Hey guys,
I've been beefing up the house. From what I've seen a lot of the door armor stuff works but most of it isn't much more valuable than 3" screws except in certain situations.
Essentially you want to have reinforcement to prevent blow out. So I think these are ideal to go around the deadbolt. I've seen larger ones but they have screws on the face and simply provide more pry points. You could use security screws but it still seems like a larger pry option. This smaller one stops easy blow out on the door (particularly wood doors) and gives little pry options to wiggle under. They can be put under regular door knobs as well. This is an alternative that doesn't give a pry option to the deadbolt but could be necessary in some bad areas where the people don't give up.
For locks a Grade 1 or 2 would be preferred. The ones I like after watching lots of lock picking videos are Abloy Protect2 (no one has picked) and Bowley's (maybe also unpicked). IF you aren't worried about picking these are extremely well made but I don't care much for the night latch. You can't bump key them but... not hard to pick overall. I won't tell you which I went with 8) Schlage does make a Grade 1 lock for only $160~ but I'd want to swap/modify the core for use as I think you could probably still bump it. Most other options you'd have to order from European websites.
For back/garage doors these are nice. I can tell you I've played with one and the aluminum is stout. But one reason to use it is it's harder to dislodge than a 2x4 metal hanger setup due to the top blocking pieces. This matters when you have a dog door for example. With them of course you should grab some 3" screws as well to tag studs as much as possible. And I'd still put 3" screws into the hinges and 1.5" inch screws into the door for the hinge. The rest should be reasonable secure so you don't just create a pivot point with a barricade. There are other options that can work well depending on if you have a dog door. I don't like anything that requires mounting to the door, or that wiggling hard will tend to loosen.
For garage/interior doors you may have just a simple locking door handle. Why not add something just incase? Give yourself some time to hear the intrusion if they somehow made it past the other ways. These can be placed far enough and are too hard to undo with a stick or coat hanger through a dog door IMO. There are larger and smaller ones. The larger one makes more sense to me. These are fairly easy to undo compared to larger barricades but I wouldn't trust them as much compared to a barricade or Grade 1/2 deadbolt.
Let's talk a bit about blowout at the deadbolt. If your deadbolt is only going into the jamb then it takes nothing more than a little shoulder bump to blow it out. You can't get the bolt farther. So you need to stop the blowout. There's a few options. One is a very long striker plate that tags the stud many times. From what I've seen they deform a bit when repeatedly attacked, but don't budge. There were some available that required you to remove the trim because they wrapped around the jamb and then screws went through both sides and into the stud; it was ideal except the install. What I currently think I like the most would be a different strike plate that has long posts that go into the stud. More on that in a minute.
Tips/Tricks/FYI:
If you think you will never get picked/bumped you may be pretty wrong. It does happen. Intruders like it easy and to appear like they're suppose to be there. It's true it isn't the most likely way but I've found plenty of people talking about the experience. Also the door locks you buy from the store have serials that match other locks on the shelf at the time so you can put in all matching key locks but it also means it's super easy for a smart burglar to have your same key.
BEFORE you do anything on the lock side of the door you should put in long screws on the hinge side because it may change what and how you do things on the lock side.
If you use a Tuff Strike plate I recommend a Forster bit to start because the wood jambs are made of can be a bit messy. Also spend a lot of time carefully cutting and marking the template. Drilling through the template is not a good idea unless you like a big mess.
You'll want a 6" 1/8th bit for pre-drilling for long screws.
Ok but if the doors are difficult won't they just go through the window?
Maybe, but it's not ideal because anyone watching is instantly signaled something is wrong. Luckily we have a way to deter them long enough that they won't stick around for the attention. This is the most expensive part but protective film on your glass is an amazing deterrent amazing deterrent. If you do it yourself the price isn't as bad. I'm not sure the guy in the video used m3 either.
This would be wise for patio doors etc as well. Sadly they're another whole topic on how to prevent people getting through them. Film and this could help. You need to prevent several weak points many of them have. We/you can dig in deeper on that as you please.
