Durham Region Real Estate Blog

When you take possession of your new home, it’s a good idea to change the locks on all your exterior doors. It is the only way to ensure there aren’t any “spare” keys floating around. You want to be safe, so a deadbolt lock is perfect. Flipping the lever on the lock sets a powerful mechanism that coud block anyone wanting to force their way into your home. But how safe is this locking system? The problem is what happens when the metal deadbolt extends out the side of your door as you flip the key or lever. The lock generally interlocks with a metal plate anchored to a small section of soft-wood door jam. One or two bumps from an average shoulder will blow that little bit of wood apart, allowing the door to swing wide open! And in the unlikely event that the weak door jamb doesn’t tear apart, the edge of an average wooden door certainly will! Or the hinge screws could get torn out.  It doesn’t have to be this way.

You could install an all-steel door model that is hinged into an all-steel jamb, eliminating the weak jamb problem once and for all. But don’t confuse an all-steel door with a steel-clad, residential door as these doors are usually just a thin, steel covering over a frame of wood or foam. These doors offer no significant security benefits because they’re still set into a wooden door jamb.

Instead of a new door, you could reinforce your door jamb. Try Door Jamb Armor or Strikemaster II Pro.  They are systems of retrofit steel parts designed to reinforce the door jambs; the area around the door edge where the deadbolt extends, as well as the opposite edge of the door where the hinges fasten. When you install all the reinforcing components, it makes an ordinary door virtually kick-proof.

Some people say we live in a safer world, while others think we aren’t as safe as we used to be. Regardless of how you feel, if you’re going to lock your home, doesn’t it make sense to have doors that actually deliver a serious obstacle to potential intruders?

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