Securing Barn Doors
Discussion
Any pointers on the kind of lock to fit to these.? Currently there is almost no point in the lock as you can just undo 4 screws from the outside and bypass it. I appreciate its never going to be a very secure building, but I'd at least like it to be better than it is!
Bottom photo from the inside. I can only assume the prev owner put the internal bar there to stop it blowing open whilst he was inside, as there is no other door!
Bottom photo from the inside. I can only assume the prev owner put the internal bar there to stop it blowing open whilst he was inside, as there is no other door!
Can the doors swing inwards? If so, a good kick would probably rip out all the screws holding the staple to the door. If the door can't swing inwards, the staple is pretty secure. Getting a pry bar behind the staple is another way to get at it. Pry bar shouldn't help much on the hasp so long as the bolt can't be ripped through the door. A large washer to spread the load across the back of the door obviously makes it much harder to pull the bolt through. And finally someone can try to knock the pin out of the hasp, but yours looks fairly strong.
if anyone was even vaguely determined they could get a door like that open in seconds at the cost of making some noise and bringing a little bit of kit ... e.g. a sledge hammer, an angle grinder, a heavy right foot ... but what you've already got might well be sufficient to deter your average opportunist, hopeless, disorganised local scrote, which may be your primary objective.
if anyone was even vaguely determined they could get a door like that open in seconds at the cost of making some noise and bringing a little bit of kit ... e.g. a sledge hammer, an angle grinder, a heavy right foot ... but what you've already got might well be sufficient to deter your average opportunist, hopeless, disorganised local scrote, which may be your primary objective.
I have a barn door like that.
The lock is considerabley tougher than the surrounding wood.
If you want to get in, you will. Time and privacy for a thief is key. I'd have your door open in 10 secs with a crowbar, the wood would go first.
I keep the petrol powered stuff out of sight and the 18v tools somewhere else in my outbuildings.
Farm security is dogs, obstruction to a thief, staff movements, motion activated lights and insurance.
The more expensive the locking mechanism, the more suspicious the building is for high value contents. Don't spend hundreds on a lock. Spend it on insurance.
The lock is considerabley tougher than the surrounding wood.
If you want to get in, you will. Time and privacy for a thief is key. I'd have your door open in 10 secs with a crowbar, the wood would go first.
I keep the petrol powered stuff out of sight and the 18v tools somewhere else in my outbuildings.
Farm security is dogs, obstruction to a thief, staff movements, motion activated lights and insurance.
The more expensive the locking mechanism, the more suspicious the building is for high value contents. Don't spend hundreds on a lock. Spend it on insurance.
Edited by The_Doc on Monday 20th October 09:27
ATG said:
Can the doors swing inwards? If so, a good kick would probably rip out all the screws holding the staple to the door.
This! You want bolts top and bottom of one of the doors to anchor it to the floor and lintel, a strip on the back of the second door so it can't be pushed beyond the first one, then the lock/clasp to lock the second door to the first. You can get clasps like your existing one that fold over the top of the screws so they can't be accessed, or as above replace them with more coach bolts, but fit big washers on the inside, or a single metal plate with holes through, so the bolts can't easily be ripped through the wood.You might also want to consider multiple locking points. We had thieves cut a barn door in two and open the bottom half below the lock to get stuff out. the problem with making it look too secure though thieves will assume there's stuff in there worth nicking.
Griffith4ever said:
LooneyTunes said:
It s already through bolted but if that s not enough, any of:
1) replace the existing screws with dome headed coach bolts;
2) round out the heads (with a drill);
3) hammer/epoxy ball bearings into the heads.
All good points! - didn't even notice the bolt!1) replace the existing screws with dome headed coach bolts;
2) round out the heads (with a drill);
3) hammer/epoxy ball bearings into the heads.
The best solution is to add a properly lockable pedestrian door in one of the walls so that you can secure the barn doors from the inside. Even then they're never going to be the most secure. If you wanted to try, then a layer of expanded steel mesh fixed to the inside would give some greater resistance to the hasp and staple being removed or the door cut.
As others have said, making it look too secure can sometimes be asking for trouble. I have a bit of stuff in my barn, the hasp and staple still looks the same as yours, it has a good but not extreme padlock... the doors generally stay closed unless going in or out and the vast majority of neighbours/visitors are oblivious to what is inside.
Griffith4ever said:
Cheers all. It doesn't open inwards and I'm under no illusion that someone determined would be in in minutes.
Will consider all of the above.
Find some larger metal work and then add a bit more wood to the inside of the door for it to fix into using round headed bolts. Will consider all of the above.
Wacky Racer said:
Might seem obvious, but don't keep anything in there that you would be REALLY gutted if it/they was stolen.
That lock wouldn't last twenty seconds with a bolt cutter.
Or ten seconds with a reciprocating saw to cut a rectangle around the lock and take it out of the picture completely. Your first point is the prudent one I think.That lock wouldn't last twenty seconds with a bolt cutter.
Wacky Racer said:
Might seem obvious, but don't keep anything in there that you would be REALLY gutted if it/they was stolen.
That lock wouldn't last twenty seconds with a bolt cutter.
Nothing of appeal to any normal person - large (almost impossible to carry workshop tools - belt sander, pillar drill etc). That lock wouldn't last twenty seconds with a bolt cutter.
TBH - I could lever off the block of wood the shackle is on in seconds
Put a similar coachbolt through the hasp, behind the padlock.
Take two pieces of 24" x 24" mild steel plate, or stainless if you're posh, drill loads of holes in them, screw to backs of doors, drill through for coachbolts, refit coachbolts with washers.
Then look at how s
t the hinges are, give up and make a cup of tea.
Take two pieces of 24" x 24" mild steel plate, or stainless if you're posh, drill loads of holes in them, screw to backs of doors, drill through for coachbolts, refit coachbolts with washers.
Then look at how s
t the hinges are, give up and make a cup of tea.48k said:
Wacky Racer said:
Might seem obvious, but don't keep anything in there that you would be REALLY gutted if it/they was stolen.
That lock wouldn't last twenty seconds with a bolt cutter.
Or ten seconds with a reciprocating saw to cut a rectangle around the lock and take it out of the picture completely. Your first point is the prudent one I think.That lock wouldn't last twenty seconds with a bolt cutter.
FWIW, I think a bloody loud dedicated alarm and CCTV is more useful in that sort of structure than physical security.
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