Kick Burglars

[NM_Shooter]

My front door is supported by two wispy looking king studs with sidelight windows.  Even reinforcing the jams won't help a lot.  The brace bar that I bougt from Masterlock does not effectively stick to the floor and I suspect can not be counted on to hold off a determined push.  I'm looking for some sort of small brass or metal insert that I can epoxy / cement into my floor to hold a brace in place. 

Any ideas?

[muldoon]

can you post a picture of it? 

[peternap]

Why don't you get a brass floor plate, the ones used for electric outlets with the hinged cover. Mount it in the floor a foot in front of the door. Get a Brass rod about 1" and 8 " long. Drill a hole in the floor to accommodate the rod and have 3" of rod above the floor. That would act as a super chain lock. You could open the door wide enough to talk to someone and I doubt it could be kicked out.

[muldoon]

even a wimpy door with sidelights can be improved. 

like what was said above, consider how a door fails.  the most common being the door frame and door jamb breaking away and busting in long before the door fails.  this is because the strike plate (that flat plate that covers the recess's where the deadbolt and doorknob goes in) is held in place with 1 inch screws.  These screws do not grab onto anything structural, and are ripped from the trim on a good mule kick.  the mule kick is when the guy faces the street and kicks with his back turned to the door, it generates alot of power and he can watch the street to see if anyone comes out.  the next weakest spot is the hinges, also generall attached with 1 inch brass screws. 

step 1) go to home depot, get a bog box of 3" or 3.5" exterior woodscrews, replace every screw on your door (one at a time) with beefier screws. 

the next most common failure is glass, you said you have sidelights, the risk is that someone will pop or break the glass - reach in and turn the lock and let themselves in.  replace the deadbolt with a double cylinder lock.  the kind that requires a key on both sides of the lock.  do not keep your keys in the door on the inside. 

step 2) get a decent deadbolt, the bolt should extend into the doorway at least 1 inch, should lock from both sides, should be the 5 or 6 tumbler set.  schlage makes a good one but there are pricier ones as well if the cosmetics are a concern.

next are the door componets itself, the wood around the lockset, the wood on the trim, the kickplate.  These can be beefed up with metal addons that you'll find at home depot.  the most important is the lockset wrap, a metal wraparound that covers the key and doorknob and keep it from being pried open or from being the weakspot in a kickin.  Next would be the huge strike plates.  They have 5 foot metal strike plates that run most of the verticle span of the door.  The intent here is to provide multiple strong anchor points to hold the door trim in instead of just the 2 inches around the deadbolt.   The kickplate is a cover towards the bottom of the door, it protects against moisture weakening the door like a splashguard (i think). 

step 3) the metal hardware to beef up a door - lockwrap, 5' striker, kickplate.

now you have the basic weak spots of the door covered, it simply will not give in with a single kick at this point.  If your lucky, your bad guy might kick it 3 times and move on down the street.  If not you at least have enough time to arm yourself. 

--
I don't think the wedged door will offer alot of protection  with sidelight window panes.  the windows themselves might be easily broken in which case the stop can be manually moved.  I think solid hardware anchored into structural 2x4s and good locks are your best bet.  If you still want something more, the hurricane tint on the side windows might be a good addition.

[MountainDon]

I like deadbolts with keyed cylinders on both inside and outside, with one exception. They can be a safety hazard or compromise if an speedy exit is required, as in a fire. A person who might be in a panic, may have difficulty in retrieving the key and using it to exit. We do have one on a glass rear door and that little potential problem has been a concern. We do have a key on a hook, nearby, but a house guest is not likely to know where that key is located.

Just something to think about....

[Redoverfarm]

As the old saying goes " Locks are to keep an honest man honest".  If someone wants in your house bad enough he will get in.  So to that use good quality lock sets, steel doors and frame preferable, re-enforced jambs and maybe invest in a low cost security system for the entry doors.  There are several on the market now that do not require a "rocket scientist" to install and can be linked to a computer system.  You can also coordinate that with a video system. 

[muldoon]

As the old saying goes " Locks are to keep an honest man honest".  If someone wants in your house bad enough he will get in. 

I agree with that, and do not argue one second with the sentiment.  However, the original first post was about kick burglaries and the feeling one needed to arm oneself in his own home because the swiftness of the attract might warrant it.  The goal is not to keep a determined intruder out (impossible), it is to make him make alot of damn noise and delay him long enough for you to call the police and load a firearm. 

[NM_Shooter]

  The goal is not to keep a determined intruder out (impossible), it is to make him make alot of damn noise and delay him long enough for you to call the police and load a firearm. 

Yup... that's basically it.  My house, (and probably 90% of other homes) are just too porous to really make secure, and I don't want to live in a bunker.  I'm hoping that if I can slow down an entry for 20 seconds while my alarm is going off, it will spook them enough to leave.  Alternatively it will give us time to prepare for some sort of defensive response. 

My guess is that the first time they lay their shoulder or foot into a door that does not immediately splinter, they will be a bit puzzled and probably spooked by a failure to enter.  Unless, of course, they are under the influence of something.  A meth addict attempted to break into my friend's house in PHX one night, and he kept slamming lawn furniture into a patio door until the police arrived... even with the homeowner standing in the kitchen yelling at him.

[rick91351]

  A meth addict attempted to break into my friend's house in PHX one night, and he kept slamming lawn furniture into a patio door until the police arrived... even with the homeowner standing in the kitchen yelling at him.

Ahh yes the power of Meth.  Seems to just bring out the best in people!  Easy to reason with, slow to anger, mellow.......NOT!

[peternap]

  A meth addict attempted to break into my friend's house in PHX one night, and he kept slamming lawn furniture into a patio door until the police arrived... even with the homeowner standing in the kitchen yelling at him.

Ahh yes the power of Meth.  Seems to just bring out the best in people!  Easy to reason with, slow to anger, mellow.......NOT!

Same thing happened here a few months ago. I listened to the 911 tape and you could hear the guy wacking the patio door with a chair. As soon as you hear it break, a gunshot and the homeowner telling 911 to send an ambulance too.

The addict didn't need an ambulance.

[NM_Shooter]

Ok.. I'll hijack my own thread. 

My friend and her newborn daughter were out visiting with grandma, when the husband was awakened by their dog barking downstairs.  He went down the stairs and got a glimpse of somebody walking around to the back of the house through a side window.  He went to the back, and saw a guy trying the patio door.  He yelled at the guy to go away, and the guy "freaked" out.  Started yelling back, asking for a woman's name who did not live there.  Blake kept yelling at him to go away, and Mr. Meth grabbed a chair and started to whack on the back door.  Blake grabbed the phone and a bat (they don't have guns).  The cops got there before the guy broke in and put him on the ground.  Blake walked out back, and Mr. Meth jumped up and ran at him before the cop could restrain him.  Blake hit him across the chest with the bat and dropped him like a bad transmission. 

Turns out Mr. Meth was looking for his girlfriend and had the wrong house.  No charges filed against Blake