how to secure a patio door when we want to have it open at night

April 3, 2018 8:50 PM

Cross-ventilation-filter: We have a patio door (96x80) which we love having open at night for the breeze. Open, it has a flimsy screen door with an even flimsier lock. What options might we have to secure the screen door at night? Budget is a significant consideration.

(Yes, we know an option would be only open it 2" with a barrier inside, but the breeze is so delightful...)

posted by arnicae to Home & Garden (15 answers total)

Is this a place you own, such that modifications to the door are possible? (Assuming budget for the mod is feasible)
posted by dttocs at 9:00 PM on April 3, 2018

Response by poster: Yes
posted by arnicae at 9:01 PM on April 3, 2018

Does the screen door have a built-in catch? In that case, you can buy a little fastener for not much money that screws into the frame and hooks into the door and you're sorted. If not, then buy a screen door that has that kind of catch.

(When you talk about "flimsier lock", is that what you have? Because ultimately, a screen door is not "secure" to most sentient beings, so it's more about keeping it in place so that it won't be nudged open by inside cats or outside possums or suchlike.)
posted by holgate at 9:50 PM on April 3, 2018 [4 favorites]

Rather than trying to make it a physical barrier, maybe rig a garage door-type optical sensor and connect it to an audible alarm?
posted by jon1270 at 10:07 PM on April 3, 2018 [2 favorites]

(or get a dog)
posted by jon1270 at 10:09 PM on April 3, 2018 [1 favorite]

Cut a length of wooden pole the right size and drop it into the track. (Screen doors are inherently insecure. Bracing the glass door so it can't open more than _ inches is an option.)
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:12 PM on April 3, 2018 [9 favorites]

There are security screen doors which fit a large patio door like yours, but they’re pricy. The $100 price point is for 36x80 doors at best. Since you have 96”, I’m assuming screen of 48” - if so, then an accordion security door secured with a padlock could provide some security.
None of this would stop a determined intruder, but should discourage a casual break in, especially since you’re at home when it’s in use.
posted by dttocs at 10:16 PM on April 3, 2018 [2 favorites]

My grandparents installed a sturdy metal grillwork inner door after they were burglarized.
posted by brujita at 11:52 PM on April 3, 2018 [3 favorites]

How secure are we talking here? A screen is a screen, a hypothetical intruder could just silently cut it and walk through. If you want a secure screen door those probably do exist but I suspect you would A: end up with a much uglier screen with a heavy grating on it and B: have to replace the whole door so as to get a screen door that couldn't simply be lifted out of its track, have its frame easily bent into a taco, or have its flimsy little night-catch broken off with a sharp jerk.

Screen doors just aren't intended to be secure.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 4:03 AM on April 4, 2018 [4 favorites]

If you're concerned about break-ins (rather than animals), a screen door is essentially an open door. A motion sensor alarm at the door might be your best bet.
posted by gideonfrog at 4:30 AM on April 4, 2018 [2 favorites]

A screen can be cut through with a pocket knife. If you want/need it to be more secure than that, then you probably need some sort of metal grillwork door, like the kinds I've seen on doors of houses and apartments in Costa Rica and southern Spain, maybe like some of these.
posted by abeja bicicleta at 5:43 AM on April 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

Screen doors on sliding glass doors are usually held in the track on spring loaded wheels. The lock is flimsy, the screen can be cut, the screen door can be popped out. You can get a study mesh, like hardware cloth, and glue it to the frame with hot glue. You can put a dowel in the track. I would do that. I'd also start going to ReStore and looking for a replacement door that is more secure. Or, make a frame to insert snugly into the inner track, with a sturdy mesh, maybe hardware cloth on 1 side, wire fencing on the other side, Fit that in to the inner track and secure it on the inside with pieces of wood on a screw as a latch, 2 on each side. Still not super secure, but enough to discourage casual entry. Seriously, also hang bells from this inner security door, you'll only use it when you need to be secure, so make it secure.
posted by theora55 at 10:19 AM on April 4, 2018

I know this is very hillbilly - but I put two by fours across - 4 of them - across a big screened window - in metal brackets that were made for the purpose I got at the hardware store (don't know the name for them ) - so I can get a breeze in the summer but don't have to worry so much about a bear crashing in. It works, and a kid can easily slide the two by four out if they need to escape a fire.

