The biggest issue with these strikes is they often are incorrectly installed, it's critical that they not only mount to the thin 1.5" trim board of the door jamb, but they also hit the stud behind the trim board material. The strikes often come from the factory with tiny 1/2" screws.We recommend replacing them with 3" screws.  Furthermore, they are often installed by builders, in a track-home situation. Unskilled workers getting things done as quickly as possible.

 

   Another critical thing to check for is the bore-depth of the deadbolt hole, the physical hole that is drilled into the jamb must be at least 1" deep, or a deadbolt will only extend partially, when a deadbolt does not fully extend, it does not "Dead Lock". What this means for you is, the lock can be "Jimmied". This is easy to test yourself, with your door open, lock your deadbolt, fully extending the throw, now push on the end of the deadbolt throw, if it is fully extended you'll see that it does not move. If we artificially limit the throw to only allow a partial extension, you'll see that the deadbolt does not "dead lock" and can be easily manipulated.

 

   Door knob latches also contain a "Deadlocking plunger" and it is critical that this piece sits correctly on the strike or else, similar to the deadbolt example above, the latch mechanism will not "Dead lock". This means it can easily be "Jimmied" or forced with a screwdriver/knife/credit card. Many people believe that door knobs are inherently un-secure, this is not entirely true, a properly installed door knob or dead bolt can offer a decent amount of security. Taking into consideration a properly installed strike, on an in-swing door. Interestingly even a "passage" non-locking door knob will provide considerable kick-in protection if a strike is properly installed. You often see handle-sets, and passage, non locking hardware on homes in conjunction with a deadbolt, they are more convenient with less locks to mess with, and it's impossible to hold a door knob open and kick a door, so the standard, non-locking latch combined with a properly installed strike still offers credible kick-in protection.

 

   The reason we recommend longer screws is to tie the metal strike to a strong stud behind the trim-board. You need to understand in a kick-in situation the trim board splits, once this happens it will rip the entire trim board in half and blow out, it does not matter if you've got 1, 2, 3, or 4 deadbolts installed on your door, without proper strike installation and reinforcement, that trim board is going to blow out and all those additional locks will do you no good.

 

   I often have to educate customers in the field who are looking for additional security by adding a second deadbolt, that what they really need to do is reinforce the door jamb and strike. This is the best place to spend money and effort. In a kick in situation you are only as good as your weakest link, usually the trim board, and if that is sufficiently reinforced the next thing to go is either the hinges, and/or the door itself, we will discuss reinforcing these things later in the article. Here's a few pictures of some of the things we discussed:

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