security for double doors

Aug 05, 2014 4 Replies

I'm looking for something to secure a set of double doors on the front of the house. The door is rarely used and never opened from the outside.



The doors have the regular door handle lock plus a little bar/bolt that slides across. But the bar mechanism has two screws in each door and don't seem any more secure than a chain. It looks like one good kick would knock the screws out.



The doors are solid wood. I looked on HD and Lowes looking for a bar that would go across both doors, but didn't find anything. I did find the type you usually see in hotel rooms - that looks like it would be somewhat better than the current bar, but is there something better, that doesn't cost too much?


Would flush side bolts like those commonly used in French doors help? They are recessed into the inside edge of the passive door at the top and bottom. They look like this...

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I was thinking the old Segal style lock, maybe one high and one low.

I couldn't see the first one well enough. I don't know what a Segal one is like. The one that is there now is pretty much like this one

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but it doesn't use the strike plate. It doesn't seem secure enough.

Old guy, I think named James Segal. Noted that when people break in the door, they never break the hinge side. So, he made a lock that resembles a hinge:

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Still sold at most locksmith wholesalers, though different brands and usually much cheaper. Soem good ones still there.

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I may have a really old one, some where. Who knows?

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