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- Choosing the Best Door Lock for Your Home
- We recommend Grade 1 (ANSI designation) deadbolt
type locks on:
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* Exterior doors
* Doors between attached garages and living spaces
* Garage man doors (even if the garage is not attached to the
house.)
- What kind of door locks do building codes require?
- Although many people assume their local building codes require
a minimum level of quality and security for the door locks installed
on their homes, most building codes don't even require a lock
on exterior doors, let alone a minimum level of quality.
- Most contractors select the locks based on price.
- Make a better selection by knowing what to look for.
- Door Locks From a Burglar's Perspective
- Burglars prefer to break into a home through a door because
it is quick and easy.
- A good quality lock is a deterrent. When intruders are interviewed
about the selection of a target, many say seeing quality deadbolt
locks will cause them to move on to another house.
- A burglar can enter the home through a door using several
methods:
- * The door can be left unlocked.
- * Doors can be kicked in.
- * Door locks can be picked.
- * Door locks can be hammered until they fall off.
- * Doors can be pried open.
- * Door frames can be spread apart with a spreader bar.
- * Door locks can be "drilled out" using a power
drill.
- * Locks can be pried off with pipe wrenches or pliers.
- * Panes of glass in or beside doors can be broken so the
intruder can reach in and unlock the lock.
- * Sometimes thieves obtain a copy of the house key from an
acquaintance.
- Remember, the intruder will select the door that looks easiest
to break into and that offers the least chance of being seen.
- Doors going into the garage and going from an attached garage
into the house many times offer an intruder the opportunity to
hide from view while they are breaking in. Extra thought should
go into the security at these locations.
- According to a study by the California Crime Technological
Research Foundation, the most common techniques used by burglars
to enter single-family homes are (from most often used to least
often used):
- 32.00% Through unlocked window or door
- 26.64% Forced entry by impacts
- 24.02% Prying or jimmying
- 6.79% Use of pass key or picking the lock
- 5.10% Entry attempted, but failed
- 5.45% Other or unknown1
Learn more about how to protect your home from intruders.
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because you just don't
get to 100 years old fat.
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- Tips:
- 1.) Install locks with deadbolts.
- In residential construction there are basically two types
of bolts used on exterior doors: latch bolts and deadbolts. Some
locks combine the two bolts into one.
- 2.) Install locks with an ANSI Grade 1 classification.
- There is a grading system that measures the security and
durability of door locks. The American National Standards Institute
(ANSI) has standards, developed and maintained by The Builders
Hardware Manufacturers Association Inc. (BHMA), that comparatively
measure the security and durability performance of door locks.
- Not all Grade 1 locks are equal. Different types of door
locks are tested differently under ANSI standards. But the grade
designation system is the same.
- 3.) Install locks with key control.
Key control is simply controlling who has copies of keys to
your home. Many door keys can be copied at a local hardware or
retail store. However, many manufacturers now offer locks using
keys that cannot be copied except by certain locksmiths or only
by the manufacturer themselves.
- There are burglaries where the unlawful entry can be traced
back to a key that was either knowingly or unwittingly provided
to the burglar.
Key control can help protect your from the following scenarios:
- * In-home help has been fired or quit, but they made their
own copy of your house key.
- * In-home help may have acquaintances who burglarize homes;
they might try to acquire a key through them
- * Mechanics may try to make copies of your house key while
working on your car.
Key control may require extra effort, such as a letter to
the lock manufacturer or a trip to the locksmith to get a key
made. Also, there is an additional cost due to record keeping
by the manufacturer or locksmith (between $10 and $50 per key).
The additional cost and inconvenience should be weighed against
the security benefits.
- Other Door Lock Features to Look For
- Security Strike Plate -- A strike plate comes with every
door lock. Many times these strike plates are cosmetic and not
intended to provide much security.
- The strike plate's attachment to the doorframe is usually
the weakest point in the entire door/doorframe/lock system.
- High security strike plates are available. They sometimes
come with a heavy gauge metal reinforcing plate that mounts under
the cosmetic strike plate and come with 3" long screws that
secure the strike to the wall framing, not just to the doorframe
jamb.
- The screw holes are staggered so the screws don't penetrate
into the same grain of wood. The concept of screwing into different
wood grains in the doorframe and wall framing is to make it more
difficult to split the wood doorframe or wall framing when the
door is impacted. This feature should be considered at every
exterior door and at those doors coming from attached garages.
Long Screws
- 1" Minimum Throw on Deadbolt -- The throw of the deadbolt
is the length that the deadbolt extends out of the door edge.
A minimum throw of 1" is recommended. Longer throws makes
it more difficult to gain entry by spreading the doorframe.
- Saw-Resistant Bolts -- Some deadbolts come with internal
anti-saw pins. The pins spin freely inside the bolt. If someone
tries to break in by sawing off the deadbolt, the pin will make
this difficult because it spins back and forth with every movement
of the saw blade.
- Captured Key Deadbolt -- Burglars can gain entry through
a locked door by breaking the glass in the door light or sidelight,
reaching in, and simply unlocking the door. Many homeowners,
in an effort to prevent this, install double cylinder deadbolt
locks with keyholes on both sides of the door.
- Don't let Double Cylinder Deadbolts create a fire safety
danger to your family.
- In the case of a fire when the family needs to get out of
the house quickly, you don't want to be wasting time looking
for the key to unlock the door. Most building codes do not allow
this type of lock on doors that are used to exit the house for
this very reason.
- To solve this conflict between family safety and security,
one manufacturer has developed a deadbolt lock with a feature
called a captured key.
- On the interior side of the door the deadbolt lock has a
thumb turn that can be removed from the lock, leaving a keyhole.
The idea is when no one is home, there is no need for the thumb-turn.
The last person to leave removes the thumb-turn and creates a
double cylinder deadbolt condition.
- Captured Key Thumb-turn -- The thumb-turn cannot be removed
without having a key to the lock. Therefore, small children cannot
remove the thumb-turn from the lock. Also, the thumb-turn can
actually be used as a house key. It is important that whenever
anyone is in the home that the thumb-turn is left in the lock
at all times.
- Hardened Cased Steel & Beveled Casings -- On a typical
deadbolt lock the outside housing of the lock is called the "casing"
or "case." Many lock manufacturers make their casings
out of hardened steel and many make the casing beveled. The hardened
cased steel makes the casing more resilient against blows from
a hammer. Beveling the casing makes it very difficult to get
pliers or pipe wrenches to stay on the lock when trying to twist
it loose.
- Anti-Drill Feature -- Some intruders know how to drill out
a lock. Some manufacturers combat this by installing hardened
steel chips within the lock housing. When the drill bit hits
these steel chips, it tears up the drill bit.
- Dropbolts and Rim Locks -- If a dropbolt or rim lock is selected,
make sure the lock is mounted on the door with through bolts.
- Dropbolt with Through Bolts and Without -- If not, a forced
entry can cause the lock to separate from the door. The typical
dropbolt and rim lock should not be considered as secure as a
deadbolt lock.
- Help in assessing the need for better security can be found
with your local police department. Many departments have a crime
prevention unit that will examine your home. Based on their experience
with crime, they can see things that the average homeowner does
not. Also, an experienced locksmith can help you select the right
products.
Source: 1Appendix X4 of ASTM F476-84 (Reapproved 1991) Standard
Test Methods for Security of Swinging Door Assemblies; American
Society for Testing and Materials
State Farm® believes the information contained in the
Learning Center is reliable and accurate. We cannot, however,
guarantee the performance of all items demonstrated or described
in all situations. Always consult an experienced contractor or
other expert to determine the best application of these ideas
or products in your home |
