How Many Deadbolts Does My Door Need?

Sometimes home and business owners assume that installing more than one deadbolt will make a door more secure. Is this really the case? The answer often depends largely upon one thing: the size of the door.

Unless your door is a larger-than-standard size door, adding one or more extra deadbolt locks does not exponentially increase the security level of the door. To put it more plainly, twice as many deadbolt locks does not equal twice as secure a door.

Adding an extra deadlock only slightly increases the door’s resistance to being rammed in (i.e. kicked) by force. In fact, it may be as little as a ten percent or less increase in the psi of force needed. This may not be enough to warrant the extra money and/or work involved in installing a deadbolt.

Adding a second lock may be an extra deterrent to a lock-picking thief who is looking for nothing more than a quick illegal entry. However, a determined thief who really wants whatever is inside your premises won’t be deterred be a second deadlock. Experienced thieves can pick a lock in mere seconds, so a second won’t usually add enough time to his entry to scare him off.

If discouraging lock-pickers is your goal, it’s better to invest more money in one high-quality, tamper resistant deadlock rather than two which are of a lesser quality. Install one strong deadbolt, then spend a little bit of money on other things that are bigger deterrents to lock-pickers, like good lighting, landscaping which increases visibility, or a reliable alarm system.

The only time that a second deadlock may be really be warranted is for homes or commercial buildings which have larger-than-standard doors. Taller or wider doors would benefit from having a second point of resistance to force on the lower half of the door in addition to the standard one just above the middle of the door.

Looking for a high-quality commercial door lock that is strong and tamper resistant? Try the Schlage B-600 Series Heavy Duty Commercial Deadlock.