How to Reinforce a Door: Everything You Need to Know for Your Commercial Doors

In the U.S, burglaries cost businesses nearly 800 million dollars every year.  Most of these burglaries occur when businesses are closed and 58% of them involve forcible entry.

Not to mention, one of every burglar reports gain entry by picking locks or using a key.

This is enough evidence that most doors can be bypassed by nearly anyone planning to break into a business.

This also shows the many security threats business owners continually face as each day passes. In the face of these facts, business owners should understand no business is immune to break-ins and should ensure proper security measures.

Knowing that you realize the importance of door security for your business.  Don’t wait when it’s too late to protect your business from intruders. Here’s how to reinforce a door and everything you need for business safety.

1. HOW TO REINFORCE A DOOR: REINFORCE DOOR FRAMES

No matter the type of silk plate installed, consistent, forceful kicks to your door may end up breaking the door frame. This is because the frame securing the strike plate in position is usually an inch thick.

This is why you need to reinforce your door frame so that it may withstand forceful entry.

The best way to reinforce your frame is by adding a layer of steel to prevent them from splitting. This makes your door kick proof.

Installation entails placing high-gauge steel over the door jamb and securing it with long screws. The screws should penetrate through to the wall studs on all sides of the doorway. This ensures that your door jamb is well strengthened.

You can also choose to replace the entire door frame with a steel door frame and secure it with metal wall studs.

2. STRENGTHENING A DOOR’S EDGE

After you’re done reinforcing the door frame, you should then take care of the door itself. Your door’s edge is usually the weakest part of the door. It’s the part of the door where the bolts go through to lock into the frame.

The door’s edge is secured to the frame by the bolt and latch, which both don’t distribute force well in case of kick-ins to the door. This means if your door’s frame is reinforced, the door’s edge will get damaged in a forced entry.

That being said, you can reinforce your door’s edge by installing a door wrap around it. A door wrap creates greater surface area essential to distribute the force over, making it nearly impossible to gain forced entry.

Though not that attractive, bigger door wraps offer greater strength to your door as they distribute the force more that smaller ones. Small wraps usually work well when reinforcing a door that’s made of metal or solid wood.

3. SECURE THE HINGES TO REINFORCE A DOOR

Most commercial doors have exposed hinges that can be easily popped off, and the door pulled out of the frame. To prevent your door from being pulled off, you may consider reinforcing the hinges by installing jamb pins.

Installation entails removing a screw from every hinge and replacing with a security pin. You should also remove the screw on the opposite side where the pin goes through when the door is closed.

These security pins can be used on both wooden and metal doors Jam. They are mostly made of wood and machine threading.

4. REINFORCE STRIKE PLATES

Strike plates typically secure the doors locks into the door’s frame. There are two great ways that you can reinforce your door’s silk plates:

To begin with if the frame of your door is fortified by a standard wood structure, you may consider removing the small-sized screws attaching the plate and replace them with 3-inch screws.

Using long screws ensures that the silk plates are well secured to the studs in the wall not only to the thin door framing.

Apart from using long screws to secure the silk plate, you may as well consider installing an elongated silk plate. Using a longer silk plate allows you to use more screws to securely attach the plate to the frame.

By using screws throughout the frame, you’ll be distributing the impact of a strike and adding immense strength to the door. This is useful to prevent forced entry by kicking in the door.

To further reinforce your door’s silk plate, you may choose one made of a stronger material such as steel. Silk plates made of steel can withstand more slams without bending out of shape or breaking.

5. REINFORCE DOOR MATERIAL

Now that you’ve reinforced the strike plates and the hinges, it’s time to work on the door. Do you that door have a weak point?

Yes, the strip which the levers and deadbolts run through. For that reason, you should mount a door wrap so that your door doesn’t split in case of a break-in attempt.

The door wrap is fitted behind the door to wrap the door with either steel or an aluminum plate. It is designed to distribute the force of burglary attempt over a large surface area, which means the burglars need more force to cause damage.

6. PICK RESISTANT HIGH-SECURITY LOCKS

Just like some home locks, there are business locks that can effortlessly be bumped and picked. So you may consider having your business’ door lock inspected to ascertain its robustness.

If your door lock requires replacing, it’s important that you understand commercial lock grading to help you get the best high-security lock.

Common grading for commercial locks includes Grade 1 and Grade 2. Grade 1 locks usually offer greater strength and durability than Grade 2 locks. For your business, you’ll want to install a Grade 1 locks as they provide improved door security.

Alternatively, you can reinforce your door by installing high-security cylinders without replacing the entire lock. A cylinder is the part of the lock where the key enters. High-security lock cylinders are snap-resistant, adding an extra layer of security to your business.

Another great thing with security cylinders is that the keys can’t be duplicated, something that adds to your door security.

PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS WITH QUALITY DOOR REINFORCING MATERIALS

Knowing how to reinforce a door is the first step to protecting your business from intruders.  With the door mentioned above reinforcing ways, your commercial door will become a fortress beyond the breaching skills of the best criminals.

If you’re ready and willing to curb business theft losses, check out our website for great deals on quality commercial grade doors and hardware to keep your business safe and secure.