A burglar could also slide them out but it would take a while to figure out, you could block the wood from being slid with a piece of wood screwed to the wall or at least put something like bells on the wood that would make a lot of noise.

And a motion-sensor porch light would help.
posted by cda at 10:35 AM on April 4, 2018

Also, meant to note that my crappy tablet inserted fowl for dowel, and a fowl in the track will not secure the door unless it's live, which is probably excessive, and not good for the fowl.
posted by theora55 at 11:11 AM on April 4, 2018 [3 favorites]

Warning: this won't be a particularly attractive option but it would be the kind of thing I'd do in your position if I had a limited budget or was working with salvaged materials. I also have extensive wood working tools that would make this process easier.

One thing to keep in mind when contemplating options is that unless you have bars over your windows whatever you use to block the opening just has to be stronger than the effort it takes to toss a brick through a window.

Here's the DIY approach I'd take:

One sheet 3/4" plywood
two 2x4s
four 1/2" barrel bolts
four keyed alike padlocks
Some 10x3 screws

Unless you table saw or skilsaw with guide get the home improvement Borg where you buy the sheet of plywood to cut it the same size as the free opening of your sliding door. Also if they'll cut them for free I's get them to cut the 2x4s to the same length as the long edge of your plywood.

Screw the 2x4s to the outer long edges of the sheet of plywood with the 2x side against the plywood.

Bolt one barrel bolt to each end of each 2x4

Use something like a 4" hole saw to drill a pattern of holes in the sheet of plywood. I'd probably try to keep at least 50% of the wood but I might vary that depending on how it felt after I started drilling. 4" holes on an 6" grid is going to be upwards of 70 holes depending on how close you get to the edges so this will take a while. I'd leave at least a 4" "frame" all the way around.

Viola: custom vented door blocker.

To mount all you need to do is drill four 5/8ths holes in the door frame to correspond to the barrel bolts.

Installation is as simple as lifting the blocker in place and locking the bolts. Depending on your specific install you might need to only remove 2 padlocks for removal/installation tipping the blocker to free the other two.

If this is a fire exit consider the implications of needing a key to get out. You could skip the padlocks if you covered the 4" holes with a 1/2" hardware cloth or piece of expanded metal.

Rough drawing to show the layout.

OPTIONS:

You could get a similar product with 1x4s in a flat lattice if you'd rather glue and screw a bunch of laps. That approach will probably be heavier though and likely more expensive unless you are upcycling some pallets or something.

You can also buy PVC lattice instead of plywood and construct a 2x4 perimeter frame. You need to sandwich the lattice between two pieces of dimension lumber. Wouldn't be quiet as strong but probably adequate.

You might find that you could replace the the barrel bolts with single hung window locks. It would depend on the arrangement of your casement.

There are lots of track products out there that are better than what comes with a standard sliding patio door that could be adapted to your purpose. EG: Pocket door hardware with top and bottom tracks. This would allow to easy slide installation and a single padlock for security.

If you have a free track going across the door that is at least an 1" wide you could eliminate the top bolts altogether by extending the plywood up past the 2x4s. The "tongue" formed would then fit into the groove at the top preventing the top of the blocker from moving in/out once the bottom bolts were secured.

Also I'd probably paint at least the outside of the blocker to match my exterior.

You could use a jig saw instead of a hole saw to cut the openings. This would take longer but you could use different shapes like diamonds or triangles.
posted by Mitheral at 11:33 PM on April 4, 2018