Door locks.......

[Mr T]

We are going to be replacing several exterior doors in the near future.

Was looking around at door locks latley..had a few questions... I am seeing alot of 'brag' about ANSI level 2 and 3 ratings.. What is the difference between level 2 and 3. It seems that the el-cheapo locks had level 3 on them.. So I am guessing that 2 is better/stronger. What about 1? Is that prison grade or something? :eek:

Any brand preferences? (looking at locking entry + deadbolt) Would I be better off going to a lock shop? I am under the impression that a thief is going to be breaking out a window before they screw with a lock... so what is the hype on all this? (all our doors have windows in them, and they will be double key'd deadbolts). I dont see the point in the locks costing more then the door.

What is everyone's input on keying patterns (everything the same?) I was thinking of keying the doorknob differently on 1 lock so that we can have a giveaway key (family/friends/neighbors), but still lock the deadbolt to overide them. input?

[mdshunk]

I don't know much about door locks. People don't use them much where I live.

Be advised, though, that double keyed deadbolts are a code violation. Reference IRC §R311.4.4, which states:

"All egress doors shall be readily openable from the side from which egress is to be made without the use of a key or special knowledge or effort."

[suemarkp]

I don't know about the rating levels either, but I do know that knob locks are useless if you have a pair of big channel locks or a heavy hammer and screwdriver. I bought a rekey kit and made all of my locks the same. Doing this yourself give you an appreciation as to how locks work and to how well the pins must fit. There is no way I would try to pick a lock after seeing how they work. I'd go with a hammer, crowbar, or even a cordless sawsall if I was trying to break into places.

The rekey kit is inexpensive and I got it from http://www.changealock.com/ I can't believe I paid a locksmith about $30 a lock on my first house. Ten bucks and about 5 minutes each is all it takes (unless you shoot the pins out across the room and have to go find them).

Ask for more sets of pins than you have locks (in case you lose one or it wears out), and you need a pin set for each lockable knob and deadbolt. If you want two possibly different key combinations, buy two kits. When I bought a bunch of replacement locks, I used the pin conbination that they came with and just rekeyed a few of the old ones. I was lucky that between the pins in the old locks and what was in the kit, I could match the locks I bought.

[Mr T]

Why do they have double keyed deadbolts then? Is this a recent code change?
Our house currently has them on every door with a window in it.

[mdshunk]

You can use a double keyed deadbolt on a door that is not a required egress door. You can also use one on a business door, but the fire code requires a sign that states "This door must remain unlocked during business hours".