I think your double door is going to be a problem. You might have to down size to a typical interior door size to get the security you need, unless you want it to look very "institutional".

Do you not have any place in the house you could make into a "panic room" better than the bedroom? Maybe a walkin closet that has a single door?

You could put a 12 gauge pump in the closet and a steel locking door with the steel door frame. I would think that a closet that is large enough to walk in and move around would be easier for her in a time of need to defend.

If someone makes it through the closet steel door she is already pointing at the door and will be within what I call "cut in half" shotgun range.

lunyou

 

I used to want a bedroom door like that to keep my dates from leaving. But seriously, aren't the windows your weakest link?

 

GRP
Get a set of solid core door. Look for a millwork company in your area and tell them what you are doing and why. If they are a good company they will make it up for you. I build custom homes a I get those types of request all the time. Any good GC will be able to install it. It will end up looking like a front door to your house. Now if you want a safe room you need to do more remember the walls are just ½ '' sheetrock over studs. I have built a semi safe room for a single woman, I glued and screwed ¾’’ plywood up before the sheet rock. The door was 1 3/4 solid core door with heavy duty jam and 2 extra one side deadbolts and 4’’ screws for the hinges and deadbolts. The jam and door were ordered from my local millwork co. This will work with lexan windows.
Good Luck

 

I agree with Randy's comments - you can reinforce your doors till the cows come home - but if someone really wants in that room, all they have to do is kick a hole in the sheet rock. That, or bust through an exterior window.

In my opinion, the best bet is to secure the master bedroom's walk-in closet.

I was going to suggest covering your walls with plywood, but Randy beat me to it. If you wanted to go the extra mile, put the plywood on the ceiling too.

It would be good to keep a cell phone, or at least her charger in the closet.

Most importantly - if you are going to hire a contractor to do this, make sure you trust the contractor, because he will know the weak links and the measures you have taken to safeguard the room.

An additional suggestion - inventory your tools in your garage. Easy access to power tools sort of negates the whole idea of fortifying a room with common methods and materials (wood and locks, as opposed to brick and mortar).

 

I will tell you what I have planned.

When I design my home I have a small room, size to be determined by funds and house size, that is going to be completely concrete in the basement.

It will in the in the corner of the basement sharing 2 sides with the foundation and two sides of poured concrete of a servicable thickness. Then I will also have a concrete ceiling(cap) poured on top of the room. The door will be the thickest steel door feasible, and if I am not satified with its strength I will weld some X-bracing on the inside.

Besides being a nearly indestructable tornado shelter, and light earthquake shelter, it will offer almost guaranteed protection against a normal and even most advanced BGs.

Here I will probably keep all my valueables, incluing the gun safe that will house all my non HD guns. I will also have a ventilation system for this room.

lunyou

 

This sounds good as long a youre not in a flood area.:biglaugh:

 

We live way out in the country, sheriff response time is about 30 minutes. . . consequently when we built the house I had extra thick solid core wood doors installed, they are 1/2" thicker than a normal interior door and much heavier. The master bedroom is a 'safe' room and has a reinforced door frame. There is also a deadbolt lock installed on the master bedroom door. The deadbolt slides into a steel channel that was mortised into the door frame, and that steel channel is held in place with 4 stainless steel screws that are 4" long and go through the double 2x4 wall studs. There are 3 industrial strength hinges on the opposite side, each with extra long screws holding them into the studs behind the door frame. As all my interior doors are identical the master bedroom door does not look out of place except for the fact that it has a deadbolt installed just above the standard lockset. The room is at the end of a hallway, can't access it through a wall because of the way it is designed, unless you go through 2 rooms to get to the master bedroom.

 

I wounder if you can get doors with Steel Cores? Also Thick fiberglass would help too.

 

I should have been more specific. I'm not interested in a Panic Room, it's just that the 9-year-old next door could come through the hollow-core crap that's on there now. Walk in closets would be better, but, again, I'm not tearing up walls, rewiring light switches inside the closet, etcetera.

