home invasion and door repair

[Urban Dreamer]

I need some advice, we had someone break into our home. They fortunately got scared away (a truckful of teenagers, what has this world come to!!) and didn't manage to take anything. But they kicked in the front door and now we have to try to figure out what to do with it. right now it's just boarded up, but i'm not sure if we will have to buy a whole new door or if we can just replace the frame or what. I've heard that you have to just get a whole new door because the new frame might not fit the old door. i can't see buying a new steel door just because the frame is destroyed. the door itself is FINE. anyone have experience or can advise? I definately can't do it myself, i don't have enough carpentry experience to do that. just wondering, i'm having an arguement with DH because he wants to just buy a whole new door. it's not going to be on insurance since i don't think the deductible is worth it. help!

[whiterock]

Same thing happened to me about a year ago. The frame was split and the molding knocked away from the wall. I put glue on the broken part of the frame and knocked it back into place then used 3" sheetrock screws to pull it together and naile the molding back on. Works just fine but isn't real pretty. Took less than 20 minutes though.

[BCR]

I have a friend who put a sliding bolt lock at the top and bottom of the doorframe which would significantly slow down someone from kisking in a door. She has no door windows either so they can't just bust a window and reach around and unlock it.

[thebeav]

I’ve always wondered why someone would feel venerable enough to need a steel door but forget about the weakest point, the Jam. If your going to put in a steel door put in a steel jam too. If you have a steel door and a broken wood jam, call steel jam manufactures and give them the exact size of your door and order a jam. You will probably need a carpenter to install it but once it’s done they wont kick it in.

[countrygrrrl]

In NYC, I used to see a lot of something called fox locks - ?? A bar across the middle of the door which goes into bolt like things at both sides --- you have to turn this thing in the middle of the bar to unlock.

I think if I lived in an urban area with a lot of crime, I'd go not just with a steel door, but a fox lock.

Good luck --- that stinks!

[mikell]

A good door shop will sell door jams just measure it up and the last one I bought last spring was 18$ and an hours work to install

mikell

[Urban Dreamer]

Originally Posted by mikell

A good door shop will sell door jams just measure it up and the last one I bought last spring was 18$ and an hours work to install

mikell

Thanks Mikell, and everyone else too. We live in a suburban neighborhood and the steel door is probably just for insulation not for safety. There hasn't been a crime like this in my neighborhood for over 8 years, and then when it happened the kids came in the back doors and windows through the woods, not via the front door and the street. I'm still confused about the whole thing, but I have to wonder about teenagers. They vandalized the sign at the front of our neighborhood a few months ago, but then repaired it (maybe the parents found out?).

I'm not sure if we have I don't want to 'buy' it either!
a 'door shop' here in town, but I'll check the phone book. My husband swears we have to go to lowes and have a whole new door installed. I can't buy that, and
I'm not going to put a metal bar across the door, and for fire safety I don't feel comfortable putting additional locks on it. I will add some sort of metal to the jamb to make sure it's a bit harder to kick in though, for sure. My gaurd dog will do the rest.

[j.r. guerra in s. tx.]

This web site has some good ideas about DIY home security systems, as well as making a door harder to breach:

www.sneakyuses.com

I have the book ($11) best money I've spent on a book for quite a while.

Steel door should have steel jamb, asssuming the door is a heavily built commercial model. The doors you buy for $100 - $200 new at Home Depot - type stores are pretty much decorative. The steel doors like businesses have for their rear doors are the heavy duty models. In masonry construction, filling the frames with concrete grout even makes this installation stronger.

These commercial doors and frames aren't cheap - nine years ago, I paid $1300 per door, frame and hardware of which we have three. But extremely strong and secure.

I hope the repair goes well.