My room was broken into the other night

[Corins]

I lurked here a while during a brief and unsuccessful foray into picking, and thought this might be a good place to come for some advice.

I was sitting on the computer in the early hours of the morning when I heard some rattling on my dorm room door (not sure wether it was the handle or the lock). After three 'shoves' on the door, it came open and after seeing me staring at him, the intruder quickly made himself scarce.
This has left my confidence in the lock (pictured http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/5070/lock4jp.jpg) pretty shot.

The provost (head of the college person) assures me that the lock is a yale and secure and I probably left it not shut properly or something. My dad on the other hand insists I have a deadbolt lock installed because he is convinced something crude like a credit card was used to open it.

So question 1: Does this seem like a viable method of bypassing the lock, and secondly would replacing it by a deadbolt lock give a good amount more security?

Thanks.

[haribo]

This is viable although a credit card is more the stuff of movies of if you are Mo from eastenders, but never the less not impossible. Adding a mortice deadbolt is the answer and will solve the problem, fit the best you can afford.

[Chrispy]

That's all that's protecting your door?

I would suggest two things:

- Install a deadbolt or secondary locking device.

- Use the night latch function on your current lock (the snib that prevents the operation of the lock) when you go to sleep at night. Of course, if you have room-mates, this may not be possible.

And yes, that lock can be slipped with a drivers licence or x-ray paper. I would think a credit card might be too thick though.

[pixel]

It looks like the door has dropped and the lock and strike misaligned. With
the bolt not fully in the strike plate it can be as easy as a push to open the
door. That's an old nightlatch and may have automatic deadlocking, I can't
remember.

[quacking_duck]

Looks from picture to be a very old Legge 707 nightlatch or earlier. If it is, it could be slipped if the snib is not engaged from the inside, although the cylinders aren't bad on them.

For minimum carpentry, if the college don't want you to chop the door, replace the backset with an auto-deadlocking one.

Make sure you ask the college first as to their Health & Safety / fire regulations if you are fitting a mortice lock and if the lock you decide to fit will comply with these. You may find in a public building, that keyless release of mortice locks e.g. Euro / thumb turn from the inside is an essential requirement.

Regards,

Matt

[toomush2drink]

A simple upgrade to an auto deadlocking nightlatch will solve your problem as qucking duck says.

[NKT]

To tell if it was "carded" take a careful look on the door edge and the inside edge of the frame, and you will see scrapes and abrasion on it. I tend not to use this trick as it can damage the paint quite badly on a tight door.

However, if it was three bangs and in, odds are it was just a heavy shoulder on a light door. How big is the gap between the door and the frame? A big gap will leave it fairly insecure, as the frame will only have to give a fraction before that bolt slips out and the door opens. I can see from that picture that the bolt isn't going far into the keep, either, so you might find it wasn't fitted in a straight line, but flares out, which won't help.

I suspect the handle was the noise you heard, being held down. After all, if it is still there, the intruder would have to beat two latches not one!

[funboy79015]

Since you are dealing with a dorm room lock, it would be a bad idea for you to install any kind of lock on the door unless you have permission from your college. I don't know what the rules are there but at my school they can kick you out for doing such things.

[mouse]

It wasn't me, I have an aliby........

[Chrispy]

Do you mean an alibi?

[Omikron]

It wasn't me, I have an aliby........

Do you mean an alibi?

No, he probably really has a most wanted terrorist in his possession!

[Corins]

Thanks for the replies. I cant fit a credit card in the frame but I suspect something like a drivers licence would do the job.

Apparently I just have to ask the security people to change the lock and they will do it, I just wanted to know if it was justified and apparently it is.

V I think the whole lock.

[pizarro]

Are they going to change the lock, or just the cylinder? They may just think you want it rekeyed. But if the people here are right and the lock was fitted wrong or has no longer latches properly, then giving you another key to open the same latch will mean it doesn't do much (unless it was a previous tenant who made a copy of the key and was using it).

[raimundo]

this wont protect your room when your away, but for personal security, get a doorstop wedge, or have one made, wide as your shoe with a sandal strap on it and tapered to wedge from both ends, so you can place it easily with your foot, and with it tapered on both ends, it will always be within 180 degrees of the right direction to use when you need it. it will be more effective against pushin robbers, than the chain latchwhich tears out under force. a wedge just gets tighter under force. you may want a rubber grip applied to the bottom if it slips on the wood or carpet