Author Topic: Door lock sets  (Read 503 times)

sumpnz

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Door lock sets
« on: February 03, 2023, 10:56:17 PM »
Need to replace the knobs and deadbolts on, well, all our exterior doors.  They’re just getting worn out.  House was built in 2006, so it’s not quite 20 years old and the locks are original to the house.  What are good quality sets to buy?  We have, honestly, not bothered locking our house for at least 10 years and never felt it was really necessary.  But if I’m going to replace the knobs and deadbolts I want good quality.  If security becomes a real concern I want sets I can count on, in addition to them being very durable.  What does the hive mind suggest?

Hawkmoon

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Re: Door lock sets
« Reply #1 on: February 03, 2023, 11:36:29 PM »
The house I live in was built by/for my parents in 1950. The locks are all Schlage, and except for the door between the kitchen and the attached garage (which I replaced with a new Schlage lockset of a different function because I repurposed the lock on the kitchen door) they all still work fine.

But don't get Schlage locks from Lowe's or Home Despot. Go to a locksmith shop and get the locks the professionals use.

[Note: The original kitchen door lock still works fine, too -- but it's now on a different door, and the kitchen door has a "new" lock that's only about fifteen years old.]
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Kingcreek

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Re: Door lock sets
« Reply #2 on: February 04, 2023, 09:20:04 AM »
Take this opportunity to harden the frame and hinges while you’re at it.
My Schlage locks have been durable. Avoid tru-bolt.
What we have here is failure to communicate.

Ben

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Re: Door lock sets
« Reply #3 on: February 04, 2023, 09:26:20 AM »
Take this opportunity to harden the frame and hinges while you’re at it.
My Schlage locks have been durable. Avoid tru-bolt.

Much more important than locks, IMO.
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sumpnz

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Re: Door lock sets
« Reply #4 on: February 04, 2023, 11:10:12 AM »
Take this opportunity to harden the frame and hinges while you’re at it.
My Schlage locks have been durable. Avoid tru-bolt.

Wife wants all new doors.  Not feasible right now, but when I get a chance to do that (she wants me to make them from trees on our property) I’ll properly harden latch and hinge sides of the frame.

K Frame

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Re: Door lock sets
« Reply #5 on: February 04, 2023, 12:28:52 PM »
Also take this time to dig a moat, install a minefield, and a concertina wire offset.

And be sure to get a door mat that says '*expletive deleted*ck Off".
Carbon Monoxide, sucking the life out of idiots, 'tards, and fools since man tamed fire.

RocketMan

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Re: Door lock sets
« Reply #6 on: February 04, 2023, 12:50:29 PM »
Also take this time to dig a moat, install a minefield, and a concertina wire offset.

And be sure to get a door mat that says '*expletive deleted*ck Off".

All great security recommendations.   =D
If there really was intelligent life on other planets, we'd be sending them foreign aid.

Conservatives see George Orwell's "1984" as a cautionary tale.  Progressives view it as a "how to" manual.

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Liberals believe one should never let reason, logic and facts get in the way of a good emotional argument.

Kingcreek

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Re: Door lock sets
« Reply #7 on: February 04, 2023, 01:06:15 PM »
And run conduit for later hardwired sensors, trip alarms, and remote triggered anti personnel systems.
What we have here is failure to communicate.

tokugawa

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Re: Door lock sets
« Reply #8 on: February 04, 2023, 08:41:02 PM »
Commercial metal doors and frames and deadbolts -check the second hand architectural shops. Security is a layered system, no sense putting in a great lock in a crap door or vice versa.

Or go full castle doors if you have the wood -1 1/2" double (3") diagonal layer would make a nice door, if you have a smith to make the hinges. And a jamb strong enough to hold it. And do not forget the portcullis.  =)

2 1/4" thick was the heaviest wood door we built, a 1" internal frame of fir, with foam insulation  inserts, a 1/2" of marine ply on each side, and a skin of teak. Very heavy to move.

sumpnz

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Re: Door lock sets
« Reply #9 on: February 04, 2023, 09:11:16 PM »
SWMBO wants alder for the door.  Thankfully that’s basically a weed here.  I have several I need to drop as it is. 

