Door Size Up #7
You can take a look at sizing up this door and give it your best shot if you like. But as you can see the door is not telling us a whole lot. Our most important size up feature regarding this type of door is the neighborhood, the occupancy, and playing the odds. This is located in a busy commercial area that sees a fair share of high crime. From walking buildings in this area we already know that most businesses have had numerous break-ins on a yearly basis. This building also happens to be a pawn shop, which in our district (like most) equals extra fortification. Then we move to the fact that this is a back door to the occupancy and the only entry not seen from the main front doors on the street side.
All of these points added up would tell us that we are going to have a heck of a door to go at. That is what should cause us concern about what actually is showing. Sometimes nothing showing on the door combined with all of our other size up points gives us all the warning we need. Nothing showing equals some creative security on the inside. Any business owner that has been broken into countless times tends to learn there tactics.
Another point that we have hit on before is the primer on the door that is showing. This usually is a good sign that some fabrication has taken place. As you can see below, this door has double drop bars made out of steel 2x4s. The mounts have been welded on a half inch steel frame that goes around the entire edge of the door. These drop bars have padlocks set in them at night securing the bars to the mounts. If that is not enough we then have a homemade gate made out of angle iron secured with its own set of padlocks.
IRONSandLADDERS.com 
11/02/2010 at 5:47 pm
I would just stroll up and pop the hinges off in about 3.5 seconds, and then mule kick my way through the gate! No problem! HA! Just kidding! But I can already hear some of the “table top tough guys” spouting out their bulls#@t to anyone who will believe them (which is WAY TOO MANY)…. Anyway….I was thinking this is a great pic that once again proves the need to have all your ducks in a row prior to being sent to the back at 3AM to “open up”… Multiple saw choices, a few different tools and definitely at least ONE squared away person who knows their job. This door is going to be time consuming (at least with the blade on our saw) and should simply be communicated to the right person/people while you suck it up and slog along… Dont give up on your force unless there is some other option that would be easier….obviously!!!
11/03/2010 at 4:22 pm
Always try conventional first. The outer door may be an easy force if the drop bars aren’t in place. As for the homemade gate, I think my first attempt would be to try and get at the padlocks and defeat them. Best way to know how to defeat the doors in your still district is to see them up close and personal. Get out and walk the buildings in your still!
11/03/2010 at 4:37 pm
Good Pictures! Would be a good job for the 14″ diamond blade which should cut 5″ in depth.
11/03/2010 at 6:30 pm
Thanks Steve,
One point you bring up that is good to look at is most large demo saws with a full blade on them will maybe get 5 inches of cutting depth. I think a common myth that many will jump to as a first choice for forcing drop bars is the myth that you can just plunge a saw in the door and cut downwards until you cut the bar in half. This has a few problems associated with it. First it depends on how they install the drop bar, if it is installed behind the frame (as seen in the picture above)the bar will be much too deep to plunge cut. Most of these doors frames will be anywhere from about 6 inches to upwards of 9 or 10 inches depending on the exterior wall construction. This leaves us coming up very short with the depth of our blade. Sometimes you will have frames that are smaller than the standard where a plunge cut may work, but this still raises some issues. Many drop bars are padlocked (also seen above) which would keep the bar in place after the initial cut is performed causing us a new set of issues.
If the bar is secured behind the stop instead of the entire frame then a plunge cut may have some success. I am not trying to knock this tactic, I just think we need to have multiple plans in mind and be prepared to use them. Also when a new tactic or myth is brought up as a “go to-this is the best way to do something”, it is always good to question it and make sure you try it multiple times.
My personal opinion is I would still start with solid Irons work on this door to get a feel of what we have and possibly force it depending on the qulaity of the drop bar craftsmanship, and for the simple reason that many places will forget or not secure the bars anymore.If that was not successful then we will move to plan B, C, D etc. Either way, just wanted to throw it out there for discussion.
Thanks
-Ryan
11/06/2010 at 2:28 pm
Great post of yet another challenging door. All I ask is where do you guys find these things!? Is the crime rate that bad out west?
11/10/2010 at 1:53 pm
Forcible entry is certainly not a coastal problem. These doors exist in every major city to small town across the country. It’s pretty unbelievable what you find when you go out in your district. The fortified doors are the ones we can learn from the most. If we understand to defeat tough ones our job will be that much easier.