A forced entry tore the strike plate clean out of this Gloucester patio door frame, splintering the jamb around it. Here’s how we rebuilt the frame and fitted a heavy-duty box strike anchored into the wall studs — before and after.
Before Repair
After Repair
This Gloucester homeowner found their patio door jamb splintered wide open around the strike, the wood torn out in loose chunks and the door barely holding its latch. The original strike had only ever been screwed into the thin jamb casing, so once the deadbolt was forced, there was nothing behind it to stop the wood from giving way. We treated it as a security call, not a cosmetic one, and got a technician out the same day to make the door solid and lockable again.
A rebuilt jamb and box strike restore solid anchoring at the lock point, but the security review should not stop at the woodwork. Fix My Door Now Ottawa also handles lock repair, rekeying and deadbolt upgrades when a project needs cylinder service or a stronger lock matched to the new strike.
Patching splintered wood back into place doesn’t fix the actual problem — the strike needs something solid to anchor into, not just casing. We cut out the damaged section of jamb, replaced it with solid material shimmed to the framing behind it, and set it plumb before touching the hardware. In place of the original short strike plate, we installed a full box strike: a longer, heavier gauge plate with screws sunk through the jamb and into the stud behind it, not just into the trim. That’s the part that actually resists a second attempt. We checked the hinge side and the rest of the frame for damage from the same forced-entry attempt, then confirmed the door closed, latched and locked cleanly. Where a jamb has failed like this, a proper door frame repair is the only fix that holds.
A torn-out strike plate is one of the clearest signs of a forced entry, and it’s rarely just a hardware problem — if the jamb behind it has no backing, the next attempt will get through just as easily. We rebuild and reinforce damaged strike areas for homeowners across Gloucester, Orléans, Cumberland, and the rest of Ottawa and the Ottawa Valley. Builder-grade patio and entry doors are especially prone to this, since the factory strike is rarely anchored past the trim. Wherever we can, we upgrade to a strike that reaches the studs, so the repair outperforms the original setup. If your strike has been forced and your door won’t lock, we can usually secure it in a single visit.
Send us a photo of your damaged frame or strike and we’ll tell you what it needs — same-day and emergency service across Gloucester, Ottawa & the Ottawa Valley.
Common questions about this project and the service behind it.
