Besides the roof and walls, doors could be considered one of the home's most important defense mechanisms.
When you think about security and safety, what is the first point of access to the outside? Your doors!
In 2017, there were over 1.4 million burglaries in the United States. Protect yourself from potential burglaries by reinforcing doors around your home.
If you'd like to learn about why door reinforcement can help with your security, keep reading and find out how to do it at home.
How to Get Started
There are certain parts of a door that are typically weaker. Whenever you're reinforcing a door, always focus on the weakest link first. This will help to make sure your efforts aren't wasted.
Strike Plates
A traditional strike plate is called the latch strike plate. This is what helps the door open and shut with two different movements.
First, if pressure is applied to the doorknob, the door can open after the latch retracts. The second motion happens when the latch retracts after touching the lip, which is the curved, metal part on the door's frame.
The lip and the place on the frame where the latch attaches are what make up a traditional strike plate. While these are not made with safety as the top priority, they help with the main functionality of the door: opening and closing.
A door's strike plate is crucial when it comes to security and protection. A dependable strike plate will provide extra resistance if someone is trying to break in.
How can you make your strike plate stronger?
If you only have a lock on your doors, you may want to consider upgrading to a deadbolt instead. You can add it to the door along with the lock in order to increase the security of the strike plate.
Be sure to check the length of your strike plate screws. If they are less than an inch long, you should replace them with longer screws that would be harder to knock out of place.
It is possible to add the deadbolt to the strike plate. This will help improve the strength of the door overall. If you're looking for maximum protection, this is one of the best options.
Door Jambs
Another simple way to strengthen doors is through the door jambs.
A door jamb is the part of the frame that holds the door where it is supposed to be. It holds the bulk of the weight and lets the door open and shut properly when other components of the door are functioning as they should.
This part of the door is one of the most important things to focus on when you want to prevent your door being kicked in or pushed open forcefully.
Reinforcing the door jamb components is not difficult and is generally something that can be done by the homeowner themselves.
You can reinforce how the door jamb connects with the door to make it more difficult for it to be broken apart. Adding another type of material to connect the two together will help with this goal.
The best materials to use are metal or wood. Esure they are screwed as deeply into the frame as possible. This will give your door an extra layer of protection and allow it to be more resistant against any unwanted force.
Supplies You Will Need
In reality, there are not many items you need to perform the two previously mentioned tasks.
Reinforcing strike plates and door jambs is very effective. And lucky for you, it's also very easy to do.
In order to perform this type of work, you need:
- Drill
- Correct size drill bit
- Phillips head bit for drill
- Safety goggles
- Work gloves
- Extra metal or wood attachment (for door jamb)
You can also replace the strike plate or any other part of the door to upgrade to another option, but this is not always necessary.
If your door is quite old, it may be beneficial to add a larger strike plate that covers more of the door. Or consider making some upgrades to your door, hinge, and jamb shields.
Benefits of Reinforcing Doors
The biggest and most obvious reason that you would want to reinforce your door components is safety. A stronger door means better protection from burglaries or home invasions.
No one likes the idea of someone breaking into their home. It's the ultimate violation of your safety as well as your privacy. So, taking the steps to prevent and combat the possibility of it happening is a smart choice.
Another benefit to reinforced doors is durability. Doors that are more durable will last longer and need less work in the long run.
While you still need to regularly maintain your doors, stronger doors will obviously last longer and require less maintenance over time.
Check out this informational guide for additional details on door frame reinforcement. Many reinforcements you can make are simple enough to do on your own, but don't be afraid to contact a professional if needed.
Keep Your Doors Secure
While reinforcing doors may seem like a simple task, it is one that will definitely benefit you over time.
Not only will you get additional security around your home, but you'll also get doors that are longer lasting.
To find out about other ways to improve your home safety and security, check out the rest of the blog posts our website.
