What You Need VS What You Got (Part 8)

By Robert Jones

Image by Jennifurr-Jinx

If you’ve been reading along this series, you probably think we’ve discussed everything we possibly can about your front door. You’re wrong. Today we’re (finally) going to finish talking about it.

The last piece of hardware on your door is the hinges. If the door opens inward, you have nothing to worry about. If the door opens outward, you must find a way of preventing the criminal from removing the hinge pins and lifting the door out of its frame.

You can buy tamper resistant hinges and install them on your door or you can modify the hinges you already have.

There are several ways to modify a door hinge. The method that I prefer is to replace a few screws. First you remove one screw from each hinge (only one side of the hinge, not both sides). Choose a screw closest to the center of each hinge. Take a “headless” screw, about ½ inch longer than the screw you removed, and place it in the empty screw-hole. Leave the last ½ inch of the screw sticking-out of the hinge plate. Place a tiny drop of something easy to see (paint, nail polish, etc.) on the screw head.

Then, gently close the door until the screw head touches the other side of the hinge. The drop of wet paint will leave a spot on the other side of the door hinge. This spot marks where you are to drill a hole about ¾ inches deep. When the door is closed, these screws act like tiny deadbolts. They prevent the door from being removed from its frame after the hinge pins are removed.

Although these screws are small, they work because it is much more difficult to pull a door out of its frame than it is to kick the door in.

Your front door is now as secure as you can make it. Go do the same thing to every outside door of the house, and don’t forget the door to your safe room.