prevent door kick-in & secure shotgun

Still, someone could bust in if they were bound and determined. Then the question is whether I can get to a firearm quick enough.

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No matter how good your security system is, your windows are, your doors are someone can always get in. The question is if step 1 fails, do you have a step 2 / 3 / 4?

Step 1 - home secured
Step 2 - plan
Step 3 - gun
Step 4 - back ups (police, underground tunnel, helicopter on the roof...)

Lots of good suggestions on the door. Re: the firearms, do you have a tall piece of furniture like an armoire/wardrobe or bookshelf? Some of these have trim that creates a nice recessed top that can only be reached by an adult sized person- creates a reasonably accessible location. Also I agree with the earlier post about not keeping one in the chamber.

Turning the doors so they swing out is a bad idea. It's much harder to close the door when someone is on the other side trying to get in. With the normal direction, you can leverage your weight and leg strength without having to hold on the door knob to close the door.

If you get a near impregnable door, the criminals will attack your windows. If you get better windows, they can use a chain saw to cut a hole in your stud wall in about 30 seconds.

Its not hopeless but no static defenses are all that good.

Steel Pocket Doors...( ieoors which do not open in or out, but, move sideways...)


Lol...

Oyeboten:Steel Pocket Doors...( ie doors which do not open in or out, but, move sideways...)

I'm a finish carpenter, and customers sometimes ask me what I think of pocket doors for interior use (but more often they go out and buy one first). Here's what I tell them:

"If you must have a pocket door, get a good one that retails for at least 400 bucks. That way, I won't have to come back and rip it out in 6 months when it's all warped and bound up. If you get a cheap one, you'll lose all the savings in labor to get it installed properly, and then you'll have an cheap door that cost you a lot."

Also, the structure around a pocket door is considerably weakened compared to a conventional door, and installing any plumbing or electrical in the pocket area is a giant PITA to impossible. If you're talking about an exterior entry door, there's the added complication of rendering it weathertight.

Just so ya know.

Parker

A dog is a no-go for now. Maybe in a year or two.

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That's your biggest mistake, if you don't mind my sayin' so. You're talking about making nontrivial modifications to a house, but you're neglecting one of the most cost-effective deterrents available.

I second what TAB said. another thing to consider. Could you keep the trigger lock on the gun and then remove it as you go to bed. Or maybe do this and keep a round out of the chamber as another saftey feature. The bad guy will hear you rack a round in and probably flea the scene if he is smart. Having a trigger lock on your gun will not protect you as soon as you know you need the gun it will be to late if you have to fumble with a key or combination in a moment or stress.

There is a product called "Door Jamb Armor" that is supposed to be good, but the install is a little rough.
You can find it at most Lowes stores for about $120.

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+1. I have this, plus a storm door, plus the club to go behind the door, as well as the 2 terriers, alarm system and guns. Overkill? Maybe, but our house is the only one that has never been broken into. A lot of my neighbours had front doors kicked open during the day when most of us are at work.

Something else that needs to be mentioned... your house is only secure as its weakest point. Unless your willing to pay big bucks( 1-2k per window)... your windows are your weakest point.

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The windows on the main/round levels all have iron bars put in a pattern that matches the window latticework. The bars can't be seen from the outside, but they'll prevent anything larger than my 5 pound terriers from squeezing through. The work didn't cost that much either, maybe $200 a window IIRC. i just had to have the guy come and measure the window bays, he welded the metal at his yard, then came by and installed them. Well worth the money IMO....

not all communtiys allow iron bars, and the ones required by fire code here are more then the security windows. Granted most people don't buy the approved ones... just pray building inspector, fire inspector or EMS has to come near your place.

Imagine having this for a front door, easy enough to find at a shipyard salvage yard. Or just invest in a custom job.

We've got essentially the same setup: 3 small kids plus our (liberal) arsenal (/liberal) (Remi 870 + 9mm handguns). Except we have the added benefit of the "attack schnauzer."

Anyway, as for the shotgun, we keep it loaded without a chambered round. Since we have decorated in early 21st century modern farmhouse we keep the gun over the bedroom door. It looks appropriate there, is out of small hands reach and is within 10 feet of the bed. Under the bed is a 10inch sheathed knife with heavy duty snaps on the sheath(keeps the little fingers attached to the little hands).

Home security in a nutshell.

The function of home security is to make noise and delay the bad guy or guys breaking in while you call the police. Meanwhile you get your gun or guns ready to defend yourself while yelling at the bad guys to get the hell out. Alarms have good deterrent value but mostly make noise and attract attention (which burglars/robbers hate) and gets the police notified that somethings wrong here.

As Hugo mentions the role of home security is not to prevent a breech but to stall long enough to allow reaction. Providing video records can also be a bonus in catching those who get away.

