Think Lock Protection
Be Safe This New Year
A lot of people probably know what they should be doing to secure their home, so reviewing that information might work as a good reminder to address issues they have neglected.
Other people may be completely unaware of what types of locks they should be using on different doors. The Journal asked Robert H. Wright Jr, a Certified Registered Locksmith, about what readers can do to better secure their homes.
Are all dead bolt locks pretty much the same with regards to withstanding a hefty kick, or are some better than others?
Not all dead bolts offer the same level of kick resistance. As with everything else, you get what you pay for. The best dead bolts carry an Underwriters Laboratories UL 437 High security Label. Medeco, ASSA, Abloy, & Multi-lock all make high security dead bolts machined from solid hardened steel and brass. Other manufacturers also make excellent dead bolts which do not carry the UL437 Label but do offer kick resistant strength, however kick resistance applies more to the door and frame than to the lock on the door.
Over the years I have seen many kick in burglaries. More often than not the materials the door and frame were made of determined if the door was kicked open, not the brand of dead bolt lock. I’ve seen kwikset dead bolts mounted on solid oak doors with a one inch thick oak frame stop a kick attack with only 3/4 inch long mounting screws, as well as high security dead bolts mounted on hollow wood doors still in the locked position without a scratch on them while the 3/4 inch thick pine frame was a splintered wreck. In order to stop a kick in attack the weakest point of the door and frame must also be able to stop the attack. Either by the material it is made of or or with extra security plates and strikes to add strength.
It’s known that back doors with panes of glass should have a dead bolts requiring a key on both the inside and outside. Does this have any deterrent effect, or does it just make it difficult for an intruder to leave with stolen property? Should people consider using locks like this on doors without window panes?
Years ago “double cylinder dead bolts” (which require a key to open from the inside) were put on nearly every door in the home. The prevailing wisdom of the day was to prevent someone from breaking a window, entering the home and then leave thru the door with your belongings. Unfortunately this had the undesired effect of locking residents in their own homes when fires broke out. For this reason the building/fire codes have become more and more strict. At first the fire code allowed the discretion of the locksmith to choose whether or not to install double cylinder dead bolts on doors as long as the front door, doors in bedrooms and doors at the bottom of second floor staircases had the single cylinder version so that residents attempting to exit the home could safely do so without a key handy. Now the fire code has become even more strict.
Currently I, as the licensed locksmith, am not legally allowed to put double cylinder dead bolts anywhere inside the living quarters of the home, even if the door has glass in it. Only by getting written permission from the town Fire Marshall can I put a double cylinder dead bolt inside a home. This doesn’t effect older installations of these locks as they are “grand fathered” until they either break or the home requires a building code inspection for remodeling or add on construction. At that time the code official doing the inspection will determine if it can remain or needs to be removed.
Many people use small pieces of wood at the base of sliding doors as an added form of protection. Are these effective, or is it necessary to have the additional security brace midway up to provide real protection?
The better choice is an aluminum “Charlie Bar” mounted about midway up the door.This bar is made from one piece of aluminum tubing and is custom cut to fit the sliding door. Because it is mounted in the middle of the door, it better distributes the force applied to it back to the frame, and prevents the thief from using the full length of the door as a Lever to apply more force to the door. I would also avoid adjustable tension rods which do not withstand as much force as a solid one piece bar does. If you do not want to see a bar through the slide door window you can instead mount two vertical bolts at the top and bottom of the sliding door locking into the frame.
When you provide service to people’s homes, do you offer additional advice as to how they can further secure the home? If so, what might you look for in terms of additional lock security?
Every customer is entitled to a free security survey. I am happy to walk through the home and give advice on how to better secure their home. Typically I check to see that every exterior door has a dead bolt with a one inch long bolt. This prevents crowbar attacks that spread the frame away from the door edge far enough to pass by the half inch long knob latch. Knob-sets are checked to see if they have dead locking latches and if the strikes are properly positioned to stop a thief “credit carding” the latch open. Sliding doors are checked to see that they cannot be easily removed from outside without first unlocking or dismantling something inside. Windows are checked to make sure that they lock firmly and would not be easily jimmied open. I regularly recommend that wood sash windows be secured with concealed tamper resistant screws, and that aluminum basement sliding windows be clamped firmly shut. I check to see that those basement windows are held in place by more than a metal finger tab used by some manufacturers to allow easy access of the outside window glass by tilting the window inside for cleaning.
Finally I check the garage and sheds are firmly locked. After all it would add insult to injury to have the thief borrow your own tools or ladders to break into your own home. Any outside ladders should be chained and padlocked for this reason. I also recommend combination lock boxes to store your extra house key in instead of the hiding keys under door mats or in “Fake Rocks” someone only has to see you go there once and they will know where it is hidden. A combination locked box offers more protection for your house key, and you don’t have to worry if the key is missing right when you need it most. The last concern is the red emergency cord hanging from garage door openers. This cord merely makes it convenient to reach the door closer arm to detach it in the case of power failure so you can still get to work should the power go out. It is far to easy to gain access to the garage from outside with this cord there. Cut the cord off and put a three step kitchen step stool in the garage for when you need to reach the release along with a small wire hook if you like which would make it easy to pull exactly where the red cord was. A dab of red acrylic paint or red nail polish could be put in the cord hole to remind you where to pull.
What else should readers be conscious of when securing their homes?
Buyer beware: All legitimate locksmiths in NJ are licensed through the Office of the Attorney General; Division of consumer affairs. We all have Photo Locksmith Licenses to prove who we are. Be sure anyone doing locksmithing in your home and office is licensed. A number of referral services have placed ads in all the yellow page listings with false addresses and local exchange numbers which are forwarded to an out of state 800 number. Many people have been over charged for simple services and parts, or told the service tech is on their way while eight hours later no one has arrived. Here are the simple ways to tell the difference.
Robert H Wright Jr CRL, of AAA Quality Lock & Protection, serves the Bergen County and Passaic area.
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