STB
Below are pictures of the new doge door should save me dealing with lettering the dog out. After I installed the insert and proudly showed my wife her first question was "How do we lock the patio door". I hate to admit it but she was r---t there is no way to lock it. Suggestions would be helpful.
BuckeyeDennis
When I was a boy, mother never trusted the lock on our sliding patio door. So she devised her own locking system. It couldn’t be simpler. Just size a small board to fit inside the bottom door track, cut it to length, and place it in the track such that it prevents the operating door from opening (i.e. just inside of the fixed door panel, between the operating door and the door frame).
It was a bit of a pain to bend over and remove the board when we wanted to go out on the deck, though. To solve that problem, perhaps you could hinge the board and add a lifting cord to it.
The other obvious downside: You can’t unlock the door from the outside.
Ed in Tampa
Drill a small hole through the sliding door's top rail and with the door in closed position continue the hole into the other panel. Then to lock the door get a pin the exact size of the holes attach it to the door with a retainer that allows you enough space to insert the pin in the holes. When you want to lock the door slide the pin into the holes ( is locked). To open pull pin and let it hang on the door until needed to lock it again.
Drill the holes fairly high in the rails as most doors have the glass in the rail about 1/2 or so.
My doors are aluminum and I drilled into the frame then into the door rails. This prevents a burglar from lifting the door swinging out the bottom and opening a 8 foot wide hole to come and go.😱
RFGuy
How secure do you want it? They make metal blocks that fit over the sliding door rail with a thumbscrew that you tighten to hold it in place. These won't defeat a motivated burglar but will stop many of them from going farther. These are relatively easy to take on/off from the inside, but of course you have no entry from outside with them. Should be able to find these at just about any retailer (Wally World, etc.). Another really hard way to defeat a sliding door is to put a length of stout dowel rod there in the track behind the sliding door. Same idea that Dennis mentioned but with a dowel instead...just has to be cut to length.
thunderbirdbat
They make replacement sliding door latch systems that you could install on the insert. This is the way commercial ones are set up. They also want you to pin the insert in place by drilling a hole in the top of the door frame and insert a metal pin through the frame into the insert frame. Had a store bought insert years ago.
Ed in Tampa
Most sliding doors have some slop in the vertical. A burglar just lifts the bottom of door so it clears the track and opens it right up. To stop break ins you need to prevent the door from moving both horizontally and vertically. The easiest way to prevent both horizontal and vertical movement is to pin the door to the frame.
BobCoates1953
BuckeyeDennis wrote
When I was a boy, mother never trusted the lock on our sliding patio door. So she devised her own locking system. It couldn’t be simpler. Just size a small board to fit inside the bottom door track, cut it to length, and place it in the track such that it prevents the operating door from opening (i.e. just inside of the fixed door panel, between the operating door and the door frame).
It was a bit of a pain to bend over and remove the board when we wanted to go out on the deck, though. To solve that problem, perhaps you could hinge the board and add a lifting cord to it.
The other obvious downside: You can’t unlock the door from the outside.
Have done this on double wide doors.
Bob
STB
Thank everybody for the excellent suggestions.
STB
Ed in Tampa wrote
Most sliding doors have some slop in the vertical. A burglar just lifts the bottom of door so it clears the track and opens it right up. To stop break ins you need to prevent the door from moving both horizontally and vertically. The easiest way to prevent both horizontal and vertical movement is to pin the door to the frame.
Excellent solution, I just happen to have two 1/4 pins with knobs in my you never know collection.
(PS) I am not a hoarder I just have an eclectic collection of you never know things.
Sadig
Thanks for the answers in the thread; it’s really useful. I want to make something like this for my patio. I have already installed the interior doors from
https://doordesignlab.com/interior-doors.html inside the house. And I want something special on the outside. Thanks for the advice about securing the door. I will try them. The one about a board between the door and the door panel is particularly interesting because it does not involve drilling or cutting.
Hobbyman2
BuckeyeDennis wrote
When I was a boy, mother never trusted the lock on our sliding patio door. So she devised her own locking system. It couldn’t be simpler. Just size a small board to fit inside the bottom door track, cut it to length, and place it in the track such that it prevents the operating door from opening (i.e. just inside of the fixed door panel, between the operating door and the door frame).
It was a bit of a pain to bend over and remove the board when we wanted to go out on the deck, though. To solve that problem, perhaps you could hinge the board and add a lifting cord to it.
The other obvious downside: You can’t unlock the door from the outside.
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I made one of those when we moved into the house in TX and it didnt stop them from just lifting the door out of the track , how they got the door unlocked is beyond me .
SpencerWhite
You should know that they ought to have requirements that ensure their quality when choosing the doors. I think that you should always be careful about it. First of all, you should ensure free, unhindered out and entry of the car. The dimensions of the gate must correspond to the vehicle size. Btw, I have installed a new garage-doors two months ago. I decided to choose the swing one. It is a long-standing, convenient and simple type. Besides, the price of such a design is the most acceptable.
miken
Just curious, maybe it is just the picture, but what keeps a burglar from simply using the dog door? It looks large enough for a skinny thief to climb right through?
Mike -
Ed in Tampa
Hobbyman2 wrote
BuckeyeDennis wrote
When I was a boy, mother never trusted the lock on our sliding patio door. So she devised her own locking system. It couldn’t be simpler. Just size a small board to fit inside the bottom door track, cut it to length, and place it in the track such that it prevents the operating door from opening (i.e. just inside of the fixed door panel, between the operating door and the door frame).
It was a bit of a pain to bend over and remove the board when we wanted to go out on the deck, though. To solve that problem, perhaps you could hinge the board and add a lifting cord to it.
The other obvious downside: You can’t unlock the door from the outside.
----------------------
I made one of those when we moved into the house in TX and it didnt stop them from just lifting the door out of the track , how they got the door unlocked is beyond me .
I am not expert but my guess is roughly 90% of sliding doors are adjusted wrong. A thief only has to left the bottom of the door slightly to be able to pull it out of the track. All sliding doors to be secure need a pin that can be inserted that pins the door to the frame. That way the door can not be lifted out of the track. Also many windows have this same weakness. As home owners demand easier cleaning methods of window, such as tilt in or tilt out, the thief can easily manipulate the window out of its frame. Only a positive pin that pins the window to the frame will prevent this.
Hobbyman2
too bad they dont make the rails where the door has to be open before it will lift up !!
rpd
Hobbyman2 wrote
too bad they dont make the rails where the door has to be open before it will lift up !!
If they are installed properly, there should be an insert in the upper track that prevents the door from being lifted out when it is in the closed position.
Hobbyman2
Thanks Ron
My experience with sliding patio doors was back in the late 80's so things may have changed , back then it was just a top and bottom track and the doors were reversable to slide either way , there was a divider strip on the top and bottom that kept one door from moving .
rpd
It is just a plastic strip that clips into the top track. There are likely ways to defeat it, and it is entirely possible that people don't know why it is there and remove it.
jsburger
The lock on my sliding door is a hook that engages a bar in the jamb. The hook engages the bar from the under side of the bar so it is impossible to lift the door.
jonesrobyn017
Hello. I finished renovating my apartment a long time ago, and now I do decor. Can you share the website where you bought your non-standard apartment door numbers? I'm looking for cool little things for my interior that will combine with other elements. Thank you, I will be glad for any advice.
