacing one screw in each component.
BTW, if the screw hole is stripped out, fill it with some sort of wood coated with wood glue(a wood golf tee works in many cases; even wooden matchsticks will work in a pinch). Tap it into the hole, snap/cut it off at the surface, pre-drill and re/install the old/new screws. In a perfect project, you would let the glue dry, but we know that's not absolutely necessary. Don't over-tighten any screws, lest you pull the frame/lock/door out of alignment.
My "land mines" are german shepherds and they will explode on anyone not invited on the property, they're not mean by design just protective of their turf...they can "smell" a "rat".
My "land mines" are german shepherds and they will explode on anyone not invited on the property, they're not mean by design just protective of their turf...they can "smell" a "rat".
We don't have home invations in our little city (knock on wood). Are there really that many home invations going on?? Scary stuff - well better safe than sorry I guess.
Last edited by Cattknap; 01-29-2012 at 08:31 AM..
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