Home Security/Replacing Sliding Glass doors

1502 Views 12 Replies 9 Participants Last post by SOCOM42, Mar 6, 2018

hwminich

Discussion Starter · Mar 5, 2018

Hi,
Moved into our (almost) dream home a few yrs ago and am now in the process of planning renovations. There are two sliding glass doors on the first level of the home. The one is in the master bedroom, its old and we would like to remove it and have just a wall put in. The other is an old sliding glass door to the mudroom and we would like to replace that with a more secure door. What are your thoughts on the most secure door I could replace the existing with? I have an opening of approx 72x80, so the simplest option would be another sliding or a french door, however, I feel having this type of door on the ground floor leaves us vulnerable. We would like to keep the cost down of course, but I was wondering if anyone had any insight into a more secure option of the that size opening. We are in a cold climate so keeping heat in is a priority too!
Thanks in advance.

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Robie

· #2 · Mar 5, 2018

Just an initial thought...

The most vulnerable part of any door is the frame.

As far as swing-out type doors...you can put deadbolts and locks on them until the cows come home but, if a good push from the other side breaks the frame the door is held in place with....you don't have much.

Metal door...metal frame.

The master bedroom door....wall it in but put in a nice narrow window at the top portion. There "should" be a header already there and it would be too tall for someone to look into without a stool or something. It would give you natural light also.

The mudroom? I would take out the slider and frame that in to match the existing wall...install a steel door with steel frame.

Not the cheapest options but...more secure.

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0rocky

· #3 · Mar 5, 2018

2 quick thoughts, not knowing your floor plan. 1). The glass sliders may be a fire exit so if you wall it off? Point being, depending on your are, building codes usually stipulate there are at least 2 exits from any room in the house. 2). Have you considered a wrought iron gate of some sort on either side of the glass as a personnel deterrent? Just some quick thoughts.

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SDF880

· #4 · Mar 5, 2018 (Edited)

Perhaps beef up the frame and locks to the max and add 3M security film to the glass! This is tough stuff!

He eventually gets thru but all that banging will likely draw attention. There are varying degrees of film strength you can buy.
I have it on all of my bottom floor windows and the windows facing the trees.

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hwminich

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 5, 2018

wOW!! That film looks great. Even if just to stop gravel kicked up by the lawn mower (been there, broke that). Did you have it installed by a dealer, or did you buy it and install it yourself?

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A Watchman

· #6 · Mar 5, 2018

SDF880 said:
Perhaps beef up the frame and locks to the max and add 3M security film to the glass! This is tough stuff!

He eventually gets thru but all that banging will likely draw attention. There are varying degrees of film strength you can buy.
I have it on all of my bottom floor windows and the windows facing the trees.

Nice! Thanks for the tip.

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SDF880

· #7 · Mar 5, 2018

hwminich said:
wOW!! That film looks great. Even if just to stop gravel kicked up by the lawn mower (been there, broke that). Did you have it installed by a dealer, or did you buy it and install it yourself?

I heard someone at work talk about it and looked into it. You can do it yourself but I had doubts doing it that it would turn out good! I had the
company that sold 3M film install it and they did a great job! I have a little stronger option film than seen in the video and installed in 2009 and
so far so good you would never know it is there! Film goes on from the inside and installer said only thing he had seen a few times where a cat with sharp claws may
leave marks. There are other companies besides 3M but I was so impressed I ran with them! They do this for cars now and I'm going to do that next!

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hwminich

Discussion Starter · #8 · Mar 5, 2018

SDF880 said:
I heard someone at work talk about it and looked into it. You can do it yourself but I had doubts doing it that it would turn out good! I had the
company that sold 3M film install it and they did a great job! I have a little stronger option film than seen in the video and installed in 2009 and
so far so good you would never know it is there! Film goes on from the inside and installer said only thing he had seen a few times where a cat with sharp claws may
leave marks. There are other companies besides 3M but I was so impressed I ran with them! They do this for cars now and I'm going to do that next!

I think i would have someone install it too, i would hate to mess it up and waste the $$

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SDF880

· #9 · Mar 5, 2018

hwminich said:
I think i would have someone install it too, i would hate to mess it up and waste the $$

It looked fairly easy! The installers carefully measured each window. The film came on a BIG spool like giant saran wrap and they set it up
in a rig about 6 feet high and would unroll, cut and trim sections. they thoroughly cleaned the windows and then re-applied like a slightly soapy
solution and placed the film on the glass then cut/trimmed the excess. When the solution drys in a few days the film is firmly on the glass. There were a few bubbles
first few days that they said would go away and they did after 2 or 3 days. The film on the sunny side of the house we went with a slightly tinted film
and that really made a difference in the summer and we got some energy credit at tax time. A few but not all of the windows required like a sealant caulk bead around the frame
where the glass meets! Overall I'm very pleased! We even put it on our front door glass and beefed up the frame and locks!

Oh ya, welcome to the site!

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bigwheel

· #10 · Mar 5, 2018

Sliding glass doors are not too shabby if you lock them up right.
How to Secure a Sliding Glass Door - dummies

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RJAMES

· #11 · Mar 6, 2018

Is the mudroom door such that you can get big pieces of furniture in and out easy? I always liked having a door that made life easy .
French door is better than a sliding . Put extra lathes on it so that when closed it has at least two bolts into the floor and into the top on both sides in addition to the normal latches.

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Hemi45

· #12 · Mar 6, 2018

Good thread for future reference!

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SOCOM42

· #13 · Mar 6, 2018

A long, long time ago a kid named Kemper Hoffman, age 11, a pastors son, ran into a closed sliding double door.

That door's glass shattered, Kemper ended up almost dying with 1,500 stitches to patch him up,

he looked like the cut up doll from the horror flick Chucky.

His sister was my girlfriend at the time, she saw it happen as he was running to dive into their swimming pool.

Had he not been seen he would have bled to death in short order, nothing major was cut but there were so many.

She pulled the table cloth right off the table trashing all the dishes set up and wrapped him tight in it.

That was in 1961, the glass was not tempered, this film technology along with tempering could keep this from happening all together.

I heard of similar cases over the years,

On another note, I investigated cases where a pry bar was used to gain entry by forcing the door right out of the sliding track,

they did not even try to break the glass in any of them.

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