K Frame

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Re: Door lock sets
« Reply #10 on: February 05, 2023, 08:50:55 AM »
If someone wants in, they are going to get in.

Wonderfully hardened doors with $500 lock sets?

How are your windows looking? All big and glassy? Great big patio doors in the back of the house with huge panes of glass?

Thief: Mr Window, meet Mr. Deck Chair.

It makes absolutely no sense to spend $5,000 on a new armored door with a high-end lockset if you have a bunch of vinyl clad double pane double hung windows that have the security rating of Eric Swalwell.

That's why I always sort of chuckle when someone says NEVER EVER BUY A HOME CENTER LOCK! THEY'RE CHEAP! THEY'RE NOT SECURE! YOU'LL COME HOME AN ALL YOUR *expletive deleted*it WILL BE GONE AND YOU'LL HAVE TO WEAR A BARREL!

Tokugawa nailed it with this: "Security is a layered system, no sense putting in a great lock in a crap door or vice versa."

Carbon Monoxide, sucking the life out of idiots, 'tards, and fools since man tamed fire.

RocketMan

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Re: Door lock sets
« Reply #11 on: February 05, 2023, 10:30:53 AM »
A couple of large dogs that think burglars are a snack food make a good deterrent.  From what I have read, four out of five incarcerated burglars agree.
If there really was intelligent life on other planets, we'd be sending them foreign aid.

Conservatives see George Orwell's "1984" as a cautionary tale.  Progressives view it as a "how to" manual.

My wife often says to me, "You are evil and must be destroyed." She may be right.

Liberals believe one should never let reason, logic and facts get in the way of a good emotional argument.

230RN

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Re: Door lock sets
« Reply #12 on: February 05, 2023, 11:17:11 AM »
Take this opportunity to harden the frame and hinges while you’re at it.
My Schlage locks have been durable. Avoid tru-bolt.


I was going to suggest pulling a screw out of the door frame lock plate to check its length and hence strength.    I put longer screws in my apartment front door lock plates. (Don't tell anybody since this is not my property, but the original screws only looked long enought to leep the lock plate from falling off the frame and that was about it, strength-wise.)

Another thing I learned form bitter experience is make sure you have regular keys safely squirreled away outside in case you lock yourelf out.  It happens, don't sneer at the possibility.


sumpnz

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Re: Door lock sets
« Reply #13 on: February 05, 2023, 12:42:57 PM »
A couple of large dogs that think burglars are a snack food make a good deterrent.  From what I have read, four out of five incarcerated burglars agree.


Kenai, our 3 year old male German shepherd is a duffus, and sometimes has a very delayed reaction to people arriving, but once he realizes someone is there he can be legitimately scary.  A burglar would likely *expletive deleted*it his pants when Kenai figured out he was there.

Tundra, our 1 year old female German shepherd is the sweetest dog ever, but she also loves to eat whatever critters Kenai kills.  She probably go full viscous mode if Kenai did too.

tokugawa

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Re: Door lock sets
« Reply #14 on: February 05, 2023, 01:35:49 PM »
Sliding glass doors are an invitation...
 
Windows can be inviting, or not- any window chest high or more is tough to climb in, different window types are easier or harder to pry open, and security film can make a window troublesome to break through.

What is beside the door is as important as the door- a sidelight or a thin sheetrock-vinyl sided foam wall can be broken through to get at the deadbolt from inside, regardless of how stout the door is.

Doors do best with a couple pieces of 3/4" ply put between the studs on each side, to resist the above, and also to keep the jamb from being pried sideways and thus freeing the bolt.

If someone is serious about door security, it would be prudent to cut back the siding a bit to address the jamb-stud interface at the same time as installing a new steel jamb and door. At this level, a deadbolt less subject to bump-key would be a good idea.

Speed of entry is really important- if it takes time, it increases risk for the miscreant.

Most entries are through unlocked doors or glass sliders.

Remember- no matter how safe your area is, it only takes ONCE.  Our safe little rural area in Western WA. had a double murder here a few months ago- some @#$% drug-bum broke into a home looking for stuff to sell. Killed the couple in their bed. I am not positive, but seem to recall he got in through a sliding glass door. POS was staying in a run down trailer next door.