My thought is, I have a 20 gauge youth model shotty with home security barrel on it. I just want the damn door reinforced so it's harder to get through.

I think good, solid doors, with reinforced jambs, and deadbolt locks is plenty. No more construction, that's what the shotgun is for. The fact that she won't use it is her decision and her problem. I mean I love my wife, but I'm not building a panic room.

I'll put in the doors and keep scaring her with stories so she'll go to the range with the shotgun. If she won't learn to shoot and a crack head comes through the wall with a sledge hammer, and she's unwilling to use the shotty, well, she's toast.

Thanks for the door suggestions! Anyone else had success getting a hoblophobic wife to the range for shotgun training can pipe up now!

But I'm not tearing the house apart. At some point she has to begin to participate in making herself feel safer. Sorry to sound harsh.

 

Two words - Alarm System.

 

Yup, and make sure you have a control pad in your bedroom, in addition to at the entry doors.

But bear in mind that an alarm system won't slow anyone down who is determined to get to you and your loved ones. It only makes noise and calls for help. The point of the reinforced doors is to slow them/stop them from getting to you. Realize they are ALREADY INSIDE if they are beating on the door to the room to which you have retreated. An alarm won't do diddly to help your wife at that point but a solid door, stout reinforcements, and good locks will buy her enough time to gather her thoughts and grab the gun that she has been afraid to touch. . . until RIGHT NOW!

I should have been more specific. I'm not interested in a Panic Room, it's just that the 9-year-old next door could come through the hollow-core crap that's on there now.
...
I just want the damn door reinforced so it's harder to get through.

I think good, solid doors, with reinforced jambs, and deadbolt locks is plenty.

Ditto. My doors are simply heavy high quality commercial grade solid core doors. They look like nice, normal, doors not like a vault. It would take a linebacker several attempts and probably a broken shoulder to get through.

 

Got an alarm system already. ADT. Had it for years. About windows, it's a second floor MBR.

Really, I just need to get the door thing done, and we're G2G. I'll keep offering to teach her to use the shotgun, but if she doesn't want to, it's her choice.

Then it's NRA Personal Protection advice all the way. Heavy doors-check. Cell phone-check. SureFire-check. Key in large fob to toss to police in front yard when they come-check. Shotgun by the bed-check.

Perp comes banging on the BR door, she calls 911, yells to him she's armed and he'd better leave. Toss keys to police when they arrive so they can come in and clear the house.

I'll get it all set for her. She'll have to decide about using the shotty, but I feel like I'll have left her in the best shape possible. At some point, she may have to defend herself, but that's her choice.

 

Really, I just need to get the door thing done, and we're G2G.

What your asking to do is quite possible and not that expensive. I'm a commercial general contractor and have some resonable idea's for you.

You have a double door to the bedroom? No problem, you need a 16ga. hollow metal "knock down" drywall frame from a commercial door supplier that has 4 1/2" hinge mortises and will fit in your rough opening. You will most likely have to special order doors but there are many design choices out there to keep your bedroom entrance from looking "institutionalized". Four panel, six panel, raised, embossed ... you get my point. You most likely will need a fire rated door, not for the rating but for the strength. A 20-60 min rated door(s) will make any BG work his ass off to get in. One of the doors is called "inactive" and the other will have the lockset is called "active". They both can be open at the same time if you choose. The inactive door will have "flush bolts" that extend into the head of the frame at the top (metal) and another bolt into the floor that has a steel reinforcing plate to accept the bottom bolt. Your "active" bedroom door will have a quality commercial lockset and a second security lock on the inside (like you see in hotels). If you want to do the bathroom door as well, same thing only 1 single door and hollow metal frame.

Fire rated doors are solid core doors and are filled with "gypsum" to get the fire rating. You can get them in all different styles, types and colors, with wood veneer or just plain hollow metal steel. Steel doors would make your bedroom look like a garage though.

