Originally Posted By: ireckon

Anyway, as others have stated above, in my home and probably every home of a regular person, the front door is not the weak link and never will be. So, this discussion about the front door is mainly for interesting conversation.


That may be true, but it seems to the most common point of entry. Depending on the source you cite it seems that in around 70% of break-ins and home invasions the perp comes thru the front or rear door. One or two good kicks will generally dislodge the strike plate on most homes (ie two x 1" screws basically not really going thru the jamb). It makes sense that thieves would use the door not only because it's usually easy to breach but also because if you have to break a window you'll make noise, leave visible damage and risk cutting yourself up climbing thru it.

To update: Yesterday I beefed up that problematic back/side door. I installed an 8" strike plate with 6 x 4" deck screws sunk right into the king studs. Then I placed a 28" heavy steel strap tie where the door trim should go. This ties the frame/jamb area together and anchors the plate to the studs so the bolt would have to go thru that & the strike plate. Not perfect yet (can there be perfect?) but at least 10X stronger than it was a week ago.
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