Today I started tearing apart the wall around the front door and window. The single pane window had to go. It was letting water leak in, spent most of the day cutting out rot under the window, plus the old window was letting dust blow in, allowing too much heat to escape in the winter and heat to get in when the air conditioner is on. The wall was uninsulated. All the electrical was that 50+ year old obsolete 2 wire, 14ga no ground stuff. So then there was the front door really nothing wrong aside from it only being able to keep honest people out. The standard design that keeps honest people out has the door frame in a wooden stud box, then you cover around the edge of the door frame with sheet rock and trim. Then when some one applies boot to door the door striker blows through the door frame and trim like it isn't even there. So I decided to double up the studs around the door and instead of flimsy pointless trim going round the door I am going to screw 3/4 yeller poplar around the door, taking the place of the flimsy sheet rock and trim sandwich, making the door frame a lot stronger. I had put 2.5 inch deck screws in the door knobs strike plate that were anchored into the wall stud a few years ago. Now the door will have those long screws anchoring the strike plate and a poplar "trim" reinforcement all around. If some one is trying to bust the door down I need time to load my flintlock, or if the agressor is the least bit intelligent they may figure the door is locked and reinforced for their own protection and go find less of a door to mess with. I am going to try and put up pictures of it with my phone here in a bit. Normally I use digital camera and laptop, but not today.
Doubled my studs and put 1/4" angle over them years ago, along with a storm door to buy a few seconds. Good post on an overlooked issue!
Ditto with stud reinforcement! Also, have an 18" long, heavy steel, striker plate and reinforced, capped hinges! Steel door. A steel storm/security door outside. Oh! And a Beretta 92, in reach!
my front door is solid wood and covered on each side with 1//6th sheet steel . it will stop a regular pistole rnd. and I have rubber seal around the whole door ---no heat lose there. learned that years back when growing up using a wood cook stove to keep warm --you have to look for all the heat lose and stop it
Front doors that open inward are so inviting. Front doors that open outward are a lot harder to kick in. Oh, here's a gag I'm not using right now, but it's a hoot for those that have a suitably odd sense of humor. If your door opens inwards, make a door jammer out of steel pipe that runs from a socket in the door to a socket in the floor. But make it from two pieces of pipe that telescope. And put a honkin' strong spring inside of or around the pipes. Make it one with about 300#/inch of compression strength. Now when the average door kicker arrives, he breaks his foot of the door because it gives the force of his kick right back to him. Plus he winds up in the middle of the front yard looking up at all the pretty stars. And when the fat guy in the SWAT suit arrives with his two-handed door ram, every swing will pop the door open about 2", and then slam it shut again instantly. And it won't absorb the power of his his swing: it'll bounce his ram right back at him like he hit the Mother of All Trampolines. Maybe he loses his grip in surprise, and the ram goes flying thru the window of the SWAT Van. What could be funnier than that? Or maybe the guy behind him has his beeg brass cojones lined up jusuuuut right... Oh! That could be even funnier yet! Until they eventually get inside, of course.
Now with pictures. My wife says she doesn't like the way it looks but that is what she always says about projects just after the demo or half way through. My constitutional carry piece:
A simple 2X4 wit a V at the top for the door knob and a rubber pad at the base will slow most intrusions enough to get your self ready, no matter what the door is made of. Windows are the more weak point of any house . Cameras both obvious and hidden however are a great deterrent , because whether they do any thing or not, there is a record of their presents . The actual recording device can be hidden under the floor or in the attic out of common view and monitors can be any where in the house you frequent most . or even use "I" phones. If security is that important , I believe one should take the initiative on there own to set it up. Learn.
Had to take the door off to get a new appliance in the house. The screws holding the hinges on were little 1/2'' jobs that only go into the door frame. It would have taken a lot of force to shear those screws out, not so much to break the door frame, now it will take a lot more. Now the hinges are screwed into the stud. I worked hard tearing apart that wall to double up the studs and put in the poplar trim on the latch side then left the stubby screws in the hinges.
Next to the last break-in they ended up splitting a solid wood door down the center when everything else remained in place. After I replaced it with a Steel Hurricane Door, I had to have the Constables drag them away to serve their sentences!
