Door chains - security

I agree.

When visiting in the US some years back, I stayed in a motel style hotel where the rooms opened onto the outside, rather than a corridor. They had a foot operated bar you could press near the bottom of the door which allowed it to open a few inches but wedged against the floor. To free it, you needed to close the door.

While it seemed secure, I did wonder about safety- if someone had operated it, gone to bed etc, and taken ill etc. In a hotel, that kind of thing must happen.

why would any diyer use the supplied screws?

They're not meant to provide much security, just more than an open door. They do that.

NT

why would any diyer use the supplied screws?

They're not meant to provide much security, just more than an open door. They do that.

NT

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com has brought this to us :

Perhaps a competent DIY'er would have some more robust screws, but most will be bought by the less than competent and even local organisations, doing 'good turns' for older people.

Unless they are very firmly fixed, they give a completely false sense of security, much less than a closed door. The weak point, is where they attach to the face of the door jamb with a couple of tiny, short screws.

Psychological security to some old folk.

on 26/08/2018, FMurtz supposed :

Yes, that is about it.

Don't forget that, depending on how they're mounted, the force on the anchor plates is often sideways rather than a straight pull. Screws will withstand a significantly higher force from that direction without ripping out, compared with a straight pull.

Chris Hogg formulated on Sunday :

That applies to the part which fixes on the door, but not the part which fixes on the door frame, where the chain or bracket is attempting to pull the screws directly. On a wooden frame, a bracket which wrapped around and was fixed into the side, would be much more able to with stand the door being pushed.

..and if the caller might be intending to force their way in past the chain?

Things should either serve a valid purpose or not be promoted as a security measure.

I do agree, I have one, but I guess its the deterrent value as the would be burglar might not want to test it as it might alert neighbours kicking the door down or the chain loose. I guess the end of a sawn off poking though a hole might have the same effect. Brian

in showing the idiocy of poking a shotgun through a part open door.

Good point. The devil is in the detail. I think I have only fitted one once, but I didn't use the supplied screws!

You would have struggled to break the chubb chain I had on my door. Its not that easy to break 1 1/2" no 8 screws in a wooden frame. Especially as you are trying to shear them and not pull them out.

The frame would break first as it would if you tried to break the lock.

On Sun, 26 Aug 2018 12:27:29 +0100, Nightjar wrote :

On the grounds that a local shop had it's new exterior CCTV kit stolen off the wall, what stops someone nicking half (most) of your expensive Ring CCTV doorbell off your door?

Cheers, T i m

Wood frames aren't very strong. When fitting lock striker plates I prefer to screw them through into the brick/blockwork.

NT

If you have a wooden front door they might just be okay I supposes. With bigger screws. My front door is plastic. I'm getting older and a bit uneasy. If somebody comes to my front door in the dark, I do have a hammer nearby. Might just take a look at door chains on the Interweb. Better than nothing.

But don't they have a metal core? On my late mother's PVC door, I screwed the chain receptor bit on with self-tapping screws that cut through into the metal core, and the chain end onto the block work reveal around the door, so that neither end would experience a direct outward pull if someone tried to force open the door.

Yow Chris! I rather think that you are correct. I have a mate who has the drill bits, so if and when I will ask him to do the little job. Oh! Weedol also kills grass as I have recently discovered. DOH!

Normally aluminium. You do need to size the drill correctly to the self tapper for good strength. Also there may be moving bits inside.