Periodically one reads about thieves who forced their way into a home through one of the doors. Indeed, at one time in Guyana such thieves were described as “Kick down the door bandits.”
External doors are one of the first entryways considered by thieves and should be a priority security area for homeowners.
While many homeowners consider security when selecting an external door, a lack of understanding sometimes leads to poor selection or sometimes good selection but poor installation.
Here, we will address both the physical door and the security of the doorway.
Exterior doors should either be made of solid wood or metal. This construction is difficult to break through. However, there is difficulty in obtaining solid wood doors as most commercially-manufactured doors in the Caribbean are actually wood panel doors. On these doors, the sections that hold the panels in place are very thin and short and glued in place.
These can easily be kicked apart. Similarly, many wood flush doors are plywood sides with a hollow interior and can be easily kicked apart. They should only be used as interior doors.
Doors called steel doors come in several designs—hollow steel doors, wooden steel-backed doors and ribbed steel doors.
The minimum acceptable security specification for a hollow steel door would be two sheets of 18-gauge steel (1/20 of an inch each).
However, this minimum specification can be penetrated by a determined intruder who pre-planned his attack. A thicker steel (eg, 1/10 of an inch) is better.
A wooden steel-fronted door can also be used as a security door with the wood thickness being three-quarter inch and then the 12-gauge steel (1/10 of an inch) placed in front of the wood.
The steel should be bolted to the door with the nut end of the bolt on the inside of the door and not accessible to an intruder.
When cladding steel to a wooden door, it must wrap around the top, bottom and sides so that the steel cannot be pried away from the wood.
A ribbed steel door would be one where the steel on the door would be 1/8 of an inch and then reinforced with steel ribs on the inside.
Another option in the Caribbean now is to purchase doors that have a decorative facing but with a steel sheet inserted inside it. Many come with three, four or six deadbolts built into the door so that when the door is locked all the bolts engage simultaneously.
Exterior doors should be made to swing outward. When an intruder attempts to force his way into a building he will apply force to the door to push it inward.
The intruder will be applying force in the opposite direction to which the door is made to swing. It becomes harder to force the door.
Exterior doors should be constructed in a metal frame of steel, aluminum alloy or solid hardwood core. The door frame can sometimes be the weak point in the security of a door and can allow an intruder to enter notwithstanding how good the door and locks are.
Hinges are generally screwed into the door frame and if the frame can be jimmied away from the wall, the frame can be removed.
In moving the door frame, the entire hinge assembly and the door will be moved out and access gained. If the door frame is moved on the lock side then access is gained to the lock bolt and depending upon the type of lock used the bolt can be manipulated to open the door.
Frames should therefore be made of solid construction to prevent being forced apart.
The tolerance between the door and the jamb should never be more than 1/8 of an inch. A wider tolerance means that the door can be forced open or that the bolt for the lock is exposed allowing an intruder to saw through it.
If incorrectly installed, hinges may contribute to a door’s weakness.
If hinges are surface mounted so the mounting screws or hinge pins are exposed on the exterior of the door, intruders can quickly remove the screws or pins and gain entrance by opening the door from the hinged side.
Ideally, hinges should be mounted on the interior of the door. If the hinge is mounted on the exterior and cannot be relocated to the interior then the hinge pins can be welded or flanged to prevent removal. An additional protective measure would be the use of hinge protectors.
Another alternative regarding hinges is to install ball bearing type butt hinges. This has a cap-like standard hinges but does not have a pin. If you remove the top of the hinge there is no pin to come out, instead there are ball bearings inside which cannot be removed. It is therefore suitable for external use.
External doors are an important component of the security of a home. Care must be taken in selecting the door type and must extend beyond just the door. It includes all components of the doorway.
Brian Ramsey
- Contact the Caribbean Institute for Security and Public Safety for its range of courses on security, law enforcement, corrections, supervision and management, OSH/HSE, etc. Tel: 223-6999, 223-6968, info@caribbeansecurityinstitute.com or www.caribbeansecurityinstitute.com
