How would one break down a door?

It really depends on the door. There are some that can be kicked in.

It is scary how easy it is. Unless it’s a metal door with a metal frame, a good strong kick will do it. believe me, I know. I own apartments.

A battering ram always helps.

If you want to break down a door, then what you have is the stiles and crosspieces (if it’s a wooden panel door), the panels, the hinges, knob and lock assembly, the jamb and threshold (for an entry door).

That’s your door, broken down.

Why do you need to know ?

It would take an artillery piece to break in my doors. I designed them to be Gestapo-proof. Remember that the locking mechanism is the weakest link even on a strongly constructed door.

Like my Grandmother Suzette used to say,“Lucy,a side kick to the knob will do the job!”—or was she talking about dating?—lol!

For most doors the weak point is actually the frame. There is precious little wood there, and all the force you put on the door gets focused on the bolt, so it can blast right through the wood. To prevent this you want a dead bolt a good distance from the knob and reinforced strike plates. I had to install such a plate on an apartment door when I woke up one morning and found a large boot print on my door, which was swinging opened. But I was so drunk the night before that I think it was my boot print.

i think i would kick it

@Snarp ; and who paid for the damage? The apartment owner in me asks?

@Judi I fixed it myself better than new and the apartment owner never knew about it.

Find a big guy and give him 5 bucks to break it in.

12 gauge

Take out the pins that’re holding the hinges together.
Guess that only works on one side of the door. And usually not the important side.

Duct tape a bottle of red wine to it and call over my MIL!

It’s fun to post a complex answer and get GAs on it. So am I being given great answers for describing how a door is broken in, or for getting so drunk I don’t remember doing it to my own?

@Snarp TBH, I think it’s the funny drunk story.

the battering ram that is between my legs

@Mike_Hunt – I require video evidence. Then I will be impressed.

@Snarp ; because you mase us lol4rl!

The official answer.

You could always “rap” on it, I suppose.

@Snarp ; One point your link reminded me of. If it is an older structure, with single pane windows, it might be cheaper to break a window than it would be to break down the door.

To kick in a door it really depends on the door and what the “kicker” is capable of kicking-wise ^.^ But while my Dad was on the fire department they we’re told that when it was necessary, to use their shoulder on the handle side of the door or kick it in around the door knob. It’s the least attached part of the door. But this was always last resort when a window was not accessible or they did not have an ax.

How about ringing the doorbell?

@Snarp Hey I followed the link and learned how to kick in a door but still like the idea of paying someone else to do it. There was a trap at that site, I ended up learning to carve a turkey too. I have to go back because there were some other “manly” things I want to learn. Thanks anyhow.

Here’s Johnny.

@Ron_C Hey, I just googled it.

I wonder if I could get paid to google things for people.

Probably not, the people that google answers wouldn’t pay and the ones that can’t wouldn’t know what it is. Frankly, I never thought of googling for methods for kicking in doors. I guess everything is here.

@Ron_C and @Snarp , But It is sometimes more fun to interact about it with friends. That’s what fluther is all about.

@Judi You are right, some of us are from other sites that seem more interested in pop-up ads than working with the participants. They actually rewrote the interface to take the fun out of it. I would rather try to answer “off the cuff” rather than get an “official” answer.

Well, there’s more to this question than a straightforward answer. Sometimes people do ask questions that are don’t meet the quality standards and could have just been googled. This question is alright, as evidenced by the fact that I gave my answer before I googled it.

@Snarp I didn’t mean to imply that there was anything wrong, in fact, I enjoyed the googled answer because it lead to an interesting site. Besides, some of the questions are best answered with a joke rather than facts. I can go either way.

Fire Deparment personnel use Halligan tools to breach doorways and they work very well. If I’m going to break down a door, I’ll use one of those or perhaps this battering ram instead. The Police make good use of these. A small charge of C4 plasic explosive would do the job nicely too but you can’t just pick that up at Wal-Mart anymore. Bummer.

The police have fun too. As an apartment manager/owner I have begged the police to take the key I am offering them, but they like to use the battering ram more.

@Judi Do they pay for a replacement door? and maybe you should screen your tenants a little more.

@Ron_C ; It hasn’t happened for several years. I didn’t move in the people that were being served search warrants. But, no, they didn’t pay for the door. I did.

@Judi it just doesn’t seem fair especially since you offered the key.

In defense of the police, they may have felt that it was a dangerous situation and wanted to surprise the suspect, and turning a key might have tipped them off.

@Judi I still think that they should have paid for the door. You weren’t hiding the person in your house, just renting an apartment.

I agree, but you can’t fight city hall.

I will give you my answer, but you must promise to never use this technique for anything, other than an emergency situation. never kick a door from the front. turn around, place your butt on the door and kick backwards. you are using much stronger leg muscles, in this procedure, rather than kicking the door from the front. promise?

I wish I had a whole bunch of spare doors on which o try all of these techniques.

@john65pennington I don’t even understand what you’re saying. Butt against the door? Kick backwards? How’s that supposed to work?

@Sarcasm, two suggestions spring to mind:

1. Join the police.
2. Buy an apartment building or roadside motel.

I’d probably drive my truck through it.

Ninja say if door sturdy like big ol pine tree, climb in thru teh windoz.

harsh interrogation then tell the door that nobody loves it

Go with the grain. usually you can te ar it by using an AXe and if you hit the right spot, it should crack alite right down the center. well that’s if the door is really weak, i don’t know about others