How to Strengthen an Entry Door

Police crime-prevention guides point to the door and frame, not only the deadbolt, as the weak spots on most entry doors. Most of the fixes take a drill, a screwdriver and a box of long screws.

Where doors usually give way

• The strike plate. Seattle Police call the strike plate “almost always” the weakest point of a door. The Lee County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office notes that factory strike and hinge screws are often only three-quarters of an inch to an inch long, which reaches the thin jamb but not the framing behind it.
• Hollow-core doors. Many residential doors are hollow-core, and the National Sheriffs’ Association warns that they can be battered or bored.
• Exposed hinge pins. On a door that swings out, the hinge pins are on the outside. Merrimack, New Hampshire, Police point out that someone can pull the pins and lift the door from the frame even when the lock holds.
• Glass near the lock. Several police guides treat glass within 40 inches of the lock as a risk, because a burglar can break it and reach in to the thumbturn.

Fixes, from simplest to largest

1. Long screws in the strike and hinges. Replace the short screws with three-inch wood screws that go through the jamb into the framing studs. Seattle Police suggest three to four inches, and Murrieta, California, Police suggest four to six three-inch screws for a deadbolt strike.
2. A heavy-duty strike plate. Seattle Police recommend a four-screw, heavy-duty strike. An Isanti County, Minnesota, guide notes it makes the frame harder to split when the door is kicked.
3. Hinges that stay put. Use hinges with non-removable pins on any door whose pins face outside. A guide from the California Attorney General’s office describes a simple alternative: set a headless screw or bolt into the jamb through a hole in the hinge plate, so the door stays in the frame even if the pins come out.
4. Protect the glass. The National Sheriffs’ Association suggests clear acrylic or polycarbonate sheeting over door glass to keep it from shattering.
5. A solid door and frame. The same booklet recommends solid-core wood or metal-clad exterior doors in place of hollow-core ones.

Drive long screws carefully: driving a strike screw too deep can pull the jamb out of line, and the bolt should still slide in smoothly afterward.