Metal Bedroom Door

[Junkyard Dawwg]

I have been doing a lot of reading about how home invasions are on the increase now. I've noticed that a lot of home invasions occur in the early morning hours, like between 3AM and 5AM. Of course most of us are asleep during those hours.

I lock my bedroom door every night when my wife and I go to bed (for which I get a lot of grief). I have always felt that if someone broke into my home while we were asleep I do not want them to be able to just walk into our room. I figured that the noise from forcing open a locked door might just give me the few seconds I'd need to prepare defensively.

Now I've decided to go ahead and replace the hollow bedroom door with a metal door complete with dead bolt. We could then use this room as a sort of "safe room"

Does anyone else have this type of preparation in their homes or am I just being "paranoid" like my wife says?

jp

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Jackle1886]

Great idea! I still live at home in an old farm house, so something like this isn't really too feaseable, but when I purchase a home that will certainly be on my list.

[deadeye72]

Just make sure you reinforce the door casing as well.

[Cupcake]

If it were just me and the Mrs, I'd do that too. I currently leave my door cracked so I can hear crashes, dog barking, kids calling for help...

[matiki]

Just make sure you reinforce the door casing as well.

+1. My interior door frames were terrible, we reinforced all of them when we switched from hollow to solid wood doors.

[dukalmighty]

If it's just you and your wife I see no problem with that,in fact in a lot of citys that deny people the right to self defense a lot of people that can afford it are building safe rooms,As another thought how safe are you're windows maybe some film to keep them from shattering and that is hard to tear through or even bars you can open in case of fire

[Reborn]

Its the door frame you need to strenghten the most after getting a solid door. Some steel door are hollow also. A good kick and the frame will blow out on the back side.

[retsupt99]

Easier, and much more effective to get a good dog...OMO


Stay armed...buy good dog food...stay safe!

[dnowell]

A friend of mine - a pretty and well-off woman who lives alone in a nice home in a bad neighborhood - does exactly that. She has a second-story bedroom with a heavy door with a deadbolt. She has a motion-sensor alarm system downstairs with all the doors and windows connected to the alarm. In the upstairs bedroom is a remote, so in the evening she locks herself in the bedroom and enables the motion sensors downstairs.

I don't know whether she's armed or not. She does keep a cell phone to call 911 in case the power or phone lines are cut. Her setup is about as secure as you can be while living a normal life.

[rodc13]

I've got a solid-core wooden door w/ reinforced frame on our bedroom. At first, my young bride thought I was being a bit silly by locking the door at night, but after hearing of a couple of home invasions, she soon saw the logic. We live in a nice area, on a cul de sac, with an active neighborhood watch, but I've always thought the worst situation would be getting surprised while asleep.

[PaulJ]

I am not sure, but I would think that home invasions are more "crimes of opportunity", and not planed very well. Your locked bedroom door will probably hold them back long enough and cause them to make enough noise. Do you have some kind of motion sensor to detect them early? I got a motion sensor on my front porch and close to the back door. They are not linked to the alarm system, but will trigger a loud buzzer to wake me up. In addition, the house alarm system would go off if someone forces their way in through a window.

In at least one case, a guy stepping on the porch in the middle of the night left after hearing the buzzer. The buzzer isn't exactly meant to be heard outside, but it is loud enough (and if there is little other noise at night) to be heard.

[Sky Pilot]

If you're getting a steel door, see if you can't get it pre-hung in a steel frame. Not only does it make installation much easier, it's far stronger than a wood frame.

[Junkyard Dawwg]

Lotsa good ideas. I hadn't even thought about reinforcing the door jambs. Pre-hung in a steel frame sounds like a great idea. And I also like the motion detector with buzzers inside We haven't had much trouble in our neighborhood, but I'll just sleep a lot better when I have the extra security features installed. I've got a large, black Lab that I keep in my backyard but we don't have an "inside" dog. I've been talking with my wife about maybe getting one of those little, yappity dogs to keep inside as an alarm..., but I think that the yapping might get a bit annoying after a while..

jp

[Wyoming]

Two dogs sleep in the doorway to our bedrrom. Nuff said.