Door Frame and Hinge Reinforcement

Our neighbor was burgled a few days ago. The thief/thieves simply kicked their front door in when they left for work in the morning and was gone with a couple of laptops within minutes. I did a temporary repair of their door-frame so their kids would not be upset when they got home from school. I could not believe how flimsy it was. I immediately went online and did some research and found this product, the StrikeMaster II Pro. I ordered it on Amazon Prime with the extra 3.99 for next day shipment, received it yesterday and installed it in 2 hours today. Now I know that it will not be so easy for a potential thief to simply kick in my front door and walk in. The metal plate screws into the actual solid wood frame of the house with 9 long screws. They include 6 long screws to replace 6 of the existing hinge screws going into the frame and 6 medium screws to replace 6 hinge screws going into the door. The Strikemaster II Pro comes with a couple of small plates to reinforce the door lock itself. Apparently, even after you strengthen the frame, the next place to give would be the door itself, in the area of the lock. These plates with the accompanying screws are by themselves a product called the Door Edge Pro and are included with the Strikemaster II Pro. Installation was easy WITH ONE CAVEAT..!!!....the template provided in the instructions for the Door Edge Pro IS WRONG..!! Luckily I checked the plates themselves against the template. The actual distance between the two holes on each plate is actually a quarter inch larger than the distance on the template. I just reworked the template to reflect the actual distance - not really a problem, so I have not deducted any stars......GOOD PRODUCT, REASONABLE PRICE, AMAZON PRIME SHIPMENT, EASY INSTALLATION.

Just installed this on two entry doors. VERY, VERY GOOD PRODUCT. Installs easily, fits perfectly. Haven't "tried" it (and I wouldn't recommend you do either, unless you want a dented door, of course) but it absolutely tightens up the movement of the door when locked. I'm assuming it would have to work as expected in case of a breakdown. Three Gripes: 1. The price is pretty high for two pieces of steel and some screws. Don't tell me you can't put a price on security, because they sure did. 2. Wish, especially for the price, that they would give you a piece that ran the entire length of the frame for the hinge side. 3. DON'T FREAK ON THE DIRECTIONS! Use common sense when installing. The directions make it sound WAY TOO HARD. Oh, and be careful of not hurting your weatherstripping if using a cordless drill.

Would not recommend, was unable to line up holes with any of my doors and the metal feels very flimsy. I have had much better success with the EZ armor brand of door armor, very easy to install and the metal is thicker/much higher quality and fit two of doors without modification.

I was a little skeptical about buying this after reading about it in a home security book. The product arrived in a long box, and my skepticism remained. But then I removed the strike plate that the builder installed, an wow, what tiny screws. The industry standard screw for a strike plate is 3/4 of a inch I guess. I can now see why it looks so easy to kick in a door on all those Youtube videos... it's because it is easy! The only thing keeping bad guys out are two tiny screws!!! The installation of the door reinforcer was pretty straight forward. I do recommend just drilling in two screws (specifically the top and bottom screws) and make sure your door closes properly first before doing the rest of the screws. I did this from the very beginning, and I'm glad I did. I found that I had to take a flat head screw driver and chip away a little bit of wood for the "tab" to fit in the hole so that the deadlatch would fit. I was so impressed, I purchased a second one as a house warming gift for my sister and brother-in-laws new house. I'm a Realtor, and I'm also considering making this my go to closing gift. This product greatly increases the security of my home. Highly recommend it!

I looked at a lot of similar door jam reinforcement products, and had this product recommended by a professional who is contracted to reinforce door entries, and overall found this to be the best option of the group. Here's why: PROS: -it can be installed in most doorways without major carpentry. -it truly makes your door jam unbreakable. In other words, no one is going to be able to kick down your door. -it takes care of the three potential breaking points: 1) the jam, 2) the door splitting at the deadbolt, 3) the hinges. All are reinforced. -it's a quality product with a solid finish, well engineered CONS: -it will take you longer than their stated 30 minutes for installation. I've done 3 doors and I'm a real handy guy, have all the tools, etc. There's always something you have to adjust, fix, tweak. Each door takes me about 90 minutes. -I wish they made specific 3 products: one for left opening doors, one for right opening doors and one for doors without additional deadbolts. All their punch out holes so one product can serve all needs looks a bit tacky. Easy for them, ugly for us. -I could do without all of the text they stamp on the product to brand it. They could just put their name in small type at the very bottom of the product, but instead your door jam becomes their word-filled branding platform. But all in all, I would recommend it. And encourage people to reinforce their doors since that's the way most burglars enter a home. It takes 4 seconds to kick down the standard door. Something to think about.

The product installed fairly easy for someone with basic door lock installation experience. The product is solid and covers the door frame well beyond the damaged areas around the original deadbolt plate and strike plate. It's a bit pricey but does the job.

This product worked great. The jam was heavily damaged but this product was able to salvage that situation and re-use the jam and put it back together. Only gripe is its a bit expensive, but worked great.

These are really strong and well built and I just ordered two more for my other doors because I liked the first one so much. However, be aware that some door frames, especially older ones, may require significant modification to make them fit. If the door jam on your door is exactly the same width as your door (1.75") then you will need to use an oscillating multitool with a wood blade (or something similar) to cut a 1/8"+ deep slot for the edge of the Strikemaster II Pro to slip into. This is not hard if you have the equipment but can require some finesse and will likely require caulking / painting afterwards to cover up any nicks or gaps. My one newer door jam is wider with a built in weatherstrip and this is what the Strikemaster II Pro seems to be made for (it just slips in behind the weatherstripping).

I couldn’t close the door after installing this. I had to really tighten the screws on the left and right side of the door frame AND remove the interior piece of this product to make the frame wide enough to be able to close the door.