On Aug 18, 3:28*am, "George Jetson" wrote:
"RicodJour" wrote in message

...
On Aug 17, 5:49 pm, Wilfred Xavier Pickles
wrote:





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?

To be secure you really have to reinforce both sides *- the door and
the jamb. *There's also the visual deterent. *Your door will look
tougher to get into so they'll be less likely to try and go for an
easier target.

Check Amazon for:
Security Strike, Brushed Nickel 6"H x 1-1/8"W by Mintcraft $8.32
Door Reinforcer, 4" x 4 1/2" Brushed Nickel by Mintcraft $7.79
Door Reinforcer, 4" x 9" Brushed Nickel by Mintcraft $9.76

Please note I came in right in the middle of your budget range at
around $30. *I expect extra points when you do your grading. *

R

I have seen a door kicked in twice and even the cheapest Kwicksets held
while the wood frame split. *I used a 6' x 1/2" x 1/2" x 1/8" piece of angle
iron screwed in behind the molding with 3 1/2" deck screws. *some grinding
around the strike plate was required. *Add another 12 or so screws around
the perimeter if the door frame wasn't screwed in real well the first time.
Add small steel plates sandwiched around the locks if the door is not strong
enough.

It took me about 3 hrs but the next guys really gonna work up a sweat
kicking his way in. *Cost about $15 per door.

If you don't mind the ghetto look put an extra deadbolt down low that says
go away and try the neighbors.

--
They can have my command prompt when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

spend money on the strike plate f you want.........

but get a deadbolt with a LONG arm that goes not only in the sstrike
plate but into the framing...

this will slow them down a lot. but remember they may just look for
another way

a yappy dog can do wonders to discourage intruders, so can a alarm
system or just signs warning of alarm system........