Please tell me what you think of this new product

[BraveSirRobbin]

Thank you for the CocoonTech member discount! It is greatly appreciated: D .

The members of the Neighborhood Watch meeting did not go into detail about how the sliding glass doors were being compromised; just that it was a popular entry point for burglaries.

 

[hucker]

I don't think anyone was saying more security was bad, just that fortifying a door when glass windows and sliding glass door access to the same space makes such door jams less interesting for my house (3 doors, 1 french door, 2 sliders). Other doors and windows are the weak point. Certainly the point about the fortified jam+hingelocks+double sided deadbolt makes life tough...

For my application, I'm not sure that the $200 spent to fortify 2 doors will enhance my security/safety more than spending that money on camera's, alarm sensors, sprinkers, CO sensors, motion sensors, driveway sensors etc.

If I lived in a place that only had door access I might think otherwise.

BTW offering up a discount is great! I think the users here tend to be evangilists one way or the other. I know if I hear of someone with a need for such a jam I'll tell them about your site.

 

[HighTest]

I used a telescoping security bar lock for my sliding glass door. Here's a link for the model: http://www.technologylk.com/product_view.a...product_ID=6372

I used to use a cut piece of wood and lay it in the track, but had read that it's not to difficult for them to pop it out of the track with a slim jim or other method. This security bar mounts in the middle, so glass breakage is required to disable.

This is where the glass break sensor comes in handy as well as an exterior camera to help deter those concerned with keeping their identity private during a break in.

 

[IVB]

I think the users here tend to be evangilists one way or the other.

We're allowed to evangelize about stuff we like? Dang, I better start doing that

Seriously though, the basic premise here is that you install the bended metal around your doorknob/deadbolt and that by doing so you prevent someone from kicking in the door?

Sounds interesting, esp given that I have no sliding doors in my house, and only 2 primary doors. The back door is especially worrisome, for reasons I won't go into publicly. Like Vaughn said, every little bit of deterrent helps.

 

[ver0776]

For glass doors, you can add a security laminate. On almost every episode of It Takes A Thief, security laminate is added to all ground floor glass. You can bash on a sliding glass door with a baseball bat for 10 minutes and not get in with the laminates... Sliding glass doors should not be considered a weak point, at least they don't need to be...

I have no idea how much the laminates costs though, but I would love to have my windows, especially on my back door done.

Speaking of It Takes A Thief, I thought I have seen every episode and I have not seen this door reinforcement used. What was the theme of the episode so I can check it out on my DVR? I sure wish that show gave more details and less jokes so use DIY'ers would get more out of it.

If you don't watch this show though, I highly recommend it. It has changed my thinking on many security issues. For the record, many of the house robbed had security systems, some even armed and those people still lost 10's of thousands in goods.


Vaughn

 

[TheloniousMonk]

Look for us on the "It Takes A Thief" show late Jan. (possibly two weeks before the end of the month) or early Feb. As always, thanks for the feedback and have a good day! ~Logging off for the weekend...

 

[cliffs]

<<Here in Las Vegas, most homes are broken into via the sliding glass back door at the back of the home (obtained this information from Las Vegas Metro Police during a Neighborhood Watch seminar).>>

In the Phoenix area there was series of burglaries the resulted in very large jewelery losses. What they did was break the fixed glass of a sliding glass door with a rock or brick. Many master bedrooms have these doors and most don't have motion detectors in these rooms. The intruder didn't set off the door alarm(the sliding part of the door was not disturbed). Building code requires that sliding glass doors be fitted with tempered glass. Tempered glass breaks into small pieces, so the thief just walks through the fixed side of the door as if it was opened. As far as I know these people were never caught by the Police Dept.. This went on for several years.

When considering security this might be kept in mind.

Cliff s

 

[ChuckSchick]

I have to say that I've acutally bought and installed the "door jamb armor". I can't say enough good things about it. I had intended to take some photos and post about it, but never got around to it.

We had some guys kick in a basement door a year ago which actually prompted me to embark on this new hobby. I repaired the shattered jamb with the product and it did the job well. After painting and some fine tuning of the jamb molding it looks good. Thieves will likely be troubled enough now to have to break out the window in the door and turn the lock. :blink: Kidding aside, it would give anyone inside several seconds to act while a thief unsuccessfully tried to kick in the door. When they gave up and started breaking glass the GB sensors would fire.

