House Security?

[lovelatious]

I'm looking to make my front door as secure as poss, thinking of buying a new one...can anyone advise the cheapest, most secure one available? Am thinking that the one I've got currently is probably not the best...
Or maybe advise the best way to secure it, ie with a door grill? Not the most informed with matters like this so if anyone can advise the best way to secure my house (do I need something for windows aswell?) I would really appreciate the advice, thanks,

[wazaaap]

woodmaster - hoods woods - he has an urban survival series.

you can get them via demonoid.

[tracker]

I'm looking to make my front door as secure as poss, thinking of buying a new one...can anyone advise the cheapest, most secure one available? Am thinking that the one I've got currently is probably not the best...
Or maybe advise the best way to secure it, ie with a door grill? Not the most informed with matters like this so if anyone can advise the best way to secure my house (do I need something for windows aswell?) I would really appreciate the advice, thanks,


unfortunatly , as you will guess , it would be near impossible to say what door you might need . although there are a good brand name for doors , other things need to be taken into account.
like?
what type of door frame you have
how much wall space etc either side of the frame
the type of house you live in ( if its listed etc because listed buildings are only allowed sertain doors etc )
how much light if any that you may wish fr the door to allow inside etc .

i hope some one here can give some advice .
although it will be limited .

maybe ?
call a specialist in or something , just beware that some specialist will try to sell you a product that is helpefull to their own companies .


good luck on this subject , hope things go well .:cool:

[lovelatious]

Good stuff, thanks

[tom bombadil]

One question that I would ask too is what are you protecting from?

I ask cos if it is from such an organisation as the gov. then you are only aiming to slow them down. If it is from a crook, then it must start off as a visual deterant.

If this visual deterant is also to deter the gov. then the fact that they can see the obstruction means that they have the upper hand and can act on it in the first instance, rather than catching them by surprise.

I hope these things help.

On the same theme, there is a company in Aus. that makes windows that, on the outside. look like a cake shop type of window, that has many one foot by one foot square panes in it. But inside it has a frame-work of re-enforcement bars made into a mesh that can withstand a ramming car. And these things are for the general public!!! I saw it on a tv moving show, so I dont recall any names. But maybe worth a look.


Tom.

[tom bombadil]

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.home-guard.net/images/HG/Homeguardgencover.png&imgrefurl=http://www.home-guard.net/home.html&h=385&w=375&sz=311&hl=en&start=39&um=1&usg=__vcC9dMb7nZFHrjOaew5r-abk_c4=&tbnid=APMEdkoNhbfKPM:&tbnh=123&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsurcurity%2Bwindows%2Bfor%2Bthe%2Bhom e%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26cl ient%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26sa%3DN

http://www.nulookwindows.com.au/security-screens.asp

[dawnuk]

well, I was looking at my parents house and thinking that if rioting and looting happened here(UK) their house would be a nightmare to secure.... :( Oh dear...

UPVC doors and patio doors that done't fit well.... completely useless....a patio door from W**es that lok like a 6 yrs old kid coud gemmy it open.......

nightmare!

[tom bombadil]

Why not put a few 4x4 or 3×3 inch wood bars across the door. Some long screws into the frame or on the wall will hold anything. If you use your noodle and allow the door to open a bit after the first impact to force it, you will be able to bash the limb or hands or feet that they might place beyond the threshold. Have a two pound club hammer to hand.

The wood will sit in a frame that is screwed to the wall. You don't attach the wood to the wall in any way. You can use your noddle again to find an appropriate 'frame'.

The effect would be to be able to just drop them in place in times of disstress.


Also. You can't beat a dead bolt or two.

Also, you could replace the wood and frames with wires. I have seen these a few years back on the news. They are bolted at one end and hook on the other end. You can use ready made cycle lock extention wires for few quid. The idea is that as they are used, the wires dig into the door and it becomes un -negotiable.


Nelly.

[rbl_4nik8r]

Some good ideas here so far, here are a few more to think of.

1. Steel door that opens out not in, much easier to secure, also get a 1" drill for cement and put 2 holes through the foundation as far down as you can go about 6-8" from the end, then get some 3/4" rebarb that stands a good foot or more out of the floor against the door. Getting them bent like an L would make it easy to put in and out. This works well with both doors moving in or out.

2. Would do the same to the top of the door with metal brackets anchored into the studs.

3. U type of metal brackets attached to the frame of the house not door on both sides of the door above the door knob that can hold a 2x4 across it.

With these simple steps it would really slow down anyone that was trying to get in with a door ram, and there is no way someone would kick this door in, or pull it open.

I guess a lot depends on what your trying to stop and who, in my line of thinking its much better to make your own door where there was none :D

[apollo_gnomon]

Doors that open outward as mentioned above are non-standard for residential applications but common for commercial applications where fire safety is an issue, so you might look into commercial/industrial supply rather than HomeDepot of equivalent. Of course, you will be looking at a steel door frame at that point, so serious carpentry will be involved.

An ordinary solid-core residential door can be made much more secure, but it takes some doing. The most important thing is connecting the door to the heavier lumber inside the wall. Ordinary door installation is not really adequate.

Have you ever seen in a movie where a character has a dozen locks on the door? Silly. It only takes a couple to do the job of making it harder to kick in. Place deadbolts at the same height above floor as the hinges and the door is held in six places. Also, replace the screws in the hinges and deadbolt sockets with the longest, thickest screws you can fit into the countersinks or even bore out the countersinks to take larger screwheads.

The board you see around the door on both the hinge and latch side is just trim, 3/4" or maybe just 5/8" thick. Behind that is an air gap, on average about a half inch with shims in a couple of places, and then there are a couple of 2"x4" studs, usually 2 for a total of 3" of lumber thickness. Occasionally, there will be 3 studs in there on one or maybe even both sides, generally only for oversized or double doors where the carpenter decided the longer header needed 2 jack studs for support.
http://www.community.homedepot.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/17911iAF3755AD2C18515E/image-size/original?v=mpbl-1&px=-1
A 2" screw holding the hinges and deadbolt sockets is only going to have about a quarter of an inch of metal into the studs. A 2 1/2" screw is better, somewhat, but a 3 or 3 1/2" screw is better still. I've put 4 1/2" screws into doors for a couple of clients. At that point the screw shanks are bearing on more mass of the lumber so kicking the door in requires breaking more of the lumber or snapping the screws. By adding extra connections to the lumber with extra deadbolts top and bottom and using the longest screws that will work you increase the number of screws that have to snap and increase the amount of wood that needs to break for the door to move.

Pro Tip: big screws this long will snap and piss you off if you don't predrill the holes for them. Use a drill bit just a squidge smaller than the shank of the screw. The threads stick out farther and will cut into the wood, but the shank isn't compressing the wood as much when the screw goes in so it won't break. This will have the added benefit of making sure the screws go in straight and don't get caught in a tough layer of wood grain and go crooked. Also, you can lubricate the screw shaft by dragging it across a candle to load some wax into the threads. The heat of friction will melt the wax forming a slick layer as it goes in.