I recently got an illustration as to how easy it would be to kick in the door to my house if the deadbolt was not in place. Granted, the deadbolt should be in place in most situations where someone might want to kick the door in… and no I am not expecting any raging maniacs to be forcefully entering my house anytime in the near future…

But seeing how possible it was though, made me realize that perhaps I should do a little extra to secure my doors.

The weak point in the whole door system appeared to be the screws that held the flashing plate onto the door frame.

The flashing plate is the flat piece of metal screwed into the door frame which provides the recess for the door latch.

In my house the flashing plate was screwed into the door frame with half inch long screws. Essentially, with enough force applied to the door (say, with a kick), the latch can actually push against the flashing plate hard enough to rip the screws out of the wood - opening the door.

Surprisingly little force is needed to pull half inch screws out of the wood.

So I went to Home Depot and bought two inch long screws and replaced them on all of the flashing plates of the doors that faced the outside of the house.

The force required to pull a two inch screw out of the wood (remember they are now four times deeper into the wood then the previous screws), is significantly greater than a half inch screw. In reality now, you would need to apply enough force to break the door frame in order to achieve the same result. So the doors will stand up to much more pounding and as such serve as a really good deterrent to anyone looking for easy pickings.

And that means I rest easier knowing that my loved ones, the fruits of our labours, and even myself, are now safer in my house. And that’s a good feeling.