Inexpensive Home Security

By Paul Bianchina

If you're looking for a way to improve your home's security quickly and at minimal cost, deadbolts offer a perfect solution. A good deadbolt greatly improves any door's resistance to unauthorized entry, and it takes only an hour or so to install.

Deadbolts can be installed on virtually any type of door. If you are in the process of ordering a new door, you can specify that it come predrilled for a deadbolt. This means the door will arrive with holes already in the door face and edge to accommodate the deadbolt, which greatly simplifies installation. For existing doors, you simply have the additional step of drilling the necessary holes.

What to Shop For

Deadbolts are offered in two basic configurations - single cylinder and double cylinder. Single-cylinder deadbolts have a lock cylinder on the exterior side that is opened by a key, and a handle on the inside that unlocks it by hand. With double-cylinder deadbolts, a key is required on either side to unlock it.

A deadbolt is a lifetime investment in security, so buy a good one. Police experts recommend a hardened steel bolt with a minimum 1-inch throw (the bolt extends into the door jamb a full 1 inch), and the outer cylinder cover should rotate so that the lock can't be grabbed with a pair of pliers and twisted off.

If you purchase a deadbolt that's the same brand as your current locks, you can have it re-keyed to match your existing key, so that the same key opens both the existing knob and the new deadbolt. You can also purchase knob and deadbolt combination packages that are already keyed alike, which gives you a chance to not only get a deadbolt, but to increase your security even further by replacing your old knob with a new one of higher quality.

How They're Installed

Within your deadbolt kit you'll find a lock cylinder, a handle (or a second cylinder in the case of double-cylinder units), a latch, a strike plate, and some miscellaneous screws. There is also a complete instruction sheet and a paper template.

If your door is not drilled for a deadbolt, begin by taking the template and folding it on the indicated line. Place the fold line on the edge of the door at the recommended height, and tape the template in place on the inside face of the door with a piece of masking tape. You will see a mark indicating the center point of the hole to be drilled in the face of the door, and another that indicates the hole to be drilled in the door's edge. The template will typically have two holes for the door edge, depending on whether the door is 1 3/8-inch or 1 ¾-inch thick, so select the appropriate one for your door.

Use an awl or a center punch and punch a small hole at the template's center points, then remove the template. Flip the template over, and reattach it so it's on the outside face of the door at exactly the same height off the floor - use the centerline of the hole on the door edge as a guide - then make the center hole again. This gives you a center-point mark on both sides of the door.

You will need a drill bit for drilling the edge of the door, and, because of its larger diameter, a hole saw for drilling the door's face (for metal doors, you'll need a hole saw with metal-cutting teeth). You can purchase the bits individually or in a kit, or you can rent a door-boring kit from most rental yards that includes the necessary bits and a framework that holds the bits during drilling to keep them straight and level.

Align the pilot bit of the hole saw with the center point you marked earlier in the face of the door, and begin drilling. As soon as the pilot bit begins to emerge from the opposite side of the door, stop drilling and switch to the other side of the door. Align the pilot bit with the other center point you marked, and finish your hole by drilling in from the opposite side. Drilling from both sides increases the accuracy of the hole, and also eliminates the danger of the drill bit tearing out the wood on the door as it passes through the other side. Switch bits, and drill the hole in the door's edge.

Install the latch in the edge of the door first, then assemble the cylinder parts and install them from each side of the door. Using the attached screws, secure all the parts to the door according to the manufacturer's instructions.

A quick and easy tip for getting an accurate indicator of where to drill the frame for the strike plate is to simply color the face of the latch bolt with a crayon, lipstick, or a soft-lead pencil, then open it against the door frame so that it leaves a mark. Drill into the frame and into the stud behind it at this point, mortise the frame to accept the strike plate, then attach the plate to the frame. Use the long screws that come with the deadbolt kit to ensure that they penetrate all the way through the doorframe and into the stud.

Copyright 2003 Inman News. Distributed by Inman News