Reinforce a door during installation

A brief look at the door security

The security of most homes relies on 1-inch piece of soft plywood. Shocking it is. But actually the weakest link in the door locking system is not the lock or door at all. In most and all cases it is about the door frame.

A closer look at the door frame

If you look closer to the door frame, then you will notice that the place where the dead bolt is inserted, is made of wood which is only 1 inch thick. This is only one flaw, and to make matter worse, the deadbolt strike plates are only secured by one inch screws which in turn are not anchored into anything except the soft plywood.

Usually it takes only one kick to break this kind of security system and over seventy percent of the break-ins are caused this way. So, in this Do It Yourself tutorial, we are going to show you how to reinforce your entry door to prevent break-ins and increase home security.

Follow These Basic Steps to Reinforce Your

Door

Get a heavy duty mending plates that needed a twelve-gauge galvanized steel placed on the back door casing and centered on the deadbolt, tracing outline up the mending plate on the wood and an outline of the deadbolt hole on the mending plate.

Step 1

Cut a hole in the mending plate to accept the deadbolt. If you are not sure to do it yourself then you can take it to the machine shop and get it done.

Step 2

Chisel out a little wood within the outline area in the back of the door to fit the mending plate.

Step 3

Step 4

Attach the mending plate to the frame with one-quarter inch screws or something short enough that won't go all the way through the frame. This serves the purpose of holding the mending plate in place in frame.

Step 5 Now drill holes in the door frame through the pre-drilled holes in the mending plates.

Place the door in the opening and secure the hinge side. Place wood behind the hinges and drive two, 3 and a half inch, number 10 screws in each hinge.

Make sure the hinge is plumbed so that the door opens and close correctly.

Step 6 When the hinge side is secure, place a piece of wood in the crack between the house cracking and the mending plate. This will better secure the door by preventing the door frame from being twisted if force is applied.

Now drive number 10 screws into the four holes that were drilled through the door frame.

Step 7Now its time put on a neat strike plate. Be sure to choose the one that is heavy duty and put it on with the 3 and a half inch number 10 screws. It might also be received during the lock purchase.

This will create a double lock to the deadbolt that will make it hard to impossible to break.

And You are done!

Thank you!