How to harden your home affordably!

[Evolver]

As for your walls... Stucco w chicken wire veneerer has the best stopping power out of all veneerers other than brick.

[mollypup]

We have brick on all sides up to the roof. Still have windows and doors to worry about. Could some pictures be uploaded or more detailed directions given of how to install the rebar in the door? I'm having trouble seeing how it's done. Thanks!

[Sniper-T]

rebar will only work if your door opens in, so lets assume that is the case...

Let us also assume that you are going to go with 3/4" rebar.

quick and simple... drill a 13/16" hole in the floor as close to the closed door as you can. for this, if you hold the rebar vertically against the door, so the end is on the floor, then mark the spot. open the door to get it out of the way, and then drill the hole.

To reinforce it, you'll either need to go below it and screw/bolt on some heavy steel plates, or hardwood 2X6's etc. OR... drill your hole directly into one of the floor joists if possible. and as close to the opening side of the door (away from the hinges)

Heat up and bend the end of the rebar to make a handle, and either drill a hole through it for a bolt, or weld on a tab to keep it from falling right down to the floor.

===
||
||
||
||
||
||
||_
||
||
||
||


then have a look at the way the latching system works on the sides of an overhead garage door. If you want to add additional side supports in, you'll need brackets like that, that you would SECURELY fasten on each side of the door, horizontal to each other. then you can just feed the rebar through the eye's on either side, and you'r good.

Remember on any of this... it will only be as secure as your mounting platform. No one would ever be able to break a piece of 3/4" rebar... but if you just have a hole into a plywood floor, it will tear through with enough kicks. conversely, if your side mounts are nailed/screwed into drywall or just the 2X4 studs... a couple kicks will tear through that too.

and finally... be aware of the door that you're bracing, wood or steel? solid core or hollow. By reinforcing it with rebar, the door itself becomes the next week link.

If the door is a solid core steel door, then you're laughing... but, the door jamb that it sits in is quite probably only nailed into the wall opening with 1/2 dozen or so nails. and may require a few more... or some decent lag bolts

[mollypup]

Thanks! I'm printing this out so I can study it in more detail. I don't think I'll be able to access the flooring underneath where the rebar would rest in the flooring up next to the front door. But I need to go into the basement to check it out for sure. Sounds like a solid way to support the door and also easy to remove when you need to open the door. I have to check on the solidity of our door also. The outside is definitely metal but not sure what the core is....I think wood. Anyway, I'm not trying to absolutely prevent entrance, just to buy some time to grab the shotgun and get ready to blast. Also like the garage door security method. - Thanks!