Garage Doors sadly are another weak point weak point. There's a few ways to prevent like the zip tie, but I've literally read about people using scissors on a stick. A shield seems like the best but I'd make your own shield because this one leaves something to be desired. I'd go MUCH wider. You have to stop them from pulling that string. You can remove the handle on the string but for obvious other safety concerns you have to consider if it won't be you and man hand strength yanking on it, or knowing where the handle is at.
Garage doors are often also easily hackible if they're of a certain age. It can be done with a small toy. What do you do? Well you can make a deadman's switch where you cut the power when you sleep or leave - button up the house by exiting the front door last. There are cellphone app power device you could use for the opener or a deadbolt on the garage-door, but be prepared to pay a subscription for it.
Modern garage door openers change their codes often but burglars sometimes park and wait for you to use yours and are able to figure out a coded use to use against you at another time, so they aren't full proof either, just FYI. In fact if someone is parked that you don't know and seems sus, maybe don't use the opener till they leave.
Other ways to deter? Yes they're often better than the physical.
Large barking dogs work pretty good! But not all dogs are aggressive towards humans. For example Pitbulls are miscatagorized so often that people think they're guard dogs but they are not. German Shepard though? I wouldn't test that.
CAMERAS! These work well IF they see them. You can get ones now with WiFi that will alert you on your phone so you can get up and yell at the burglar or whatever is necessary as these motion detect. Signs that say wireless home security also turn burglars off but some are wise to fake signs/bluffs.
So why use physical if cameras are so darn good? Well again they must be seen and/or you must be around. To be more clear though while these expenses may seem like, "well I'm in a good neighborhood I'm not sure I need them" or "I have other means of protection".... Let's talk about what DOES happen when someone violates your home. There is nothing unusual about PTSD by different members of the family unit. People that do suffer break ins report that had they spent the money it would have felt trivial compared to the repercussions from the mental effects everyone endures. And in some cases be prepared to move to regain peace.
Anyways just some thoughts, wishing everyone to be safe. (Btw I'm not sure why the youtube things come up or don't in the post, not my intention)
I've been beefing up the house. From what I've seen a lot of the door armor stuff works but most of it isn't much more valuable than 3" screws except in certain situations.
Essentially you want to have reinforcement to prevent blow out. So I think these are ideal to go around the deadbolt. I've seen larger ones but they have screws on the face and simply provide more pry points. You could use security screws but it still seems like a larger pry option. This smaller one stops easy blow out on the door (particularly wood doors) and gives little pry options to wiggle under. They can be put under regular door knobs as well. This is an alternative that doesn't give a pry option to the deadbolt but could be necessary in some bad areas where the people don't give up.
For locks a Grade 1 or 2 would be preferred. The ones I like after watching lots of lock picking videos are Abloy Protect2 (no one has picked) and Bowley's (maybe also unpicked). IF you aren't worried about picking these are extremely well made but I don't care much for the night latch. You can't bump key them but... not hard to pick overall. I won't tell you which I went with 8) Schlage does make a Grade 1 lock for only $160~ but I'd want to swap/modify the core for use as I think you could probably still bump it. Most other options you'd have to order from European websites.
For back/garage doors these are nice. I can tell you I've played with one and the aluminum is stout. But one reason to use it is it's harder to dislodge than a 2x4 metal hanger setup due to the top blocking pieces. This matters when you have a dog door for example. With them of course you should grab some 3" screws as well to tag studs as much as possible. And I'd still put 3" screws into the hinges and 1.5" inch screws into the door for the hinge. The rest should be reasonable secure so you don't just create a pivot point with a barricade. There are other options that can work well depending on if you have a dog door. I don't like anything that requires mounting to the door, or that wiggling hard will tend to loosen.
For garage/interior doors you may have just a simple locking door handle. Why not add something just incase? Give yourself some time to hear the intrusion if they somehow made it past the other ways. These can be placed far enough and are too hard to undo with a stick or coat hanger through a dog door IMO. There are larger and smaller ones. The larger one makes more sense to me. These are fairly easy to undo compared to larger barricades but I wouldn't trust them as much compared to a barricade or Grade 1/2 deadbolt.