A home is not really your castle anymore. The laws and required legal conduct say so. You cannot install what you wish, reinforce things like you wish (various health and safety codes, fire codes and building codes) or install booby traps like any good castle would have.

Imagine having this for a front door, easy enough to find at a shipyard salvage yard. Or just invest in a custom job.

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Illegal most places. The law requires most entrances to have doors which open inwards. Most hatch doors have the mechanics on the wrong side or both sides. It would be possible to modify it or have a custom job, but still not going to make you popular with the neighborhood.

If your front door is obviously excessively fortified then any criminal (or others like LEO in no knock raids) will simply skip it and use a window, or a back or side door. That is if they do not just knock posing as a city, state or federal official which seems to be quite common in home invasions lately and wait for you to open the door.
Human beings do have a brain and a giant steel hatch is not going to result in them spending time trying to kick it in.
It is going to result in them entering through another location or waiting for you to open it.


Preventing home intruders with obvious excessive security may also get you unwanted attention from local LEO or state/county/city insepectors which results in harassment. People heavily fortifying structures tend to recieve extra attention.
Attention that can result in a "seized arsenal" of local "right-wing extremist nutcase" fortifying thier "bunker" on the 6 o'clock news. You can be totaly innocent but being viewed by the locals and the government as such a person is likely to bring a higher risk of problems than the slight risk of home invasion by your common thug in a less secure structure.
It needs to look and feel like a home inside and especialy outside, not a fortified bunker.

Spanish Bayonets under windows!

Dont know if they will grow where you are at in Alabama but they do very well for window security. See this website for pics and more details:
http://www.floridata.com/ref/Y/yucc_alo.cfm

The Spanish bayonet's pure white spires explode into flowers against a summer sky just in time for the fourth o' July.
Usage
Use Spanish bayonet as an accent behind beds and borders. Plant them in a cluster in a sunny corner of the landscape where they will have room to tumble over and start new plants from offshoots. Place Spanish bayonet in the background, where people and pets won't be skewered! Spanish bayonet may be the ultimate in "security plants" - it can be planted beneath windows and other access points where its fiercely pointed leaves will prevent passage of all interlopers human and otherwise.

Features
Even in the background, Spanish bayonet commands attention with its dramatic spikes of white flowers and handsome saberlike foliage.

WARNING
They don't call it Spanish bayonet because it's named after Señor Bayonet! The tips of the leaves are pointed and sharp! Do not plant Spanish bayonet near walkways, patios or in areas frequented by children and pets. This plant can inflict painful puncture wounds even through heavy clothing!

Someone mentioned the Mossberg LocBox earlier- I like those to secure shotguns that need to be accessible when needed but securely locked when unattended. A good idea is to put the key to it on your keyring with your car keys. The key won't come out of the lock when it is unlocked, but can be removed when the lock is locked. Unlock it when you are home to attend it, lock it when you're gone- you won't be leaving without your keys, right?

See http://www.gunaccessories.com/MossbergAccessories/locbox.asp

http://survivalpreps.blogspot.com/2008/07/mossberg-loc-box-review.html

hth,

lpl

there is a tool at home depot that has a U shape on one side and a rubber attachment on the other. You can extend it to fit any door. Once its on, the guy at home depot said that people will bruise their leg before getting in the door. 16 bucks man. Gotta pick one up
http://www.amazon.com/Master-Lock-2...49-2253425?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1241918037&sr=8-1
That.

Didn't have time to read entire thread, so this may have already been mentioned...

I was forced to purchase a trigger lock with one of my guns when I picked it up from Big 5. The trigger lock could be removed without use of a key, or you could set it to require the key. There were two visible buttons, pressing the correct one and the hidden button would open the lock. Pressing the decoy button would prevent the lock from opening.

Might be worth looking into....

PM me if you're interested and I'll get you a brand/make/model.

Hi Catspa,


You'd said -

Oyeboten:Steel Pocket Doors...( ie doors which do not open in or out, but, move sideways...)

I'm a finish carpenter, and customers sometimes ask me what I think of pocket doors for interior use (but more often they go out and buy one first). Here's what I tell them:

"If you must have a pocket door, get a good one that retails for at least 400 bucks. That way, I won't have to come back and rip it out in 6 months when it's all warped and bound up. If you get a cheap one, you'll lose all the savings in labor to get it installed properly, and then you'll have an cheap door that cost you a lot."

Also, the structure around a pocket door is considerably weakened compared to a conventional door, and installing any plumbing or electrical in the pocket area is a giant PITA to impossible. If you're talking about an exterior entry door, there's the added complication of rendering it weathertight.

Just so ya know.

Parker

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I know...


