New homes generally have doors that swing inwards for heightened security. This way, its door hinges are not accessible from the exteriors and intruders cannot interfere with them to detach the door from its frame. Most commercial buildings and older homes, however, have outswing doors. These leave you with a lot of floor space in your interiors and are safer to use in an emergency like a fire. Unfortunately, the outswing door also exposes the hinge pins to tampering.
Some property owners in Salt Lake City would during their entry and garage door repair also opt to change their entry door to an inswing one. This, they presume, is the best option for guaranteeing the security of their property. Though there is nothing wrong with this choice, it might affect the overall look and function of your property. You can still guarantee the highest level of security with an outswing door through the installation of security hinges. The following are your door’s security hinge alternatives.
Setscrew Hinges
With this choice, the hinges are concealed when the door is closed. A setscrew will lock the hinge pins to a side of the hinge. In so doing, you cannot remove the hinge pins with the door in a closed position. In most cases, at least a pair of setscrew hinges are used on all your property’s outswing doors.
Non-Removable Hinge Pins
These hinges are also called fast-riveted or crimped pin hinges. They are often confused for setscrew hinges. Non-removable hinge pins are however manufactured in a way that will flatten the bottom and top of the hinge pin, unlike the latter that locks in the hinge pins. The flat nature of the non-removable hinge pins makes them impossible to remove when the door is closed. They can only be removed by cutting out the door’s barrel.
Stud Hinges
These allow the removal of hinge pins, but if the door is closed the studs will avert the door’s separation from its frame. Stud hinges are often used on butt hinges to lock their leaves. On closing the door, a stud on one leaf will mate into the hole on another leaf. In so doing, the two leaves will be locked into one another when the barrel is cut off, or the hinge pins are removed.
Continuous Hinges
These are also called piano hinges. They cover the whole gap between the door and frame and leave no room for intruders to pry the door open on the hinge side. Someone would have to cut the entire door’s length to break in. Continuous hinges can be geared or pin and barrel. Geared hinges will link using two gears enclosed in a casing while pin and barrel have their pins enclosed in the barrel.
Outswing doors have a positive threshold stop that seals out water and wind and makes their closing and opening easy, unlike inswing doors. This makes them more durable compared to inswing doors that can suffer water damage. With the above alternatives, outswing doors need not be the weak point in your property’s security. The security hinges are sure to keep out intruders and leave you enjoying the benefits of your outswing door.
