Steel door / lock info

[os1kne]

I'm the proud father of a very active son that just turned 2. His favorite place to go is "outside" and has discovered how to operate door knobs. Anyway, I have a steel door between the "house" and the attached garage. The door has a window in the upper section. While teaching him to push the button to operate the garage door opener seemed like an innocent way to entertain him a year ago, I'm sure that if I don't act soon he will escape to freedom. (Those plastic child-safety gizmos that snap over the door know don't work well with this particular knob.)

I am planning to install a deadbolt that is keyed on both sides to prevent him from escaping to the outside world (+ they are better for a windowed-door). I'm planning to install the lockset above the knob, as you usually see. I've installed several locksets over the years and have the proper tools, so that isn't a problem.

My question is: Is the part of the door between the window and the edge reinforced, or will it just be a metal shell with insulation in the middle? I don't really want to start drilling a hole for a lockset to discover that I can't put it where I'd like to - and ruin a door in the process.

Thanks for your help.

[cabinetman]

Of the ones I've drilled, there was a substrate there. There should be, especially if it's an exterior door. It's common to install deadbolts. To be sure, you could drill a test hole on the edge where the bolt would be positioned.
.

[eccentrictinkerer]

Please re-think your decision to to use a dual-key deadbolt.

Call your local fire department for their opinion.

If the key is not handy or in the lock, could someone in your house get out? What if the other exits were blocked by fire?

I am often asked by customers to install dual-key deadbolts. I won't do it.

If the door has an adjacent window, I install a 1/4" Lexan sheet over the window secured with a couple of dozen screws (on the inside of the door ).

Consider the Lexan treatment above and a night chain.



A thief would have to be really tenacious to bash through the window and the Lexan to get at the deadbolt and/or night chain.

Good luck!

J.D.

[Mr__Bill]

I would skip the night chain, it's not going to stop anyone and it's hard to hook up from the other side of the door when you go out that way. A standard deadbolt will slow someone down. If you are home you will hear the glass break, if not home you won't hear the door break as it's smashed in.

For your son, consider an alarm on that door that sounds a loud buzzer. Or just RFID tag him and put sensors in at the doors.

The other option is to just make the door hard to open. Really good magnetic weather stripping will hold well and will make it hard for him to open the door.

Bill.

How cold was it? It was so cold the snakes were growing fur.

[Bruce Cohen]

Bill,

As J.D. said, DO check not only with your fire dept, but with your town's building inspector. Some states out law a double tumbler lock on an egress/ingress door. I know for certain that New Jersey is one of them.

Bruce

[Kristofor]

I agree with the potential dangers of a double keyed deadbolt.

However, the dangers of an unsecured (from the 2 year old) door are just as real. Every winter there are a handful of toddlers/small children locally that die because they go outside without their parent's knowledge. It may just be a case of selective reporting, but I hear about far more of these cases than people being stuck in a fire due to a double keyed deadbolt.

A 2 year old in his PJs can freeze to death in well under an hour when it's cold and windy and if he went out a 2AM when he woke up in the middle of the night the parents may not know for several hours.

We have deadbolts with knobs on the inside, but my 2 year old (well, turns 2 next week) already knows how to operate them (he loves locking us out when we go grab the mail). I just purchased chains for the doors and plan to mount at head height or so (take that ADA compliance!) to keep it out of his reach for a couple years.

[os1kne]

Thanks for the replies. My wife and I have already considered your points, other alternatives, and checked relevant local laws - yet we have decided to proceed with this option. We will have multiple keys located near the door out of his reach. We will convert the lock to a single-key deadbolt in a few years.

[Mr__Bill]

In answer to your original question. Yes every door that I have drilled into that was steel or fiberglass had a plug for both the keyset and deadbolt. But if you drill too high it's often just the skin and foam with a solid banding along the edge of the door. If the door is a name brand door you can look on their web site for a diagram of where the plug is located. Often a tag or sticker is located on the hinge side of the door or the top giving manufacturer and model number. Baring that measure the location of the holes on a predrilled door at the Borg for a save location to drill. If you can find the location of the plug then putting the deadbolt as high as possible will keep it out of reach for another week or two.