Let's talk a bit about blowout at the deadbolt. If your deadbolt is only going into the jamb then it takes nothing more than a little shoulder bump to blow it out. You can't get the bolt farther. So you need to stop the blowout. There's a few options. One is a very long striker plate that tags the stud many times. From what I've seen they deform a bit when repeatedly attacked, but don't budge. There were some available that required you to remove the trim because they wrapped around the jamb and then screws went through both sides and into the stud; it was ideal except the install. What I currently think I like the most would be a different strike plate that has long posts that go into the stud. More on that in a minute.
Tips/Tricks/FYI:
If you think you will never get picked/bumped you may be pretty wrong. It does happen. Intruders like it easy and to appear like they're suppose to be there. It's true it isn't the most likely way but I've found plenty of people talking about the experience. Also the door locks you buy from the store have serials that match other locks on the shelf at the time so you can put in all matching key locks but it also means it's super easy for a smart burglar to have your same key.
BEFORE you do anything on the lock side of the door you should put in long screws on the hinge side because it may change what and how you do things on the lock side.
If you use a Tuff Strike plate I recommend a Forster bit to start because the wood jambs are made of can be a bit messy. Also spend a lot of time carefully cutting and marking the template. Drilling through the template is not a good idea unless you like a big mess.
You'll want a 6" 1/8th bit for pre-drilling for long screws.
Ok but if the doors are difficult won't they just go through the window?
Maybe, but it's not ideal because anyone watching is instantly signaled something is wrong. Luckily we have a way to deter them long enough that they won't stick around for the attention. This is the most expensive part but protective film on your glass is an amazing deterrent amazing deterrent. If you do it yourself the price isn't as bad. I'm not sure the guy in the video used m3 either.
This would be wise for patio doors etc as well. Sadly they're another whole topic on how to prevent people getting through them. Film and this could help. You need to prevent several weak points many of them have. We/you can dig in deeper on that as you please.
Garage Doors sadly are another weak point weak point. There's a few ways to prevent like the zip tie, but I've literally read about people using scissors on a stick. A shield seems like the best but I'd make your own shield because this one leaves something to be desired. I'd go MUCH wider. You have to stop them from pulling that string. You can remove the handle on the string but for obvious other safety concerns you have to consider if it won't be you and man hand strength yanking on it, or knowing where the handle is at.
Garage doors are often also easily hackible if they're of a certain age. It can be done with a small toy. What do you do? Well you can make a deadman's switch where you cut the power when you sleep or leave - button up the house by exiting the front door last. There are cellphone app power device you could use for the opener or a deadbolt on the garage-door, but be prepared to pay a subscription for it.
Modern garage door openers change their codes often but burglars sometimes park and wait for you to use yours and are able to figure out a coded use to use against you at another time, so they aren't full proof either, just FYI. In fact if someone is parked that you don't know and seems sus, maybe don't use the opener till they leave.
Other ways to deter? Yes they're often better than the physical.
Large barking dogs work pretty good! But not all dogs are aggressive towards humans. For example Pitbulls are miscatagorized so often that people think they're guard dogs but they are not. German Shepard though? I wouldn't test that.
CAMERAS! These work well IF they see them. You can get ones now with WiFi that will alert you on your phone so you can get up and yell at the burglar or whatever is necessary as these motion detect. Signs that say wireless home security also turn burglars off but some are wise to fake signs/bluffs.
So why use physical if cameras are so darn good? Well again they must be seen and/or you must be around. To be more clear though while these expenses may seem like, "well I'm in a good neighborhood I'm not sure I need them" or "I have other means of protection".... Let's talk about what DOES happen when someone violates your home. There is nothing unusual about PTSD by different members of the family unit. People that do suffer break ins report that had they spent the money it would have felt trivial compared to the repercussions from the mental effects everyone endures. And in some cases be prepared to move to regain peace.
Anyways just some thoughts, wishing everyone to be safe. (Btw I'm not sure why the youtube things come up or don't in the post, not my intention)
