On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:48:05 +0100, a certain chimpanzee, David J
randomly hit a keyboard and produced:

The front door on my house, which was built in 1997, is made of metal.
I'm not sure what metal exactly, but a magnet sticks to it.

Although the door structure is metal the complete side edge section,
where the lock protudes, is a wooden insert. Presumably there is also
some insulation inside the door.

The lock is stamped ERA, and looks identical to the 5 lever deadlock
shown on their website he http://www.era-security.com/Mortice.html

There are door handles on both sides, as shown. For slightly better
security, there are also top & bottom rack bolts and a door chain.

There are no hinge bolts, or London/Birmingham bars fitted, and it
opens inwards.

The one advantage with this arrangement is that it is impossible for
me to accidentally lock myself out. The main disadvantage is that
during the day, when the front door is unlocked, anybody can simply
open the front door and walk in!

Is there a simple method for me to solve this disadvantage and
possibly improve the security of the door?

This is one of the jobs for which I need a round tuit. I've bought the
night latch lock, and read up how to fit it from t'interweb
(http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/d...cut/metal.htm).
Now all I need is the courage to attack my door with a hole cutter!

In the meantime, I always as a matter of habit turn the rack bolt.
This might not work if you're not the only one living in the house. If
so, you could lock the mortice lock from the inside if someone's out,
and take the key out of the lock (so that someone else can open it
from the outside).
--
Hugo Nebula
"If no one on the Internet wants a piece of this,
just how far from the pack have you strayed?"