Any locksmiths here? Need special double deadbolt

B

Bill Marsh

Joined
Mar 26, 2002
Messages
1,861
I have seen a double deadbolt lock that has to be opened with a key in order to see the screws on the inside. But I can't remember more. :(

I don't see the value in a deadbolt that can be removed by a thief once he is inside your house.

I have a friend who was robbed while she was at work. The perps went in by breaking a window, unscrewed her back door deadbolt and took goodies out through the back door.

She does not want the kind where the screws are un-removable screws because then she would have a hard time replacing the lock herself if needed.

Any ideas or forums I could search?
 
Home depot would not be on my list.... the kind of place where if they don't carry it or have heard of it, it doesn't exist. If you've seen it, it exists.

munk
 
A real locksmith will have an exponentially better knowledge of what is available and the best locks for a particular situation. Home Depot and other hardware stores are usually clueless beyond their own products.
 
You need a good locksmith. Call at least a couple. What you're looking for might be available in a high-security or commercial product line, so you need to find a shop that actually sells that stuff.

(I needed a part for a no-longer manufactured security door. One locksmith could special order it for $$$. A different one had that same model door at his house so had a few spares sitting around the shop and sold me one for $.)

Keyed-both sides locks can be a problem if you're trying to get out in a fire and can't find your keys. Keep that in mind, perhaps leave a key in the lock when you're home.

You might need to upgrade youre hinges. Consider that a burglar willing to dismantle a deadbolt will have no problem popping the hinge pins (there are hinges to stop that, of course). But then they might just batter / chop / saw the door apart. Is there a circular saw somewhere in the house? That deadbolt's no problem.
 
i worked for a company whose main office was in london, they were burgled one night & lost a pallet of compaqs that had been left in the loading bay, went thru a steel door with wireglass in it by bustin out the glass. took about 5 min to get in, open the loading bay main rollup door & load up & go.

they replaced it with an all steel door with frame bolts in all 4 corners to prevent even hinge removal from letting the baddies open it. the steel frame door was made of 1/4" steel plate with a fire-refractory core, latest security locks, etc, you'd need a oxy-lance or a AP round to get thru it.

next time they broke thru the block wall next to the door with a sledge hammer. luckily both times they didn't get thru the locked interior doors (also steel) - probably was gonna take too much extra time. we did get some nice b&w videos of the blurrs in ski masks who did it - po-leece never did catch 'em.

where there is a will, there is a way.

all you can do is slow them down enough to make someone else look like less work, but if they want you bad enough, they'll get you. you need a human on the other side of the door with a 12 gauge when they do so they don't try that a second time.

my white vinyl front door, while not a security door (it's got big glass panes in it-the glass in it is tempered laminated safety glass & is not gonna be easy to get thru tho.) has a key both sides deadbolt lock.

it has a mechanism that raises lugs every foot or so along the door edge into slots in a steel frame set into the door frame, when i lift up on the door handle (really a lever, you push down to open the door), on the lock side of the door. they were made with the door of course and there is no way to easily get at the special screws . as stated, you have to get into the habit of leaving the key in the lock at night when you lock up & go to bed else if you need to get out in a hurry its not gonna open till you get the key.
 
One of the guys who comes down to hunt deer on my neighbor's property is a Madison firefighter instructor.

He talked about the training of new firefighters, including the fact that if they found themselves trapped, and away from a window or exit in a newer house, they could just go through the walls, which were sheetrock, insulation, and fiberboard, with siding attached.

Granted, the houses are much more air-tight and warmer than the old farm house I'm in, but flimsy by comparison. He said something else about modular homes, but I can't remember.

Bill? If anybody knows about security, it is you.:) Light, noise, and making your home less desireble than someone elses' seem to be the three best ways to secure it.

But if somebody WANTS to get in, generally, they can.


wacherass.
 
I used to live in NY and came back from a trip to Spain to find my door in the hall.
I bought a police lock after than - the kind that has a long bar that runs into the floor.

You can get guards for the cylinder, and they may also be made for the inside...but you can also consider screws with one-way threads. The downside of this is that you will have a real problem getting the lock off if you need to.

I just use a double-cylinder lock and take the key out at night. If people really want to get through a door - they can do it if you don't have a police lock. You can just rip the door off the hinges with a large crowbar.

My door in Brooklyn was steel in a steel frame.
 
DONT DO IT-

i installed doors for a few years in my youth-a double deadbolt is a major saftey hazard for a home-

if you wake up in the middle of the night and the house is on fire the last thing you want to do is look for keys instead of wife and kids-


if a thief wants to get in he can-they have way more ways than you can think of-

we would not install them period-
 
Thanks for all the replies. I have found the deadbolt. It is called an Arrow and has concealed screws when locked and closed.

I find there are two basic kinds of theives. Lazy smash and grab and the "Mission Impossible Guys."

The first kind is all I want to protect against. These i will have for my basic vacant rental houses. The Arrow deadbolts will probably suffice.

For my friend, I am suggesting these locks, secure hinge pins and an alarm system. She will be protected well with this.

My system is elaborate with motions sensors, off site video recording and monitoring. If my alarn goes off, the security people can actually see what is going on. I like gadgets. Also have an elaborate backup system with batteries and a generator (inside the warehouse, exhausts outside) that will come on if the power is cut and a wireless system to comunicate if the phone wire is cut.

The warehouse walls are 2 feet thick and 20 feet high. Doors are steel. Hinge pins welded in. Signs around telling intruders what will happen if someone ctches them in here. Motion sensors on the roof as well as inside the warehouse. A lot more stuff. Hell, the alarm system is worth more than any single artifact.

If someone forces me to disarm it, I can enter a code that will seem to disarm it but it will trigger a silent alarm and police will be dispatched.

I don't have the Hope Diamond here, but I get paranoid and like gadgets. No, I LOVE gadgets!

But could someone defeat my system? Possibly, that is why I have insurance. While my stuff is not super valuable, it is ireplaceable and I would miss some things.

I don't think the average thief in Atlanta would want an armload of Moro swords anyhow. I don't keep cash, jewelry or a lot of guns here anyway.

But I guess the guys from Mission Impossible could get in and steal things. I don't believe you can stop a sophisticated, smart, determined thief.

I do believe the vast majority of thieves can be disuaded from attacking a hardened target and will take their crowbars elsewhere.

Anyhow, in closing, i will order some of these deadbolts and see haow they look. Perhaps they and an alarm system will have her feeling better. I do suggest that she keep a key in the inside lock when home.
 
Hang a little flashlight on that key. Like a little LED keychain light. It'll provide enough light to find candles or a better flashlight in a power outage, and she'll always know exactly where it is.
 
Security is an illusion . As has been said :if they want in they will get in : (Not quite , but close . )

Some people simply have to protect against casual threats against their security . A thief who would walk along hallways of apartment buildings checking for unlocked doors . Locked ? Then he/she/it moves on .

There are thieves who would sneak in while you are home (alarm off) test your lines to see if there are E:O:L:s , Scope out where your panel is (and what kind it is) then walk out with most none the wiser . If you don,t have E:O:L:s or they are in the panels then they know what to do .

There are ways to circumvent this and ways to circumnavigate your circumventions .

It is the same for door locks . Security is an illusion . The better more balanced your approach is to home security the less likely a thief is to see through your illusion .
 
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