Door locks
Tougher than ever
Consumer ReportsVideo  |
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| STRIKE BACK Installing a $10 box strike with 3-inch screws will make almost any door lock more secure. |
There are basically two kinds of burglars: skilled professionals, often with tools, who check out a neighborhood before deciding
which homes to target; and opportunistic thieves, who may simply kick doors until they find one that gives way. The right
lock can deter the pro and defeat the opportunist.
Nearly two-thirds of all burglaries involve forced entry, and they succeed partly because of flimsy door locks and mounting
hardware. But even poorly performing locks can be significantly strengthened by replacing the strike (the metal plate that’s
mounted on the door jamb and into which the lock’s bolt slides) with a $10 box strike. You may not have to buy a new lock
at all; a box strike should add significant protection to your present lock.
Another inexpensive way to enhance your current door lock is to replace short mounting screws with 3-inch ones. Screws of
that length will penetrate the thin door jamb to reach the studs, providing more resistance to impact.
Adding a stronger strike improved the kick-in resistance of all the weakest locks; three actually went from the lowest to
the highest score in that test.
Other highlights of our door-lock tests:
• Only the expensive high-security locks were able to stand up to an assault with a standard cordless drill (as might be used
by an amateur crook) and by our consulting locksmith’s efforts at picking.
• Of the three keypad electronic locks we tested, only one model provided adequate kicking resistance.
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