Hello,
I have a gate to my apartment complex. I installed a Schlage D- series "extra heavy duty commercial ANSI Grade I" storeroom lock in the gate. The box that this lock is mounted in is a block of 3/4" solid steel that I bought at the steel store, and prepped with the big hole, the little hole, and the inset for the latch plate. A serious piece of work, that box. Took me a week, and almost burned out my drill press. I made it because the documentation of the lock intimated that the latch needed lateral support - and the steel boxes that one commonly sees in gates are completely hollow.
We have a bunch of kids who hang out on the street in front of the complex. They like to come and go, even though they lose their keys. Last night, somebody hammered the latch into the box. When my staff tried to free it, it came out in pieces. I do have a spare lock & latch on site, but am sure that when staff replaces it, the kids will destroy it again.
Wits end here... Anybody know of a better system?
- Jerry Kaidor