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Every time I read about a home invasion in my city or even neighborhood, I think what if that was my house? And then I start looking around for ways to better secure my home. And early in this journey, I thought about the weakest area's of my house with the least visibility. Turns out for me, this is a side door leading to the garage. I've watched too many videos on YouTube that show how easy it is to kick down a door.
The main problem is the strike plate used in traditional home building. The strike plate is the metal strip of metal that is attached to your door frame and where the lock secures to the door frame. Originally, the screws only function was to hold the strike plate to the door. Therefore, those screws were not very long. The result is with enough force (such as a forward kick), the shorter screws give way. So one solution is to buy a newer strike plate with more and longer screws. Installation just requires removal of the old strike plate and add more screws and possibly create a new strike hole if it doesn't already exist. A new strike plate is the recommended solution if the door you are securing get's a lot of traffic or needs to be unlocked from the outside.
A second, or complementary, solution is to add a door reinforcement latch. Using this would be similar to deadbolts. Similar to the strike plate, this latch is secure to the door frame with several long 3 inch nails. When installed, this security upgrade claims to add 800 lbs of force. However, the downfall is once installed and in the lock position, there's no way for you to unlock it from the outside. Adding a door reinforcement latch doesn't require removing anything, so it's purely an addition to your door security.
- The latch snaps into place
- Most negative Amazon reviews result from weak or wrong screws.
- I suggest drilling pilot hole to minimize bent or broken screws.
- An option to purchase higher quality 3 inch screws.
Back to my side door leading to the garage, since it's a door with less visibility and less traffic, I wanted to secure it. Though it does have a lock, I don't use it to enter the house. I use it about once a month when I happen to take the trash out via this door instead of the patio sliding door. So given the setup, it makes sense to add a door reinforcement latch. Installation was very easy, done in about 10 minutes with a power drill.