I actually used to scratch-build and install special Pocket Doors for various indoor settings, for interior designers...and used to fantacise about perimeter versions, in Steel and other materials...hydraulically operated, on and on...


It's all complicated...


And I was mosly being playful in my earlier quip...


I used to get calls for repairing/replacing front entry Doors where they'd been kicked in...shattered Doors, shattered Jabs, prior bad make-do repairs...ugh...eeeeesh...hideous...property owners I knew...


Usually inner city, old, small, run down rental homes with feeble old people in them, skin-flint landlords, 'slumlords', so I'd just install old used Steel Doors and Steel Jambs I'd salvaged or got from salvagers...and, that took care of "that", front Door wise...while, of course, Back Doors, Side Doors, and Windows are another matter...


Pretty depressing...and soon I said "No...forget it..." and did not do it anymore.



Phil
l v

Yeah. When I've been called to replace a kicked-in door, I just remove the whole door, jamb and all, and inspect the framing carefully. Sometimes I'll end up replacing the jack stud as well. Usually the strike jamb is beyond rescue, and I end up replacing the entire door, but the economy-grade steel doors have been coming with jambs made of soft pine or spruce, hardly strong enough for normal use, much less to resist being kicked in. I can sometimes improve that by screwing a wide Simpson tie strap to the back of the strike jamb above and below the strike itself.

If it was my job to install a door so it couldn't be kicked in (using off-the shelf materials), here's how I think I'd do it. Starting with the framing, I'd lag bolt and construction adhesive the solid header, king studs and jacks together as a unit with an extra king on the strike side, then lag bolt it into the top and bottom plates (or Timberlok screws). I'd frame it up straight, square, and tight, to minimize shimming. Then I'd choose a heavy lumber core solid door in a doug-fir jamb, and lag through the thick (outer) part of the jamb every foot or so vertically, counterboring the lag holes to sit flush with the jamb face. I would cover the bolt heads with an additional stop, 1/4" thick with a 1/4" reveal on the outboard edge, glued and nailed to the jamb face.

I always replace the top hinge jamb screws with 3-inchers, but for added security I'd do that to all of them, and the hinge door screws as well. I'd also insert 3 4" lags into the hinge jamb until they protruded about an inch, cut the heads off, and round over the stubs. Then I'd bore three holes in the hinge edge of the door to accept them.

Finally, I'd install two keyed-alike deadbolts, one each above and below the lockset. Then I'd case and detail the opening as usual. I know, I know, some members will say "chainsaw", so I'm also installing a 30x74x1/4" steel plate on the inside door face, screwed every foot around the perimeter.

I'd also consider installing a crossbar, brackets bolted into the king studs and padded so it contacted the inside door face and supported it to within about 2" of the edge. It'd be kinda ugly though, and only usable from the inside, and might be an obstacle to exit in case of fire.

Anyway, I think I'd be willing to tell the owner, "If you can kick this door in, I'll fix it for free." I'm not saying that it couldn't eventually be breached by a determined intruder, but he better bring a lunch. And it would look pretty ordinary from the outside, except for the double deadbolts.

Parker

We have two German Shepherd dogs who love us and distrust EVERYONE else in the world. We haven't had any problems in 30 years. In case that changes the 12 ga is in the bedroom closet.

I have 6 kids, including 7 year old twins. I keep my Moss 500 load with the pipe empty.

None of my little children can rack a round in, much less do it next to me, much less do it with the slide lock.

If I need to use the shotgun, I will pull the trigger and rack a round.

The suggestion for the different doors and gates with pics is a good one.

As far as your 870 is concerned, why not leave it "cruiser ready." In this, you load it full, cock it, then slowly pull the slide until that round pops out. You don't want to pull it too far or it will load the next round. Leave the extracted round near the shotgun, and just drop it in in case of emergency. To fire, drop the shell in and move the slide forward. Then take the safety off.

Door Alarm

If you are concerned about the children getting into your room while you are not awake, a quick and easy solution is a child alarm on bedroom doors.

Since our oldest has been moved to a toddler bed we picked up a wireless alarm for his door and our youngest, who is still in a crib. When the doors open an alarm will go off in our bedroom to wake us and let us know one of them is moving about the house.

You could additionally place an alarm on your door, so you know to wake you and give you a little time to secure your firearms from the little ones.

This would allow you to not need the trigger locks and leave your pistol safe open while you rest. And have the weapons available immediately after waking.

you load it full, cock it, then slowly pull the slide until that round pops out. You don't want to pull it too far or it will load the next round

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Way too complicated.

With an unloaded pump shotgun, run the slide to verify a clear chamber and cock the hammer. Place the safety on. Load the magazine tube with your choice of novelty items.

To use, activate the bolt release, charge the shotgun and render your world safe for humanity.