Most Burglars Kick-in Doors

to Invade Your Home and...It Can Take Less Than 1 Second!

"Why Is It So Easy?"

Exterior entryways and doors on virtually every home in North America have 3 SUBSTANTIAL CONSTRUCTION FLAWS which allows an intruder to quickly and easily gain entry.

1. The door jambs are usually made from thin, weak softwoods such as pine, fir or sprue. These types of door jambs break apart very easily.

2. The hinges are normally only secured to the door jamb with small, weak, short 1/2" to 1" long brass screws. They are very insufficient.

3. The door has been hollowed out for most of it's thickness in order to install the deadbolt. This dramatically weakens the door around the lock.

So What's the BEST Solution?

At minimum, you need to reinforce the door jamb and the hinges. Optimally, you should also reinforce the door, and do the other suggestions listed below.

1. Reinforce the door jamb with a long (48" or longer) heavy-duty (14 gauge or thicker) steel strike plate.

Most residential door jambs are made from thin, weak softwoods that will easily split or splinter if very much force is applied to them. Especially since the grain of the wood on door jambs runs vertically down the length of the board (look at the middle picture below). Think about it, how often have you seen a pine board split just because you tried driving a small nail into the wood? Now imagine what happens when a 200 lb. man kicks the door, and the only thing that's keeping that door secured is that pine door jamb. It's no contest. The 3/4" diameter steel deadbolt stem is going to break apart the door jamb every time allowing the door to open. This situation is well illustrated in the picture below on the left.

2. Replace the short, weak hinge screws with at least 3" long, high grade, heavy-duty steel screws.

Look at the diagram on the right. This is how a door frame is constructed.

This diagram clearly illustrates why you must replace the standard length
hinge screws with 3" or longer screws. Short screws only attached the
hinges to the door jamb (the dark brown area in the diagram). By using
screws that are 3" long or longer, you are attaching the hinges to the
door jamb AND to the 2x4 studs directly behind the door jamb.

* You only NEED to replace one screw per hinge. If you replace more than
one per hinge you run the risk of pulling the door out of alignment UNLESS
you are really careful and know what you are doing.

3. Reinforce the door in the area around the deadbolt.

This is the area that has been hollowed out. Go open your front door and look at the spot on the end of the door where the deadbolt stem comes out. You will notice that MOST of the thickness of the door has been hollowed out to allow for the installation of the deadbolt. Look at the pictures below. The solution is to reinforce the door so it cannot easily split apart, if at all. The photos below show just how common and easy it is to split the door apart.

Additionally, install Grade 1 or Grade 2 deadbolts on all exterior entry doors.

American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private non-profit organization that administers and coordinates voluntary standardization to develop and maintain performance standards for builder's hardware. The purpose of product grades is to help identify the quality and durability of locksets through a series of operational and security tests. * We suggest using the Assa Abloy or Medeco brand of deadbolts as neither failed in Consumer Reports testing.

Grade 1 certification – Highest grade security. Grade 1 is the strongest grade ANSI/BHMA will supply for any residential or commercial product.

Grade 2 certification – Highest residential security. Grade 2 is designed and built to offer excellent security and durability for more residential applications and some light commercial applications.

Grade 3 certification – Basic residential security. Grade 3 is the lowest grade provided by ANSI, the minimal acceptable quality for residential door locks.

Door_Jamb_Pro_48_Inch_Flat_Model - _Horizontal

Door Jamb Pro - 48" - Door Frame Reinforcement Plate

3"

We Offer the Best Solutions to Correct These Construction Flaws...

1. The heavy duty strike plate. We make a product called the "Door Jamb Pro". It's a 48" long heavy-duty strike
plate made from 14 gauge cold-rolled steel. It's EASY to install, it only takes about 20 minutes and it lasts forever.
It also has a lifetime warranty. (It's shown mounted on a door frame in the picture on the right -->)

2. Hinge reinforcement. Included with every purchase of the Door Jamb Pro are high quality 3" long Torx screws
to reinforce the hinges. * We also even include the drive bit to install these self-tapping screws.

3. Door reinforcement. A chain always break at the weakest link. After you reinforce the door jamb and the hinges
it's the door itself that becomes the weakest link. When enough pressure is applied to the door, if the door jamb
doesn't and the hinges don't fail, the door will. And because the door has been hollowed out so much to allow for
the installation of the deadbolt, the door will almost always split apart in that area first. We make a product called
the "Door Lock Guard" that reinforces the door around the deadbolt by effectively "clamping the door together" so
it cannot split apart. It also has a unigue feature that prevents an intruder from prying the door open. Shown below
are the Door Lock Guard components and the Door Lock Guard installed on a door (shown below):