How to reinforce your strike plate so your door wont get kicked in.

I looked for a good way to reinforce the deadbolt latch plates on my house.  All of the commercially available products were either ugly or poorly designed.
 
A standard door latch plate is secured to the door frame itself which is usually made of thin soft wood.  The door is installed in a rough opening in the frame of the house. Because of this, the distance between the wall studs and the frame is very random.  To make things even more difficult, the two screws that secure the strike plate are at the inside edge of the stud, so longer screws will not help much.
 

 
The white you see on the left is the sheet rock. The vertical line between the two screws is the stud beginning to split because of the larger screws I installed.
 
 
I am unable to post multiple photos of any size in one post, I apologize in advance for posting this as a series of replies.  I do not have any expertise in home automation or alarms.  I am a skilled handyman and work with wood, metal, electricity, and machine tools.  Just wanted to contribute something about home security.

I carefully enlarged the strike plate opening using a VERY sharp chisel and VERY light taps with my smallest hammer.  Remember, the door frame is made of very fragile wood and is expensive to repair.  Go very slowly.   You can drill out the corners using a 3/16 drill to speed the process.

You may need to make the hole deeper later by cutting into the stud.  There are 2 studs nailed together here so you can go as deep as you need to.

This is a piece of angle iron 1 1/8 x 1 1/8,   1/8 inch thick. This can not bend in this application.  The single hole is drilled straight and the two holes are drilled at an angle.  I used a 3/16 bit for the holes and a 5/8 bit to counter sink.  I used a drill press, but a hand drill will do.
 
This allows the large deck screws to go into the center of both studs away from the edge.

Having the screws at an angle secures the plate more securely to the studs

The angle of the screws moves them away from the edge and away from each other to prevent splitting.
 
Use the center screw for all fitting and adjusting. Do not install the two angled screws until the center screw is tight and you are certain the strike plate will fit and the latch works.
 
If you need to move the center hole, dip tooth picks in yellow wood glue and stuff them in the screw hole.  Let it dry for and hour and re install the screw in the right position. 

Here is the angle iron in position.  The stud has been chiseled deeper so that the piece is even with the strike plate recess in the door frame.

Check the fit carefully with the strike plate in place before putting the center screw in.

Here is the finished piece with all screws installed.  I did all of the locksets and deadbolts in my house like this. Although I used a chop saw and a drill press, this could be done with a hacksaw and hand drill if you don't have one.  If you don't have a impact drill/driver, pre drill the screw holes so you don't strip the phillips head.
 
These strike plates are now much stronger than the door itself.  Nothing will prevent a large man from kicking in a door if he is willing to keep at it for a while, but this will prevent most people from breaking in to my house this way.
 
 
Sorry for posting this as replies, but I couldn't get more than one photo in a post.
 
John Dennis

There are products that provide essentially the same sort of protection as what you've constructed.
 
In the high security strike below, 4 long screws are used to secure the steel box.  2 screws at the ends of the tabs, and 2 through the bottom of the box. When properly installed, all 4 will reach into the studs beyond the door frame.
 

 
Another thing you can do is install  a 12" long, 2" wide flat steel bar across the inside edge of the frame and stud, under the molding that covers the joint between the door frame and interior wall. 
 
Both of these are invisible after they are installed.

I saw something like that.  The thing I didn't like about it was that all of the screws are too close to the edge of the stud.  I think that the stud itself will easily crack.  Certainly stronger than the original installation though.
 
 
You are right about the flat steel bar. Installing a reinforcing plate before the trim is installed is ideal.  I didn't want to remove the trim and repaint.

The two screws that install into the box go through two of the corners and are angled at about 45 degrees or so,  allowing them to go deep into the center of the stud, away from the edge.  The picture doesn't show that particularly well.  One screw angles upward and outward and the other angles downward and outward.

It's better than nothing but usually the screws are going to be the weak link. Usually deck type or sheetrock screws are going to snap or bend before the strike plate is the issue.
 
We have similar shear forces on strikes in access control. The door fails before the hardware or mounting method.

Unfortunately I think its a loosing battle because door frames are pretty weak. Have you thought about adding a security door?

Bottom line is if a thief wants to break into A house, you make yours so difficult, he chooses a different house.
If he wants to break into YOUR house, he will.
 
Have a good security system.