You may want to have him help you install the deadbolt and explain to him that it's to keep everyone safe and not to just lock him in.

Bill

[x00018]

the attached garage. While teaching him to push the button to operate the garage door opener seemed like an innocent way to entertain him a year ago, I'm sure that if I don't act soon he will escape to freedom. Thanks for your help.

Could you raise the garage door button out of his reach?

[BobSch]

How about a simple hook and eye mounted toward the top of the door, out of his reach?

[eccentrictinkerer]

I would skip the night chain, it's not going to stop anyone and it's hard to hook up from the other side of the door when you go out that way. A standard deadbolt will slow someone down. If you are home you will hear the glass break, if not home you won't hear the door break as it's smashed in.

The night chain is for the child.

I'd also put a deadbolt for thieves.

But, use a deadbolt with a turn-button on the inside.

[MilDoc]

How about a simple hook and eye mounted toward the top of the door, out of his reach?

As a Pediatrician, this is what I recommend too. Simple. And no fear about not being able to latch it from the outside. Same for bedroom doors of sleep walkers. Easy to get the h*** out in case of a FIRE.

After all, you never leave a 2 year old "Home Alone," right?

If you do, please tell me the local phone number of your Child Protective Services.

[eezlock]

steel door/lock info

I would recommend a single cylinder deadbolt rather than a double cylinder deadbolt version for safety reasons here.

(1) are you planning the install yourself? or hiring it out to a locksmith?
(2) there is nothing between the glass edge and the door edge but
some stryofoam filler.
(3) If you are doing the install yourself be sure and check these things before
starting to drill the holes in the door.
(a) backset of the knob lock already installed...the deadbolt should
match the previously installed lock. Most residential locksets are
installed with a 2 & 3/8" backset, measured from door edge to
center of the lockset.
(B) See that you have these two very important bits to drill the
holes. First, a 2 & 1/8" holesaw for the deadbolt body itself
and a 1" holesaw for the latch hole in the door edge and strike
plate hole in the door frame( this hole needs to be 1" deep from the
edge to bottom, for the latch to be fully engaged in the lock position.
(C) a good quality lock drilling jig to guide the bits straight and level
from start to finish... this is a very important step that should
NEVER be overlooked, if it is overlooked a crooked installation
will be the result and the lock will never function properly!
All this info from a PROFESSIONAL locksmith, hope this helps....
if you have any questions...just ask we'll try and help. eezlock

[phi1l]

I would recommend a single cylinder deadbolt rather than a double cylinder deadbolt version

I agree with the remarks regrading the hazards double cylinder deadbolts, but ...

I think you guys are missing the point here, This door has a BIG window right next to where the dead bolt would be. It will be easier for a thief to break the window open a single cylinder dead bolt than it is for the owner to open the door with a key. Besides replacing the door with a windowless one. Is there a better solution to this problem? (I have the same situation)

[cabinetman]

I agree with the remarks regrading the hazards double cylinder deadbolts, but ...

I think you guys are missing the point here, This door has a BIG window right next to where the dead bolt would be. It will be easier for a thief to break the window open a single cylinder dead bolt than it is for the owner to open the door with a key. Besides replacing the door with a windowless one. Is there a better solution to this problem? (I have the same situation)

Just about any fix has its limits. For a door like that, a thief would just bash in the glass and climb in. A polycarbonate cover is only as good as its installation. You have the questions of dual/single cylinder locks, hooks, and chains. The safety factor for egress is more paramount in importance than protection from a thief.

You can make the door as difficult as possible in the event of break in. As they say, there may be an easier home to break into. A thief may just choose to bust out a bedroom window instead. If that much security is needed at that doorway, a solid door would be more protective. You could install an electronic keypad type deadbolt.

What measures are in place for the other exterior doors in the house?
.