Trust me, even firemen would have difficulty getting into your bedroom with an axe with this type of door and heavy duty hinges. They would go through the walls before they could get through the doors. The next time you are in a hotel, look at the guestroom entry doors. Do you think you could get through one before the Police came? I dont think so. Not if it was a quality hotel.

Like mentioned above, any intruder can get through the drywall very quickly if the door appears to be his barrier, but, if your looking for something to stop the "dumb" BG, this will work as you expect. A commercial door supplier should be able to get you what you need and install this without too much impact to the surrounding finishes. It will cost a little cash but thats to be expected. The rated doors will most likely take 4-8 wks to manufacture unless you get lucky and they have something you like in stock.

Good luck.

 

Ouch! I just remembered, the master bath is a smaller door, and it's in the corner of the house.

I can reinforce the doors to the MBR, but also the doors to the master bath! Lights are in there, and switches for them, too. Problem with closets is light switches on the outside of the closets.

She can lock the MBR doors, then retreat to the master bath. Keep the cell phone, shotty, and SureFire in there. There are still windows she can drop keys to police from.

Almost perfect. At least two sets of doors/walls provides some more protection and added time. And I'm not rebuilding the whole dang house!

Thanks guys, this has made me think it through some more. I like the Master bath as the last retreat.

 

Why are you so worried about throwing keys to the police.

If someone is IN the house that means they have ENTERED the house. If the door was locked, it isn't anymore, or the lock is laying on the ground with the door.

lunyou

 

It sounds like some good advice was offered...
I was recently at a new public school and watched a custodian remove the steel center jamb/ post that had retractable massive deadbolts that protruded into the floor and ceiling, allowing the double doors opening to be made into an opening large enough to get pallets through.
I know that you probably wouldn't need to remove that vertical piece, but there are manufacturers that make heavy metal double doors, but they are going to be pricey, and architectural digest won't be beating down your doors for a future spread.

 

Go to the local pole barn company and get one of their steel entry doors. Comes with reinforced jams and hardware,

 

I need to reinforce my bedroom door ... just to keep the Kids out at night...
have you considered early detection such as motion sensers? To give you a heads up.

Unless you want an exterior door, or comercial door... you would have to have a custom door just to get extra security... most passage doors are pretty weak.

 

Reinforced Door

My FL house was badly damaged by hurricane Charley in '04. During the rebuild I had the MB walk in closet made into a safe room. The outer two walls were block without windows. The inner walls were reinforced by 3/4" plywood under the drywall. The ceiling had 2 layers of 3/4" plywood (the hurricane had pulled off 4 pieces of 4x8 roofing and outside debris had penetrated the ceiling through the drywall in numerous places throughout the house). The old interior door was replaced with an outside metal covered door with exterior hardware. Hope the room never gets used during a storm or burglary but you never know.

 

http://www.browning.agenglish.com/pages/doors.html
http://www.agenglish.com/Amsec/VaultDoor.html

 

Rcher

BINGO! Best advice of this thread. That is EXACTLY what I am looking for. You've described just what I imagined. A metal frame and two opening doors without a center post, with the inactive door deadbolted into top and bottom.

What exactly do I look for in the yellow pages? Or should I just go to a commercial building site and find somebody to talk to?

Thanks very, very much. Exactly what I had in my mind.

JC

 

Thanks very, very much. Exactly what I had in my mind.

JC

Your very, very welcome. PM sent.

 

In order to prevent a b.g. from kicking my bedroom door in, which opens to the outside, I just leave the door unlocked. Hopefully, my barkers would give me enough time to give the b.g. an unpleasant greeting.

 

+1 Rcher

I am a firefighter and those are a bear to get through. If you want to make it impossible to break get a "New York" lock. That is a bar that goes under the knob down to a latch in the floor. Steel Frame and doors with a New York lock and it is faster to go through a cinder block wall than to force the door.

 

I don't even have a bedroom door. I took it off a few years ago to paint it and never actually got around to the project. :biglaugh:

I do however have a security system.

 

He also appears to be pretty 'excited' about that AK, too!