Part 2:

Okay, I have a basic plan formulated. Please feel free to chime in with comments or suggestions.

Initially I'm going to sort of ignore that outside front door; to be done correctly I'll have to remove it along with the sidelights, then install proper king studs and a new door. This is something I will do, but it will cost to much and take longer than I can devote to it to start there. I will make my stand at what I call the "airlock door". I'll get rid of that door and replace it with a proper solid core exterior door, mounted on three new hinges. Oh, did I forget to mention all the doors are mounted on 2 hinges each, and each hinge is missing at least one screw each? Yowzas!

At this point I plan to install jamb armor, and extended and hardened strike plate, armor for the hinges and a wrap-around door reinforcer. At this point I'll finally be ready to look at locks. That's another area where I was woefully ill-informed. Let me share a few things I've learned in a months worth of research. Perhaps this is common knowledge to you folks; if not it might keep your house from being penetrated. First off, while your door is anchored into one of the strongest structural components of your house, the door frame (generally a king stud with either 2 or three two-by-fours or two-by-sixes) the strike plate that contains your deadbolt is mounted to a door jamb with 1" screws. The jamb itself is pretty flimsy- one good kick will generally rip the bolt free of it. You should have a larger strike plate anchored with at least 3.5" screws that can go thru the jamb and deep into the stud frame. The large strike plate can spread the shock of an impact evenly, dissipating the energy into the whole door frame, absorbing the blow.

Once you've kept the jamb from ripping out, the door itself will probably fail around the lock. A door 1.75" thick with a hole drilled for the lock set will have very little material left to either side. To strengthen it you must add a wrap-around door reinforcer. If you're able it's also a good idea to armour the door hinges as well. If you've done all this you should have a pretty sturdy door. Then you can look at locks.

If you haven't followed the news or internet, you may not realize just how vulnerable your average lock is. The $40 lock you trust your security to is fatally flawed in many ways. It can be defeated by a number of attacks. The primary ones I'll discuss here are bumping and physical attack. Bumping involved inserting a key that will not unlock your door but will physically fit in it. The key is then smacked (bumped). On nearly all common locks, if done by a practiced had the lock will open. If you're not planning to sleep tonite anyways, go to youtube and search "lock bumping." Not pretty.

As I said, nearly all locks under $75 can be bumped. And to be perfectly honest, even a $140 Medeco M3, the type used in the White House among other places, is not completely invulnerable to being bumped. The great simplified answer is that Security Rated, Class 1 locks will resist the amateur bump attacks you'll likely face. These locks have "firewalls" of sorts that (theoretically) compartmentalize & isolate the parts of the lock from each other. In broad terms, locks that are nearly bump proof include said Medeco M3, the Schlage Primus/Everest, the Evva 3KS, etc. These locks will cost around $150 at the end. But while that sucks, how much did that slick Kimber .45 cost? Or your 65" LCD TV? What's your life worth?

If the bad guy can't simply bump your lock and walk in he may physically attack the lock. This can be done in many ways. Cheap deadbolts can simply be hammered off with a couple of blows. If it survives that it might be drilled. Years ago this wasn't a very common attack, but now everyone owns a cordless drill. Security tests have shown that nearly all consumer locks under $50 can be drilled out & defeated in under 2 minutes. What will survive that? Tests have shown the Medeco M3, the Evva & the Primus to resist drill attacks. The lock can be destroyed in this manner but it won't open. The Schlage is also extremely robust vs physical attack.

My eventual plan is to use 2 deadbolts on each the front and back doors. One will be a Schlage B660P (already ordered) coupled with a high security locks. Maybe the Medeco, maybe the Primus. Maybe I won't come right out and say which! The idea is 2 different locks means two different keys, and two different bump keys. High security locks have rather exotically shaped keys, and key control means you can't stroll into the hardware shop and get a blank. Two beadbolts means twice the holding power and 1/2 as likely to be defeated. Maybe not worth the effort. Naturally I'll have a reinforced strike plate for each lock.

In the next post I'll discuss my plans for the three vulnerable windows that flank that airlock door. And in a later post I'll lay out my plans for tackling that problematic alley/back door.