Help Fortifying a Door

So my girlfriends sister is a drunk slut whos dropped out of college and now spends her time stealing stuff from my girlfriend (medication, clothes, almost $1000, the dog). I usually wasn't involved (cause shes fine when im there) until she beat up my GF to steal the dog while I was at work cause she knew I couldn't come help. Their parents are useless.

I'm putting in a deadbolt in soon cause she usually opens the door with a credit card (it has a lock) but shes kicked down the door before. Its a hollow particle board door and the soffit is unusually small (allowing for the credit card) and its old, thin wood.

MAIN QUESTION:
Besides the deadbolt, what else can I do to reinforce the door, doorfame and hinges? And kinda on the cheap DIY side here. I aint made of money for a new door.

 

shotgun....


You could try to put some sort of magnetic switch on it. You can wire a 12 volt siren to a 9 volt battery and it gets pretty damn loud. Sorry to hear what a PITA she is. Good luck.

 

Funny you should mention this, I know a guy with the same problem. Get a solid core door (shop around @ lowes, HD, lumber yards) and install it. Deadbolts in the usual place plus a barrel lock at the foot of the door center line on the door.

 

haha well my knives are on the way...



and im not looking for bulletprooof keypad entry stuff.

i was thinking make the door open outwards and use some 2x4s for soffits with 3in lag bolts. sheet metal the back of the door and itll be good enough for me

thanks for the kind words guys. it just sucks she doesnt feel safe in her own house

 

Stun gun and then call the COPS.

 

Try the old bucket of water over the door trick...

Honestly though, you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear. Your only going to be able to fortify a hollow core interior door so much. Either buy a new, upgraded door, or figure out another way to address the issue with the broad.

 

get one of these.

 

you can buy metal sleeves that go over the handle and dead bolt. but on a hollow core door its not going to do much.
http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/...ode+matchall&recN=172025&N=0&Ntk=P_PartNumber

 

Check building materials on Craigslist. You can always get a used exterior door (solid core) and cut it to fit. Then re-install the deadbolt. Be sure to buttress the jamb where it hangs.

 

Restraining order!!! X325342456 on the outwards opening door also. When I finally get a house, all doors will be that way.

 

i've renovated a house where the owner had the builder install all the doors opening outward and thought it was a great idea for safety. until we popped the hinges pins out of the locked doors and removed it

 

damn. id mount a well hidden security camera and wait until she does something/attempt to do something and then report her when you have solid video evidence

 

Hidden (interior) hinges FTW.

 

ya they had used just regular hinges when they hung the door

 

http://www.armorconcepts.com/Door-Jamb-Armor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQWDZzQfe7I&feature=player_embedded

 

Wow, sorry for the long post. Reswinging the door to swing out will make the door harder to kick in but.......... It's not an easy job and the hinges are now on the outside of the door. Pop the hinge pins out and you're in. You can get new hinges that are sealed on the bottom so you cant drive the pins out from the bottom, but you can still get them out. IMO, not worth the trouble of reswinging. I'm not sure what a door soffit is. (soffit is usually a part of the roof overhang) I am assuming you are refering to the door stops. They're what the door bumps into(or stops) in the closed position. If she's using a credit card, you need to cover the crack with another piece of trim maybe a window stop (smaller than door stop) not too thick or you'll be hitting your hand on it when you grab door knob. predrill holes so it won't split. Maybe screws long enough to go thru door frame and into the stud framing. DO NOT put screws in so tight that you cause the door frame to move, this will affect the closing/shutting of the door. Also your deadbolt "keeper" (the part with hole in it on the door frame, not the lock part on the door) should have screws long enough to go into the stud framing. Okay, this part may be hard to explain. Not the deadbolt but the door lock, the part that slides in and out is called the bolt. It has an angle on it that hits the "keeper" first. On the side opposite of the angle is a smaller "bolt". The smaller bolt is not supposed to go inside the hole in the "keeper" It is only supposed to hit keeper. If it goes in the hole the lock can be jimmied, If the small bolt doesn't go in the hole, the bigger bolt can't be jimmied (or pushed back with a CC) You might have to reposition your door lock keeper to achieve this. If you're not follwing me, open the door and push the bolt in with your finger. Now push the smaller bolt partially in, as if it were hitting the keeper but not going in keeper hole and you now can't push the main bolt in with your finger. Fix this, put longer screws in the keepers and maybe build out the door stops and you should be as good as you're going to get without a solid door. One more thing, locks only keep honest people out. If they can't get in the door, they'll just move to the window. That's another chapter.

 

yeah kinda forgot about the hinges. i just learned shes pushed the pins out before.

i do mean stops when i say soffit. thats what ive always called them. and i never knew about the pin there, i always assumed that it was supposed to go in. hmm ill see what i can do for now. shes getting a solid core soon. well ill keep thinking.

in the mean time, i put a bowed metal strip in front of the outer knob to make the angle too tight for a credit card and put a new "keeper", as 05 TRD called it, case she didnt actually have one before. it was just wood

 

Purchase a cheap metal door, then rig a car battery to the door.

 

You can get hinges that have tabs to prevent the door from being pulled out with the pins removed. Plywood on door exterior will reinforce it well. Leave a cutout for the handle and deadbolt that won't make it too thick there.
Replace the door jamb with a 2x6 instead of the thin stuff. Make sure to anchor it well to the wall.
You can do all of this with a tape measure, hand saw, drill, hole saw, and dogged determination.
Another option is a steel bar across the interior and exterior with an eye through the door. Padlock the two bars together. The bars need to have keepers on the jamb to prevent turning. Put carridge bolts with nuts on interior to prevent removal.
With a door that opens outward you can get a locking, floor mounted doop stop.
Keep in mind. Nothing will stop a determined theif, just slow them down.
Good luck!