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Tim Walton

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My dad was a carpenter by trade and a mechanic, welder, plumber and electrician by necessity. He had a lot of tools, which he never bothered locking up “in case somebody (he meant a friend or neighbor) needs something,” according to Dad.

Materials

Door Repair and Security Kit by Door Jamb Armor

Drill

Reciprocating saw

Hammer

Chisel

Tape

Utility knife

Putty knife

Finish nailer

Measuring tape

Not so today. Too many people need things they can turn into fast cash for other things they think they need. I just don’t want it to be my things they need, so I lock everything up tight. Most thieves are lazy, so if you make it difficult to get to your things they will probably move on to needing something other than what is in your garage or house.

We bought a house recently with a back door to the garage that was anything but secure. A standard door latch and a single pane of glass meant access was a credit card or a light tap on the glass away. Time to beef up the security.

We started by removing the glass half-light (door window) and installing a panel made of plywood. Because the wood panel was thicker than the glass, we had to rip down the stops before re-installing them. With some spackle, caulk and paint, however, we had a beautiful and much more secure door.

Next we installed a deadbolt in the door and jamb. Because we were also installing a Door Jamb Armor kit, we used the door armor from the kit to layout the deadbolt location.

Anatomy Of A Break-In

As carpenters, my brother and I have replaced plenty of doors and door jambs damaged by break-ins. Many of our communities don’t have the manpower or the jail space to deter property crimes and the thieves know it. They have lots of ways of gaining entry to get our hard earned possessions, and it’s up to us to make sure that doesn’t happen.

An experienced thief will usually follow the path of least resistance. An unlocked door or window is preferred. Reaching in through a dog door or breaking a small window pane to unlock a door works well also.

Locked doors come in several degrees of difficulty. A standard exterior lockset can be defeated quickly using a credit card unless you have interlocking weatherstrips. When a thief can’t card the lock, they’ll pry the door open or kick it in.

A dead bolt lock makes kicking in a door much more difficult, especially when installed properly with the security plate anchored into the framing with long screws. There are, however, those thieves who really, really want your stuff and they can kick in a deadbolted door. In this case, it is usually the door edge that breaks open enough to let the deadbolt angle out of the latch plate.

It’s this tougher variety of thief that Door Jamb Armor is designed to defeat.

Most deadbolts, including this one, require a 2 1/8-inch hole through the face of the door and a 1-inch hole through the edge of the door to the backset hole. We used an American Tool Door Lock Installation kit (available for about $13 online) to drill the holes. The kit includes an alignment jig and appropriate hole saws for a deadbolt installation.

With the deadbolt holes ready to go, we installed the door armor from the Door Jamb Armor Kit and installed the door latch and deadbolt hardware as you would normally. The steel wrap in this portion of the door keeps the door intact to maintain hardware integrity in the event of an attempted break-in.

With the door hardware in place, we were able to mark the exact locations of the deadbolt and door latch on the jamb. We then installed the steel door jamb reinforcement from the Door Jamb Armor Kit. The steel jacket wraps around the door jamb to prevent the jamb from splitting during an attempted kick-in.

The kit also included steel reinforcements for the top and bottom hinge areas of the door jamb. We removed the interior casing to install this part of the armor. You can put the casing back on, but be careful not to nail where the new steel plates are located.

Click on the images to enlarge and read the step-by-step process.

In the unlikely event that a would-be thief makes it over my fence and past my dog, he will wear himself out trying to get through this door. Heck, he might even decide it would be easier to work for a living.

—Larry Walton