Remember Forest Gump’s box of chocolates? You never knew what you were going to get. The same is true with residential metal doors. Even after many years of installing deadbolts I cannot tell you if a metal door will have a wood core (the ideal situation), a foam core or a hollow core. For metal doors with wood cores nothing extra has to be added to the door. The lock mounting bolts will tighten without squeezing the door and attempts to beat the lock off the door are made more difficult as well.

Foam core or hollow core metal doors pose a different challenge. If nothing is installed inside the core the locks mounting bolts will squeeze the door to a thinner thickness, thus binding the lock. If the screws are left “snug,” they will loosen over time causing a security risk. Perhaps even a lockout risk.

The following photos will show case the Ames 1346 Door Support and the Don-Jo VP-61-AB wrap-a-round plate. For years I used wrap plates made by the MAG manufacturing company. But MAG went out of business several years ago. Don-Jo makes a thicker gauge wrap plate which offers more strength against burglars. Don-Jo is best known for their line of heavy duty latch guards, but since using their wrap plates on many of my jobs I have to say Don-Jo makes world class products.

Part 2 will go into detail on how to install a Keefe 300 Strike Plate. Several customers have contacted me about this product, so I decided to offer instructions on how to install the 300 strike for those adventurous types.