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aemeijers aemeijers is offline
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Default Reinforced (door) strike plates

On 8/18/2011 12:55 PM, Twayne wrote:
In ,
Wilfred Xavier typed:
Little brick bungalow in a midwest US city. Quikset door
locks.

When I moved in 25+ years ago, everybody had just
knob-set locks on their doors. Burglars got more active,
folks added deadbolts, mostly with the little
Mickey-Mouse screws holding lite strike plates. Thats
what I got now.

Burglars keep getting worse and worse, just kicking in
rear doors. I need to reinforce my locks.

I got front and rear doors, each with a knob-set and a
deadbolt. Old lite strike plates are about 2 1/4 " long.
There is about 1 1/2 " between the
plates on the rear door, about 3" betwixt on the front.

I figure I'd be reasonably secure if I could get, say, a
single very heavy duty strike plate to handle both locks
on each door using 6 or 8 3.5" screws driven into the 2
2x4's in the door frame.

I checked Lowes and HD online, stopped by 1 hardware
store, called a
locksmith. Doesn't look like they have anything like what
I need (the usual case).

Any ideas? Whats the best I could do for, say, $20-40 per
door, installing myself?

Thx,
Will


That's good for the strike plates it would appear. But don't forget the door
itself; is it hearty enough to withstand a good hit? How about the hinges?
How about the door frame all the way aroun d?


(sorry for the direct reply- still fighting with Tbird.)

Strike plates won't help with a typical thin-jambed wood front door from
that era. A solid kick will shatter the door where it is drilled out for
the knob and deadbolt. Unless there is a charming old wood door the
house would look wrong without, just buy a quality steel-clad prehung
door and install it, and be done with it. Make sure it is installed and
shimmed and insulated properly. Another advantage- unless you want the
ability to have the door open for air on those few balmy spring and fall
days, you can deep-six the entire storm door. The heat savings alone
will pay for the door in a few years.

--
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