All in all, a fully "armored" door is a fine thing. Very solid. I've got some french doors leading to a deck which I haven't figured out how to "armor". I would like to see a product of heavy gauge steel that is just a flat sheet -- maybe 2" by 60" with cutouts for bolts and screws. I could then just screw / epoxy it directly into a flat jamb and afford some reinforcement to the situation.

I will note that for the double doors leading into my basement utility room, I chose to make a laminated oak "bar" that hangs in brackets covering both doors -- think "what you would use to keep a bear out of your cabin". I'd love to see the catch a thief guys run up against that mess 'o oak and lag screws.

 

[Sendero]

From a quick look at the site I don't think this will work quite 'universally'. In my case the door has trim around the inside of it which makes it set in a bit. In looking at the pics and info on the site it looks like it only works with door jams which are flush (for lack of a better word). I have a piece of trim that is 1/2" thick so it looks like I wouldn't be able to use this. It did look tempting though.

On the door jamb & It Takes A Thief, I think it was on the one with the firefighter.

 

[TX Tim]

On the door jamb & It Takes A Thief, I think it was on the one with the firefighter.

During that firefighter episode, are you sure they didn't use the StrikeMaster II? That one is jamb-only and has been used on the show.

Obviously DJA puts more metal in more places. The tradeoff is a more complicated installation, probably less compatibility and frankly, a rather ugly "Door Shield" that's visible from inside and out. What's up with the Satin Nickel finish? It just looks like it's painted beige.

I'm definitely interested in something like this, but haven't decided which one to get.

 

[damage]

ugh. i've been following along this thread and unfortunately may have to look at installing something like this. our neighbors 2 houses over had their house broken into yesterday afternoon. the thieves used a crowbar or something to pry open a door. unfortunately for our neighbors, the area near the door was shielded by large shrubs and their alarm system wasn't completely installed.

 

[TheloniousMonk]

Just a few quick responses to the posts below. To TX Tim. It was comments like the one you made about our door shield that prompted us to develop our low profile model, which really isn't even visible from the street. Also, while the satin nickel looks "beige" in the pictures, it is actually a custom powder coat color that was developed to match Mul-T-Lock's satin nickel lock color. Without honest comments like this we could not continue to make improvements in our products.

One question that I think anyone considering purchasing a product like this should ask themselves is what are you trying to accomplish. If you are actually looking to add additional security to your home, how will you feel when you come home and find your hinges kicked in or your door split because you were too lazy to take an extra 20 minutes to install pieces that would have prevented it. If these extra pieces were not necessary, believe me when I tell you that we would not spend the extra money manufacturing them and we would definitely not spend the effort to come up with pieces that look better so that people could have the full protection of the system without an ugly metal piece on their door. We sell our product like this because it's the only way that it will really work and we know that because we actually tested our products before bringing them to market. I just can't see spending any time or money on a product that is supposed to improve your security and protect your family if you're not sure it's going to work or if you know it won't work by design.

For example, please look at our competitor's website and look at pictures that show them installing their product on a side-light door. If you don't know, I would be glad to tell anyone why this will not work and why we are spending a lot of money designing a system that will actually reinforce a side-llignt door. It's the basic difference between perception and reality. We do not sell perception.

Thanks again for the comments. And by the way, the folks at It Takes a Thief call us when they have problems that our competition can't fix. Otherwise we would have never been on the show.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

TheloniousMonk;

Thanks again for contributing to our site. Please take a moment to update your signature so you can comply with our new vendor requirements! <_<

Regards,

BSR
CocoonTech.com Moderator

 

[IVB]

Has anyone actually installed this yet? Wondering what the real-world all-in time is to install it.

 

[ChuckSchick]

IVB,

I've done it with two doors and have a 3rd set to do. Kinda hard to say. The hardware installation time was pretty quick -- on the order of an hour. Most of the time spent keeping things pretty: cutting the existing caulk, removing molding, digging out a bit of foam insulation. Then maybe another 30 minutes to an hour of putting things back together (split up over a week). Caulk -- wait a day-- touch up paint -- wait a day -- touch up my mistakes with the touch up paint, etc.

Not too painful over all.