Wood Doors

[United Army]

I live in a new townhouse and all three doors that I have are made out of wood. I have concerns about the doors on the 2nd and 3rd floors. They each lead out to a balcony. I just had grills put on my windows and now I'm thinking of doing the same on those two doors. Both of these doors face the back of the subdivision and that is a blind spot for someone to break into my townhouse. So who has wood doors as outside doors and have you done anything to prevent break-ins via those doors? Any comments....???

[Dave Hounddriver]

I know a fellow living for a long time in Pardo who has a wood entry door. Some assholes bashed it in to get through but met up with his huge dog, if I am remembering John's story correctly. Anyway, he showed me how he solved the problem by putting an iron cross piece inside the door that they can seal while in the house. Of course that would not help if no one is home . . but he still has the dogs.Oh yeah, the break in occurred while he was home and it was a couple or 3 years ago now.

[Mr Lee]

I live in a new townhouse and all three doors that I have are made out of wood. I have concerns about the doors on the 2nd and 3rd floors. They each lead out to a balcony. I just had grills put on my windows and now I'm thinking of doing the same on those two doors. Both of these doors face the back of the subdivision and that is a blind spot for someone to break into my townhouse. So who has wood doors as outside doors and have you done anything to prevent break-ins via those doors? Any comments....???

Hardwood doors are not necessarily easy to break into, yet those with decorative panels are extremely easy to kick in, or punch in those panels, and that is what they often do back in the states, kick in the lower or side panel which is usually much thinner, and thus gain entry that way. In our condo, I have even tried putting screws into the wood door frame and the screws would break off because the wood is so hard, so check and see what type of wood they used to make the door and frame, and if there is decorative panels, then a steel screen on the inside of the door is a good idea, but at what point are we ending up putting ourselves into a self induced prison of sorts. A keyed on both side dead bolt is also a good idea because then the person cannot reach in the open kicked out panel to unlock the door, so if there is no panel large enough for a kid to crawl in, then the keyed dead bolt on the inside would work, but be sure to put the key nearby in case of fire, or another need to quickly exit problem. I guess that is the cost we have to pay to live in the country we have chosen to make our homes, or in our case second home.

[United Army]

I live in a new townhouse and all three doors that I have are made out of wood. I have concerns about the doors on the 2nd and 3rd floors. They each lead out to a balcony. I just had grills put on my windows and now I'm thinking of doing the same on those two doors. Both of these doors face the back of the subdivision and that is a blind spot for someone to break into my townhouse. So who has wood doors as outside doors and have you done anything to prevent break-ins via those doors? Any comments....???

Hardwood doors are not necessarily easy to break into, yet those with decorative panels are extremely easy to kick in, or punch in those panels, and that is what they often do back in the states, kick in the lower or side panel which is usually much thinner, and thus gain entry that way. In our condo, I have even tried putting screws into the wood door frame and the screws would break off because the wood is so hard, so check and see what type of wood they used to make the door and frame, and if there is decorative panels, then a steel screen on the inside of the door is a good idea, but at what point are we ending up putting ourselves into a self induced prison of sorts. A keyed on both side dead bolt is also a good idea because then the person cannot reach in the open kicked out panel to unlock the door, so if there is no panel large enough for a kid to crawl in, then the keyed dead bolt on the inside would work, but be sure to put the key nearby in case of fire, or another need to quickly exit problem. I guess that is the cost we have to pay to live in the country we have chosen to make our homes, or in our case second home.

Yes we have 9 small decorative panels on the upper half of the door, with 2 large decorative panels on the lower halve of the door and I will ask what type of wood, if its hardwood or not, I think it is. The door frame is made out of cement. But with those decorative panels that I have, 9 of them on the upper part of the door, with 2 larger ones on the lower half of the door, and with these doors on the backside of our townhouse and the backside of the sub division, I'm leaning on getting some type of door grills installed.

[Mr Lee]

Something everyone should be aware of, besides the safety and strength of the door, is if the hinges are on the outside of the door, those are so easy to knock up and out, so if your hinges are on the outside, then open the door and drill a hole in the hinge on the frame side of the door, so that it matches a hole that you will make into the hinge on the door side, and then drive a heavy nail into the door frame side of the hinge, then cut the head off the nail but be sure to leave enough out so that it goes into the door at least a half inch, that way when the door closes, the nail goes into the hinge and door, so if they pull the pins out of the hinges, the door will still stay on. The above should be repeated for all hinges on the door. Another way is to remove one screw in the middle of the hinge, if it is a 4 screw hinge, and do the same with those holes. Are exterior doors made of a solid core construction (including the door leading from the garage to the house)?HINGE DOORS - The most common door type used in homes and apartments is the hinge door. It is important that all exterior doors be of solid wood core construction or steel clad doors. Avoid light gauge aluminum. Hollow core or composition board doors are not effective deterrents because they can be easily battered or bored. It is defeating the purpose of a good deadbolt lock to mount it on a hollow or foam core door.HINGE PINS - If door hinges are exposed on the exterior of the door, non-removable hinge pins should be used. To prevent removal of a door that has removable hinge pins, you can employ a headless screw or nail. Drill two holes opposite each other in the center of both leaves of the hinge. Insert headless screw or nail into the leaf on the door frame side. Allow screw or nail to protrude ½ “. When the door is closed, the screw will engage the other hinge leaf.Or security hinges can be used.

[Dave Hounddriver]

. . . he solved the problem by putting an iron cross piece inside the door that they can seal while in the house

Here's an image that shows pretty much what John did and it works great.

[Art2ro]

Both of our entry doors have steel frames and a thick heavy wood door with double deadbolt key locks and also have exterior wrought iron grill doors (welded hinges) with double meshed screen, with a single deadbolt key lock! It would take a Philippine water buffalo to break down our doors, unless the buffalo owner, ex-con locksmith can pick our triple key door locks and all of our windows have wrought iron grills with double meshed screens! First, they have to gain entrance into my enclosed garage or exterior door which also has steel doors and wrought iron grills! We sleep good at night or even during the day!

Edited May 22, 2011 by Art2ro

[United Army]

. . . he solved the problem by putting an iron cross piece inside the door that they can seal while in the house

Here's an image that shows pretty much what John did and it works great.

Hi Dave....thanks for these pics, I will have to give this idea some thought. It will be cheaper than a full grill on the outside of the doors. Thinking....

[United Army]

Both of our entry doors have steel frames and a thick heavy wood door with double deadbolt key locks and also have exterior wrought iron grill doors (welded hinges) with double meshed screen, with a single deadbolt key lock! It would take a Philippine water buffalo to break down our doors, unless the buffalo owner, ex-con locksmith can pick our triple key door locks and all of our windows have wrought iron grills with double meshed screens! First, they have to gain entrance into my enclosed garage or exterior door which also has steel doors and wrought iron grills! We sleep good at night or even during the day!

I like it......

[Art2ro]

I also forgot to mention that our subdivision has 6 armed security guards with portable radios, 2 at the guard house entry way just adjacent to our property and 4 gurads roving the entire subdivision. The entrance gates into our subdivision are closed from midnight until 4 am. There are about 600 homes within our gated community. So, our wrought iron grills on our doors and windows are just for added protection for just in case, because one never knows!