I have just replaced my front door that was inswing with an outswing door per county instructions on new door installation. My question is "how could I secure my door?" My previous door had a chain but I can't use that on my new door. Any clever suggestions?
Doors – How to secure an outwardly opening front door
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Related Solutions
As for expanding the hole, I am still confident this post will answer your question.
Regarding the Schlage deadbolts, these are not great deadbolts. If you really want high security, you need to look at Mult-T-Lock or Medeco. These are far more secure for a number of reasons. First, they are made of much harder metals - if you feel them compared to another deadbolt there is a noticable weight difference. These deadbolts also often have balls at the end that push out of the bolt when fully expanded so it cannot be forced back in. Also, the keys for these locks can only be made (not copied) by the locksmith who originally created them (each locksmith is assigned a "keyway" and is the only locksmith who can produce the keys), this is handy if you have a cleaning lady or other service person since you can rest assure they cannot make a copy of the key for their friends. There are also metal rings you can put around a deadbolt that spin so that someone cannot use a wrench to twist if off.
If your doors hinges are on the outside then you can also look at having bolts installed on the inside of the door. This way, if the hinges are removed (pins popped out, or blown off with a shotgun), you cannot just pull the door off.
A heaver guage strike (the metal piece that goes on top of the hole where the deadbolt goes into) with longer screws will add extra strength to the deadbolt and hamper someone knocking down the door.
You can also place a cage in front of the door (which too has a deadbolt) but they are not attractive, and add an extra step to opening your door.
An alarm is useful but in a lot of cases, of someone knows what they want, they can be in and out before anyone responds.
A camera adds an extra layer of "don't mess with me" plus gives you a far better chance of identifying an intruder.
In case someone comes across this in a future search, here is what I did on a similar project:
First, I used an oscillating saw with a plunge bit to cut the nails—-much easier than a sawzall. I used little magnets to sweep along the face of the stucco mould and locate them, then I plunged in from the side to cut them. I cut the paint with a utility blade along the seam where it joined the frame and tapped the mounding free with a hammer & chisel (aka screwdriver).
Then I cut the door frame nails with the plunge bit from the front and back after locating them the same way. Since my door also had zero gap between the frame and the studs, I had to do some persuading with a hammer to move the stud where I wanted it, plus a slight trimming of the bottom plate with a hand saw. My header was also nailed out of level and I had to tune up the corner with an actual chisel.
Now, my stucco molding was 1” thick and they apparently do not make that any more, so it was impossible to replace (would have been easier to paint and reuse it but it was in rough shape). I had to go with the 3/4” stuff. I also went with a door frame that was ~1/4” wider to compensate (old was 4-1/4”, new was 4-9/16”). The shape of the channel turned out to be different as well, so I simply cut off the exposed lip of the stucco with an angle grinder with a diamond wheel. I also had to rip off the lip of the stucco moulding on my table saw.
I had to cut the top of the stucco about an inch higher to match the new, standard sized door frame I bought from the big box store. I used a grout blade for my oscillating saw to do the corners. To finish I used OSI Quad caulking between the stucco mounding and stucco and it turned out great, no need to repaint anything because I cut a nice clean edge.
As you can tell, I ran into every single nightmare possible! But I could see all of them coming, had the right plan and more importantly the right tools. I wanted to share my experience in case someone else is looking to do the same job. Good luck!
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Best Answer
You have three points of attack to deal with
The first, and obvious, point of attack for any door is the lock, and to this end, get something good from a serious locksmith. Abloy's disc-detainers are the gold standard, but anything from a well regarded brand (note, standard Kwikset locks are not well-regarded in the physical security world, and nor is Master Lock!) with decent pinning (six pins, including security pins and keys that don't look as flat as Kansas) and good anti-drill features (carbide pins or plates) should be secure enough for a residential application.
The second point of attack for an outswing door are the hinges -- if you use ordinary hinges on an outswing door, then your hinge pins are wide open to get pulled. While there are hinges with setscrews or hook-like studs that attempt to prevent an attacker from removing the door by pulling the hinge pins out and then simply pulling the door out, the ultimate solution to this problem is to replace the hinges with fast-riveted hinges that simply won't come apart unless you take an angle grinder to them. This does mean that you won't be able to "take the door off its hinges" to replace it, though -- you'll need to unfasten the hinges from the door or frame in order to replace the door, instead.
The third and final point of attack is the use of a prybar to try to force the door open. This can be mitigated through the use of a latch plate cover, as well as making sure the strike anchors securely into the frame.