Philadelphia and the older boroughs of Delaware County are full of row homes and twins, and the suburbs around them are full of detached houses. They need different things from their locks, because the doors, the entrances and the weak spots are different.
Here is what to check, depending on the kind of home you have.
What's different about a row home
- The front door often opens straight onto the sidewalk, in full view of the street.
- Many have two front doors: a storm or screen door and the main door behind it, sometimes with a small vestibule between them.
- The back door opens onto an alley or a shared yard that neighbors pass through.
- There may be a separate basement door, and a mail slot cut through the front door.
What to check on a row home
- The main front door has a deadbolt that throws fully into the frame, not just a latch.
- The storm door latches properly. It won't stop a determined person, but a storm door that swings loose is an invitation.
- The back door has a deadbolt, not just a knob. A door onto an alley is out of sight of the street, so it deserves the same lock as the front.
- The basement door, often forgotten, has a working lock.
- The strike plates are held with long screws. Older frames benefit most from a reinforced strike.
What's different about a detached house
- More doors: front, back, side, basement, and the door from the garage into the house.
- Doors that can't be seen from the street, where nobody will notice someone working on a lock.
- Sliding patio doors, whose built-in latches are rarely the strongest part of the house.
What to check on a detached house
- Every exterior door has a deadbolt, including the side and the basement doors.
- The door from the garage into the house is locked like an exterior door, because it is one.
- Sliding doors have a secondary lock or a bar in the track.
- Keying the doors alike, so one key opens every exterior door, makes it far more likely they all get locked.
Twins and shared entrances
In a twin, or a house split into apartments, there may be a shared porch door or hallway. Each unit should have its own lock and its own key, and the shared door should be something everyone agrees on and keeps locked.
Older doors in either kind of home
Many row homes and older houses still have original doors with locks set into the edge of the door. They can often be kept, serviced and made secure, without forcing a modern lock into a door that wasn't built for it.
What to expect from a visit
We look at every door, not just the one you called about, and tell you what we would change and why. Then we fit, rekey or repair the locks you choose, and test each one before we leave.
