Video: Testing Your Deadbolt

LOS ALTOS — Gary Lekan: An important thing to check on your deadbolt at home is whether or not the bolt is throwing completely into the door frame. We see time and time and again the contractors have not drilled the hole deep enough for the bolt to extend completely and lock into place. The first thing you’ll want to do is open your door and turn the deadbolt so that it clicks all the way locked. You’ll notice that you cannot push it in with your thumb — that’s why it’s called a deadbolt. It’s locked dead in that position.

Now, go over to your doorframe. Put your finger in the hole. If your finger goes in past the first knuckle, they’ve drilled it deep enough. If your finger is only going in part of the way, your bolt is probably not being locked completely, it’s not being deadbolted, and it could slip back. So what you want to do is have that hole drilled deeper.