Door reinforcement

Reinforcing a door means making it hold out longer without replacing it. It is a matter of finding where it would give way if someone forced it and putting the part that prevents it right there. It is a good option when the door is in good condition, you like it or you cannot replace it, for example because of the residents’ association rules or because it is a rental.

Can an ordinary door be reinforced without replacing it?

Yes, in most cases. A solid wood or thick board door will take almost any reinforcement. What you need to be clear about is the limit: a hollow door, the kind with a cardboard core used indoors, does not become a security door however much you add to it. If your front door is of that kind, we will tell you and look at a security door with you.

Where doors give way

When someone forces a door, they hardly ever break the lock itself. What gives way is usually something else:

• The frame, which splits open or splinters at the height of the strike plate because it is screwed to a thin batten.
• The leaf, which bends or breaks next to the lock if it is thin.
• The hinge side, especially on doors that open outwards.
• The lock cylinder, which snaps or is pulled out if it sticks out and has no escutcheon.

Good reinforcement tackles the point that really fails on your door, not the one that looks most impressive.

The reinforcements we fit

Steel plate on the leaf

A steel sheet screwed to one face of the door makes it much harder to get through or bend. It can be painted or covered so the appearance does not change. It is the closest thing to turning an existing door into a security door, although it does not make it a factory-built security door.

Frame and strike plate reinforcement

A steel strip or angle along the frame, on the lock side, and a strike plate with long screws that reach the masonry. It is one of the most effective reinforcements and one of the most overlooked.

Second locking point

A security deadbolt separate from the lock spreads the force over two heights.

Hinge side

Hinge bolts and anti-jemmy hinges so the door cannot be pulled out on that side.

Cylinder protection

An escutcheon that covers the cylinder and leaves nothing to grip. You have it explained in escutcheon installation.

The storeroom door

Storerooms in residential communities are a case apart. Many have thin sheet metal or lightweight wooden doors, open outwards and face basement corridors where nobody goes by. To protect them we usually combine:

• A good quality deadbolt or surface-mounted lock, with the strike plate screwed to the metal frame or the masonry.
• Anti-jemmy hinge bolts on the hinge side, which are exposed on the outside.
• On very thin sheet metal doors, a reinforcing plate on the inside so they do not bend under a crowbar.

If the storeroom belongs to a community with many identical doors, the work can be done on several at once, with each owner keeping their own key.

Patio and garden doors

In bungalows and ground floor houses, the patio door or the one opening onto the garden is usually the weakest door in the house and the least watched. It is often an old wooden door with a simple lock. Reinforcing the frame and adding a second lock on the inside makes a big difference to its resistance for a reasonable amount of work.

What you should not do

• Fix reinforcements with short screws that only grip the soft wood.
• Load a weak door with so much sheet steel that it drops off its hinges.
• Reinforce the leaf and leave the frame as it was.
• Fit inside bolts on a door you need to open from outside.

How we do it

We check the whole door before suggesting anything and explain which reinforcements make sense and in what order. The quote is fixed before we start, and you can do it in stages if you prefer. We work in Torrevieja and the Vega Baja, 24 hours a day, with payment by card, Bizum or cash.