[harleysilo]

I' m planning on installing a new door at the beginning of my hallway leading to my bedrooms. I've previously replaced 2doors leading to basement and garage, I used windowless steel exterior doors from lowes. I'm debating whether I buy a solid wood door or another one of these. Keep in mind
At this price point metal = presswood door with thin metal covering and solid wood means pressed wood door and wood venier finish. The wood ones are heavier I believe. What type of doors offer more protection against breakdown from force and bullet penetration?

 

[robocop10mm]

None are going to even slow down anything from 9mm up. Nothing short of a purpose built bullet resistant door is going to give you any cover from gunfire.

As far as resistance to breakage. Both solid core wood veneer and steel cased doors reted for exterior use are going to be very good in this regard. The real weakness is the connection between the door and the frame/wall behind the frame. You must use something other than the issued screws for the hinges and striker plates (the brass part that is screwed to the frame the lock plunger or dead bolt go into).

Use 3" long "Deck Screws" to secure the hinges to the frame and the striker plates to the frame. These screws will extend into the 2X4 wall studs and make kicking open the door very difficult.

On an interior door you will want something besides the standard knob. You will want to install a dead bolt also. You may also want to consider a blind dead bolt (the kind they have on rental property like apartments) that generally installs above the standard deadbolt and is only operable from one side.

I kick doors for a living. I am 6'06" 275# and generally have no difficulty gaining entry into a house (when legally required) with one good kick. If the door has been secured in the above fashion, it takes me 2 or 3 really hard kicks and I am larger than most people you have ever met or ever will meet.

 

[harleysilo]

I installed the doors in the manner you describe. The basement access door is at the top of stairs. It would be very difficult to kick in I would imagine because you are at the top of the stairs with nothing to hold on to while kicking. The other one sealing off the garage you could kick easily, but there is a glass one on the back deck.....and other windows in the rest of the house all having access to the main part of the house.

I have some pieces of a chopped down "solid wood" door I can take out to the farm to see how easily you can shoot through it for my own education.

What is your opinion of the newer fiberglass front doors? A plain one of those may be an affordable option for this new door as well.

I like special built, I'm handy and could easily beef up a door with instructions. I bet it would look like crap though. Or way 150 lbs. lol.

 

[harleysilo]

How many seconds are you talking about if you encounter a door secured in your described manner? I'm going to guess 7 secs. Not a hell of a lot of time for the person on the other side to prepare for your arrival. Not a hell of a lot of time for me to be ready.

 

[cbw]

I kick doors for a living. I am 6'06" 275# and generally have no difficulty gaining entry into a house (when legally required) with one good kick. If the door has been secured in the above fashion, it takes me 2 or 3 really hard kicks and I am larger than most people you have ever met or ever will meet.

All of my exterior metal doors have extra deep set dead-bolts, with cheap store bought steel striker plates, backed by two extra 2x4 set with ring tail nails and 6" screws, additionally I have screwed 1/4" metal plates to hold the jambs and striker plates to the entire assembly to make it real. This is all set in a 2x6 frame in a brick home. I'm 6' 2" 365, I think you would find yourself on your keister if you tried to kick one of these suckers down! I do agree that a normally constructed door frame/jamb is a joke and offers little or no real protection. As a former emergency response trainer I've been through a few doors myself.

 

[Mark F]

I' m planning on installing a new door at the beginning of my hallway leading to my bedrooms. I've previously replaced 2doors leading to basement and garage, I used windowless steel exterior doors from lowes. I'm debating whether I buy a solid wood door or another one of these. Keep in mind
At this price point metal = presswood door with thin metal covering and solid wood means pressed wood door and wood venier finish. The wood ones are heavier I believe. What type of doors offer more protection against breakdown from force and bullet penetration?

Forget bullet penetration... unless you buy a door specifically designed for bullet stopping, you are SOL. And you won't find that at Lowe's... Besides that, your door frame is the weakest part of the door assembly. Unless you plan on building a fortress, just use a steel clad laminated exterior door, with a steel re-enforced frame, anchored with titanium lagbolts.

 

[harleysilo]

Forget bullet penetration... unless you buy a door specifically designed for bullet stopping, you are SOL. And you won't find that at Lowe's... Besides that, your door frame is the weakest part of the door assembly. Unless you plan on building a fortress, just use a steel clad laminated exterior door, with a steel re-enforced frame, anchored with titanium lagbolts.

Well since I've already bought the door and am getting ready to put it in I don't think I switch to another steel laminated non-bullet proof door. At least this one has no glass and people can no longer look inside.

 

[Mark F]

Well since I've already bought the door and am getting ready to put it in I don't think I switch to another steel laminated non-bullet proof door. At least this one has no glass and people can no longer look inside.

I can't see any reason why that wouldn't work... Don't forget to put a peep hole in it. You certainly don't want to open your door to a gun wheelding invader.

 

[Mark F]

How many seconds are you talking about if you encounter a door secured in your described manner? I'm going to guess 7 secs. Not a hell of a lot of time for the person on the other side to prepare for your arrival. Not a hell of a lot of time for me to be ready.

It's enough time though. There was a home invasion about 4 days ago, where 2 BG's kicked a front door open. Upon entry, the first BG met a 45ACP to the forehead and died instantly. The second BG was showered with 45's but he managed to somehow get away... The door was a solid hardwood door with a secured deadbolt. However long it took to open the door, was long enough for the owner to prepare for a fight. The perps were armed but never got a single shot off.

Robocop10mm knows what I'm talking about. Once the act of breaking in is in motion, all you can do is run or be ready. Some doors take a little longer than others but all doors are breachable.