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What a chain, bar or secondary lock adds, what it does not add, and where it must not stop an exit.
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Chains, bars, swing guards and surface bolts get fitted for two different reasons that often get mixed up.
The first is to let you open a door a little way while it is still restrained, so you can speak to someone without giving them the opening. The second is to add a physical barrier while you are inside, on top of whatever the main lock does.
They are not the same requirement, and the hardware that suits one is not always the hardware that suits the other. This page goes through what each device actually adds, where it helps, and the one rule that governs all of them.
Anything fitted to the inside of a door has to be something the people inside can release, quickly, without a key, in the dark, in a hurry.
That sounds obvious until you look at what gets fitted: a bar mounted where a child cannot reach it, a deadbolt that needs a key on the inside, a chain on a door that a visiting relative cannot work, three separate devices on one door that all have to be released in sequence.
A home that is hard to leave is a real risk, and it is a risk that materializes on the worst night rather than an ordinary one. Every device on this page should be assessed against that first, before anything else; see double-cylinder deadbolts: when they fit, which deals with the same trade-off.
A chain lets the door open a few inches while restrained, so you can see and speak to a caller.
Used that way, on a door with a peephole or a camera, it has a place. What a chain is not is a security device against force. The chain itself is usually stronger than the small screws holding its plate into a wooden jamb, and that is where it fails.
If a chain is worth having, it is worth fitting properly: long screws into solid material rather than the short ones in the box, into the frame rather than just the casing. A chain fitted into a hollow jamb with three-quarter-inch screws is decoration.
A swing bar does the same job as a chain in a sturdier form: a solid bar on a pivot that drops into a knob or slot. There is no slack, nothing to rattle, and they are generally easier for stiff hands than a chain.
Some versions can be released from outside with a special tool, which exists so the device does not trap someone in an emergency. That is worth knowing about rather than discovering it: if a guard can be released from outside, it is a courtesy restraint, not a barrier.
For households where dexterity matters, the swing bar is usually the better of the two; see easier-to-use door hardware for seniors.
A bolt shot into the frame at the top or bottom of a door adds real resistance, because it moves the load away from the lock area and spreads it across the door.
They suit doors you are behind rather than doors you come and go through, and they suit the second leaf of a double door particularly well, where the inactive leaf needs to be held firmly for the active leaf's bolt to mean anything.
The weak point is the same as everything else here: the receiver has to be in solid material. A bolt that drops into a shallow hole in soft trim gives the feeling of security without the substance.
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A secondary device supplements the main lock. It does not compensate for a main lock that is not doing its job.
If the deadbolt does not throw fully, if the strike is loose, if the frame is split, if the door can be levered at the latch, that is where the work belongs. Adding a chain above a failing deadbolt puts a small device in front of a large problem; see door latch and strike plate repair and residential high-security lock upgrades.
The order is: get the primary lock and the frame right, then decide whether a secondary device adds anything.
Some situations justify a second device clearly.
A ground-floor unit or basement entrance with an older door, where the main hardware is fine but you want a physical restraint while you are home; see basement apartment entrance locks.
A household where someone is home alone often, and the value is being able to answer the door on a restraint; see door security when you live alone.
A rental where you cannot change the primary hardware but can add a reversible device to the inside face, though the tenancy agreement and the landlord's access rights both matter here.
A door with a long history of unwanted callers, where the point is managing conversations rather than resisting force.
Most secondary hardware fails at the fixings rather than the metal. The screws supplied in the package are almost always too short, sized to hold the part on the door rather than to resist anything.
Longer screws into the framing behind the jamb make far more difference than choosing a heavier device. The same principle applies to the main lock: the strike plate screwed into the stud rather than the trim is one of the most effective changes available on an ordinary residential door.
If you are fitting one of these yourself, check what is actually behind the jamb before choosing screw length, and avoid mounting anything within easy reach of a mail slot or a glass panel; see mail slot and letterbox security.
