What’s the Best Way To Secure a Door From the Inside?

Can you guess what a building’s most vulnerable potential entry points are? If you guessed its windows and doors, you’re right. The majority of break ins occur when an intruder smashes a window or forces a door open to gain access to the property.

As such, it’s incredibly important for business owners and other commercial property owners to make sure that every accessible door and window is sufficiently secured to protect against threats like burglary, smash-and-grab theft, and rioting and looting.

We’ve written plenty of how you can reinforce windows to protect your existing glass from impacts and forced entry attempts, so in this article we’re going to focus on some of the best ways to secure a door from the inside. Keep reading for lots of handy tips from security experts.

Is There a Single Best Way To Secure a Door From the Inside?

As with all security matters, there is no one method of securing entry doors that is guaranteed to stop forced entry and protect against other threats. There are lots of variables like what materials the door and its framing system are made of, whether or not it has glass components, and what types of locks it has, to name a few.

Some of the top solutions for securing doors from the inside are:

• Door barricades
• Improved door locks
• Door reinforcement hardware
• Polycarbonate security glazing
• Retrofit security framing

Install a door barricade

Door barricades are an easy aftermarket security upgrade you can add to your entry doors. These barricades consist of a floor plate and a removable lock rail that slides into it. Simply mount the base plate to the floor and slide the lock rail in and out when you want to secure the door from the inside. 

The lock rail, made of strong aluminum, helps prevent the door from being kicked in or opened from the inside if a would-be intruder smashes a nearby window to try and unlock the door from the inside.

Keep in mind that you can only put these door barricades in place from the inside, so they won’t work for doors you need to exit through. However, they could be a good option if your business or commercial facility has multiple entry doors that you don’t need to use regularly.

Improve door locks

This might sound obvious, but adding additional locks or upgrading your door’s existing locks is one of the best ways to secure a door from the inside. Factory-issue locks and deadbolts are often insufficient when it comes to preventing forced entry and keeping doors secure.

You can swap out the deadbolts for more secure aftermarket models and/or add more deadbolts to your door to ensure that it is difficult to pick and harder to force open. 

Pro tip: make sure any new deadbolts you install have bolts that are at least 1 inch long when extended into the door jamb for maximum security.

Replacing traditional door locks with card or code access control locks is a great alternative because they don’t have keyholes that can be picked.

Add door reinforcement hardware

Deadbolts may stop door locks from being picked or forced, but that doesn’t mean the door itself can’t be kicked or pried open. To solve this, you can install aftermarket door reinforcement hardware.

Entry door reinforcement hardware consists of different types of metal brackets and plates that you mount on the most vulnerable points on your door and its framing. This door security upgrade can make weaker doors kick proof by reinforcing the areas around the locks, the door hinges, and the door jamb.

Reinforce glass with polycarbonate security glazing

A door is only as strong as its weakest point. If your door has any glass panels, or if you have an entry door that’s completely made of glass, locks and reinforcement hardware aren’t going to prevent an intruder from smashing it to gain entry to your property.

So, how can you reinforce door glass? The most cost-effective solution is to install polycarbonate security glazing over the existing glass. The polycarbonate looks and feels like traditional window glass, but it is virtually unbreakable.

In fact, some polycarbonate glazing shields can even stop bullets, so you can imagine how effective it is at preventing forced entry attempts using hammers, crowbars, bats, and other common burglary tools.

Polycarbonate security glazing can be retrofitted into or onto almost any existing framing system, making it a much more affordable option than replacing the door or its glass. The polycarbonate creates an invisible barrier and protects the glass behind it from breaking due to any type of impact.

Use retrofit security framing

The final suggestion we have for you on this list of ways to secure a door from the inside is to install retrofit security framing. Security door framing systems are made from strong steel or aluminum and designed specifically to help keep your door in place during a forced entry attempt.

Retrofit security framing can be combined with polycarbonate glazing shields for the ultimate fenestration security solution. This combination is ideal for retailers with large glass storefronts, glass office buildings, and other facilities with glass entry doors.

Final Thoughts on Securing Entry Doors

To sum up, securing commercial entry doors is of the utmost importance when it comes to protecting your property against forced entry, burglary, smash-and-grab theft, and rioting and looting. It’s far too easy for a determined intruder to gain access through a standard entry door that has no security upgrades.

The most important things to ask yourself you secure a door from the inside are:

• Is it kick proof?
• Does it have secure locks?
• Are the weak points reinforced with strong hardware?
• Is the glass protected from impacts?
• Does it have security framing?

If you answer yes to all of the above after you finish securing your entry doors, you’ve done a good job! It’s important to cover all your bases to ensure that the door cannot be picked, pried, kicked, or otherwise forced. Make sure you reinforce any nearby windows with security glazing as well to keep bad guys securely on the other side.

Contact Riot Glass® today to find out how we can help you secure a door from the inside. We offer top-of-the-line retrofit security glazing and framing systems nationwide.