Securing Your Doors Whenever I ‘m asked about building security, the question primarily concern door locks. Rarely dose anyone think to ask about making the doors themselves stronger.

As locksmiths, we have been in home where people were asking us to recommend lock for a door that looked as though it would fall down if anyone knocked on it too hard. It’s important to know that a Door Lock is just a device that fastens a door to one or more sides of a doorframe. Using a good lock on a thin-paneled door or on a door with weak hinges is like using a heavy-duty padlock to secure a paper chain. Before worrying about a good lock be sure you have a strong door and frame.

How Intruders can open doors? Burglars aren’t invited gusts and shouldn’t be allowed to enter building as though they were. Be aware of burglar’s secrets for getting past doors, and what you can do to keep them out. Removing Hinges If a door’s hinges can be seen from exterior side, burglar may able to remove them and open the door without touching the lock. Most door hinges consisted of two metal leaves (Or Plates) – Each with “knuckles” on one edge – and a pin that fits vertically through the knuckles when they’re aligned and holds the leaves together.

The hinge pins often can be pulled out with little difficulty, and the door then becomes disconnected from the doorframe. Burglars who remove a door in that way can place the door back in its hinges on the way out, and how they got in may never be determined (Which may result in an unpaid insurance claim). One way to prevent this type of entry is to use hinges with NONREMOVABLE PINS – pins that are either welded in place or secure by a setscrew or retaining pin.

An alternative to replacing the door hinges is to install HINGE ENFORCER, which is small metal devices that attach to the hinge and the door frame to block the door’s removal, even when the hinge pins have been removed. A package of hinge enforcer costs less than $40.