Not every door takes a secondary device well. A glazed door may have little solid material to fix into. A door with a multipoint lock is already bolting at several points, and adding a bolt that fights the multipoint's alignment causes problems. A fire-rated door must not be modified in ways that affect its rating, and a shared entrance in a building is not yours to modify at all.
On those doors the improvement usually lies in the existing hardware rather than an addition; see door lock repair for houses and condos.
A restraint is only useful alongside knowing who is on the other side, and most of the time the better first step is being able to see out.
A door viewer is inexpensive, needs no power and cannot fail at a bad moment. Fitted at a height that suits the people using it, it answers the question a chain is usually being asked to answer. Wide-angle versions cover more of the step, and larger viewers suit people who find a small eyepiece hard to use.
A camera or video doorbell does the same job from further away and keeps a record, at the cost of depending on power, a network and an account that somebody has to maintain.
Either of these often reduces the need for a restraint at all, because the conversation can happen without opening the door in the first place. For a household weighing up what to add, seeing out is usually the better place to spend the first hour.
In an apartment or a shared building, the suite entrance door is often fire-rated and the common entrance is not yours to alter at all. Both limit what can be added, and neither is obvious by looking.
Check with the building before fitting anything to a suite door, and treat the corridor side as off limits. Where nothing can be added, the improvement is usually in adjusting and servicing the hardware already fitted.
Tell us what you want the device to do: hold the door while you talk to someone, or add a barrier while you are inside. Say who lives there, including anyone who would struggle with a stiff or high-mounted device.
We will look at what the frame can actually hold, fit it so the fixings reach solid material, and check that everyone in the home can release it quickly; see also residential locksmith services.
Keep reading
Against a caller you want to talk to at arm's length, yes. Against force, not much. The chain is usually stronger than the short screws holding its plate into the jamb, and that is where it gives way. Fitted with long screws into solid framing it is better, but its real job is managing a conversation rather than resisting an attack.
Against a caller you want to talk to at arm's length, yes. Against force, not much. The chain is usually stronger than the short screws holding its plate into the jamb, and that is where it gives way. Fitted with long screws into solid framing it is better, but its real job is managing a conversation rather than resisting an attack.
A swing bar suits most households. There is no slack, nothing to rattle, and it is easier for stiff hands than threading a chain. Be aware that some guards can be released from outside with a tool, which exists so nobody is trapped inside. That makes them a courtesy restraint rather than a barrier, which is worth knowing before you rely on one.
Only if everyone inside can release all of them quickly, without a key, in the dark. A door with three devices that must be undone in sequence is a genuine risk on the night it matters. The same concern applies to any lock needing a key on the inside face. Fewer devices that everyone can operate beat more devices that they cannot.
At the fixings. The screws in the package are sized to hold the part on the door, not to resist anything. Longer screws reaching the framing behind the jamb make more difference than buying a heavier device. The same applies to your main strike plate, which is one of the most effective upgrades on an ordinary residential door.
Often, because most are surface-mounted and reversible, but the tenancy agreement and the landlord's right of access both apply, and a shared building entrance is not yours to modify. Ask first, keep it reversible, and keep it off doors you do not control. Where you cannot add anything, improving what is there is usually still possible.
Usually not a bolt. A multipoint already locks at several points, and adding hardware that fights its alignment creates problems rather than solving them. Patio and glazed doors often have little solid material to fix into. On those doors the improvement is normally in the existing hardware, its adjustment and its keeper.
No, and that is the job that comes first. A secondary device supplements a working primary lock; it does not compensate for one that is failing. If the bolt does not throw fully, the strike is loose or the frame is split, the work belongs there first. Then decide whether an addition adds anything.
Not without care. A fire-rated assembly must not be modified in ways that affect its rating, and that includes drilling for surface hardware. In an apartment or a commercial building, the suite entrance door is frequently rated. Check before anything is fitted, because an unapproved modification can void the rating for the whole assembly.
Describe the door, hardware and service address. Contact GTA Lockman Mobile Locksmith Services to confirm the scope and scheduling for your location.
