Upgrading from a Titian deadbolt for home door

[2little2l8]

So I found this site locking for home deadbolts. Sorry I am not a picker but I figure any guidance here would be straight from the horses mouth.

Anyway my friends door was kicked in and I saw pictures of one foot print and a split jam. I placed some strike guards on my non-glass exterior doors along with the longer screws.

I was all happy as I have Titian Deadbolts. Then I started reading about locks and realized a deadbolt is not a deadbolt. Seems big box is junk but the next price point for something physically better was about 200 for medeco M3.

There seems to be nothing in between. Can anyone please recommend an upgrade? Are the M3 worth the 200? Is there a better solution. I don't need key control but have been looking at how much of a false sense of security I have been living with. Hopefully this can help others as I am sure I am not alone.

Thank you and welcome your thoughts.

Have a safe day.

[tjohn]

The best deadbolts that are on the market (easily available and findable at most places) are Schlage brand right now. The construction of their bolt (it's about 10% larger diameter than others) and their design pretty much makes it a winner.

B60 (single cylinder) & B62 (double cylinder) are the easily findable ones at box stores and other hardware places however a locksmith can also get you B560 & B562 which while they use the same exact latch they have much better shielding & also mounting screws which better resist someone attacking the door with a drill or hammer.

Another bonus is you can upgrade the standard cylinders with better cylinders for higher security against picking, bumping, or other attacks.

Of course there are other higher security options (like the Medeco, ASSA, etc) but if you are trying to stay within a reasonable cost check out the Schlage.

[tjohn]

Also, just to note Schlage also offers a 600 series that is considered their top of the line and of course would be the heaviest duty from them available but when you are talking about forced entry (door kick in) it all boils down to the latch itself, the door jamb, then the door itself. If you have a older wood door, or even a newer metal skin door, if the door jamb is protected with high security strike plates, and you have a good deadbolt, the door around the latch itself will split apart. Many people don't care for them because they are ugly but using a door wrap plate which wraps around the door underneath the lock will provide extra stabilization at the point where the door would split under normal kick attacks.
Also not all high security strike plates are created equal. If possible check around for "jamb armor" which is basically a 4-5 foot long piece of steel attached with 3" screws that replaces your regular strike plates and will distribute the force of a kick over a larger area. Also and lastly, attach longer screws on the hinges if your door (to the inside) to secure it to the stud, as I've seen doors give way at the hinge point also.

[2little2l8]

Thank you for the suggestions. Like I said I was shocked when I saw the picture of my friends door shattered Jan with one footprint. As I said I put a Strike Gard on the Jam and replaced all the hinge bolts with three inch ones.


I will look at the Schlage line. Like I said I found this site while looking for locks.
Does this site have any preferred vendors or Sponsors that I should order from so it may get the referral. Thank you again.

[tjohn]

Thank you for the suggestions. Like I said I was shocked when I saw the picture of my friends door shattered Jan with one footprint. As I said I put a Strike Gard on the Jam and replaced all the hinge bolts with three inch ones.


I will look at the Schlage line. Like I said I found this site while looking for locks.
Does this site have any preferred vendors or Sponsors that I should order from so it may get the referral. Thank you again.

Sure, I would always advise trying locate one of your area locksmith companies who has a store where you can go & have a one on one discussion with you about your questions. Be aware some may cost a bit more than online retail but you are doing you & your community a favor by supporting local businesses. Many larger cities will have at least one established locksmith company. The smaller mom/pop stores may have to order what you are looking for if you need them for multiple doors (FYI Schlage & Kwikset locks cannot be keyed the same, so if you have multiple doors, for one key convenience you would have to change all doors to make them one key) but any decent size store usually will have the stock.

I would shop for the b560 series (a bit more than the b60 series), as it was design assisted by locksmiths. The standard cylinders sold in these are still made of solid brass & have better tolerances whereas the B60 series were changed to a pot metal material recently but still has a anti-drill shield in the core. Solid brass beats these new cylinders by a long shot and I wasn't pleased when they made that change. Also if you go 560 series route, verify your deadbolt holes are cut at 2 1/8 and not smaller. The 560 series has a non removable shield requiring the 2 1/8 hole. If the hole diameter is smaller (typical on older doors) the b60 series has a removable shield and work very well for the 1 3/8 smaller holes.

[Squelchtone]

I like commercial Schlage products as well but feel the price can really start to climb with their Grade 1 hardware. Another good company is Arrow. Their Grade 1 deadbolts are the D Series line and the single deadbolt with thumb turn on the inside is model D61

Here is a catalog

http://www.arrowlock.com/Other/Arrow/Do ... Series.pdf

They can be purchased at a local locksmith or places like Amazon, just make sure you get correct backset, function, and finish.

Squelchtone

[billdeserthills]

I installed two Schlage B660 deadbolts a couple of days ago & right now schlage deadbolts of all price points are using the very same deadbolt latch. Also all schlage deadbolts are installable in a 1 1/2" cross bore hole, if you remove the screws that hold the shield on. The cheapest thing you can do to secure your door is likely gonna be to buy a high security deadbolt cylinder and swap the out the cylinder you currently have--However most criminals don't pick locks anyhow, because if criminals spent the time learning a trade, they would also have a decent paying job, and then they wouldn't need to rob your home. This means that to truly secure your house, you will need to take a look around at all the ways someone can get in, for example, in my area many break-ins occur due to a rock thrown through your window. You can have plastic sheets installed to make the windows less vulnerable to rock throwing, you can have heavy duty unbreakable screens placed over the windows, you can plant some nasty cactus around the windows, etc...


As squelchtone says, schlage has gotten markedly greedier lately, Arrow does make a good product and you can place a high security lock cylinder into their lock housings also

[tjohn]

ah yes, my mistake, the shield is removable on the 560 series however it does change the outside shape of the lock (makes it smaller diameter similar to the older style b160 and earlier series) whereas the thumb turn inside remains the large diameter.
The removable shield in the b60 version doesn't not affect the shape of the outside trim.

[2little2l8]

Again thank you all for your suggestions. Especially relating to the other parts of the door. I will look at the Schlage 560. As I live in a small community I try to shop local but we don't have a local locksmith.

I will deal with one near my job. Again I appreciate all the detailed responses. Hopefully this guidance will pull up in future internet searches for lock upgrades and it will help others that don't know what to look for.

Be safe and stay dry.