Wanna keep out burglars?...Stop 'em with a Schlage! (1 Viewer)

[Charles J P]

This is a simple matter of user interface at a manual level. I too do not like door knobs that will let you turn them from the inside when they are locked. Too easy to lock yourself out.

 

[Robert_Gaither]

My pitbull and doberman had this affect on everyone but the neighbor's 4 year old daughter who'd climb my fence daily and play with them when I lived in a bad neighborhood (I actually padlocked the fence to keep her out as I was afraid if my two dogs would ever fight at the time she would be foolish enough to try to break it, luckily nothing bad ever happened).

Most burglars won't try to pick a lock they're going to force the door open and I would highly recommend against buying doors with glass windows for this reason alone. I would advise buying doors with anti-kick plates instead and an alarm system as well.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

kick plates are good, but I'd use them in addition to an alarm system.

 

[Kevin Alexander]

Sorry, but what is a kick plate?

 

[Henry Carmona]

What about doing away with a keyed entry altogether?

Ive seen some keypad locks at Lowes and Home Depot that work pretty good. Just remember a combination and your in, no key hole to pick?

Any thoughts?

 

[Jay Taylor]

I find it difficult enough to keep relatives and friends from getting the combination to our security system. A keypad lock would be another number to try to keep private.

(Yes I know that the number can be changed, you can give out temporary numbers to guests that you can later remove, and the security system has different levels of access based upon the number entered.)

 

[todbnla]

Sorry to bust your bubble but LOCKS are only meant stop the novice burglar. :frowning:
Pros will get in no matter what!
Locks only keep out honest people.:frowning:

Try a combo:
Good Locks, Security Systems, Big Dogs, Smith And Wesson.
But again, that only stops the rookies.

 

[Henry Carmona]

True Todd, locks are only part of the big picture.

Security/motion lights, dogs, alarms, in good with the neighbors, etc.

PS- if your gonna keep a gun, keep it in a safe when ur not home or take it with u.

I dont think anyone wants to come home and find out that the burglar who is still inside your home has found your weapon.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Good advice. There are good safes that only require you to remember a button sequence, with all the buttons right at the fingertips of hand shaped recess in the top of the safe, that allow you almost instant access. They are small enough for a bedside table and impossible to open without the combo.

 

[DanielKellmii]

Check with your home owners insurance. I get a discount for having a monitored alarm system. In the end, it costs about $3 a month for the monitored alarm system.

 

[Kevin Alexander]

While cutting my lawn today, I stopped to chat w/ my neighbor. He showed me a device that can get him into virtually any car as well. He demonstrated on 2 of his 3 vehicles and one of my two and got in all 3 easily. Is this legal?

 

[Drew Bethel]

Just checked our back door and was shocked to find out that it's a bloody Schlage!! I've had to tape the inside lock because I've locked myself out before. Man, I wished there was a thread like this when I was looking for a new dead bolt.

 

[Mike Voigt]

Kevin, yes, those exist. I've seen someone open my car (after I managed to lock myself out) within 5 secs.

Schlages are good locks, but they still need their reinforcements. Kicplate, alarm system, doors w/o windows, long wood screws going into the studs, anti-pry plates, the works.

The point being that you make it more difficult/dangerous than your neighbor.

As far as weapons are concerned, I had a friend (now deceased) who several years ago was taking a nap. When he woke up, a burglar was pointing his gun at him. Ended up stealing his car and a couple guns from him. Don't know if they ever caught the guy. He had escaped from prison.

 

[Jay Taylor]

If they are the type that allows you to turn the doorknob when locked then I disagree. That is an intolerable design flaw.

The best place for most Schlage locks is in the trashcan.

 

[McPaul]

wow, I can't even remember the last time I actually locked my doors...

I certainly wish you guys the best of luck.

 

[Chu Gai]

How's the neighbor at safe cracking?

 

[Ron-P]

Yes it is. I have a few locks like this and they are on the to-do list to be replaced.

 

[BrianW]

The Schlage literature notes that being able to turn the doorknob from the inside while locked is a safety feature. It speeds exit from the house in an emergency (e.g., fire).

I think it's a good idea, but it's poorly implemented.

Years ago, I got Weiser entry sets for my house. When you locked the doorknob from the inside (or from the outside with a key, for that matter), it extended the latch another inch into the strikeplate, just like a deadbolt. While locked, the outside knob wouldn't turn. But if you turned the inside knob without unlocking it first, it would unlock and let you out, but it would stay unlocked to let you back in.

What a perfect design! I also liked it because when unlocking it with a key from the outside, turning the key in the cylinder would fully retract the latch from the strikeplate so the door would open. In other words, I didn't have to turn the key to unlock the door, then turn the knob to get in. All I had to do was to turn the key. I didn't even have to touch the knob, which was a lot more convenient, especially when carrying two armloads of groceries.

Man, what a great lockset that was.

Too bad it wasn't built very well. I have a Kwickset UltraMax now. It's very solid, but it's not as convenient as the Weiser lockset. But at least it doesn't lock me out of the house.

 

[Brian W. Ralston]

I can vouch for the Medeco locks. I use to work on a University campus and the entire campus was using a medeco system due to it being more secure. Even the facilities that were "higher" in security were done with Medeco locks. The keys are a little bigger and have more ridges than a normal house key would...but they are more secure in general as well.

 

[DaveF]

Resurrecting this thread to ask about buying deadbolts: I need a pair for the front door and the garage door and I don't know if higher-cost equals higher quality; nor if higher quality matters.

The front door will be a double-lock, as i have side windows around the door. The garage door with be a single lock (outside) with throw lever (inside). Shlage and similar are about $30 - $40. Some other brand was about $11 for the same type hardware. Am I better getting the higher cost items?

How about the digital keypad deadbolts: outside is a key and a numeric keypad: enter the 4-digit number to unlock. This interests me for inside the garage. See Here: http://www.smarthome.com/5196.html Thoughts?

Thanks!