There have been a couple of break-ins in my neighborhood and I’d like to beef up the security of my 100 year old casement windows. Presently they’re held shut with a casement window lock. I’d like to add either a surface bolt at the top and bottom or a mortise door bolt. Any opinions on which would be more secure?
Thanks
Replies
I think it depends on the details of the window and frame, and what hardware you can make fit. But in general your most secure lock for a single casement against simple forcing will probably be one (or two) bolts into the side jamb on the side opposite the hinges. For a double casement it's probably a toss-up between somehow latching the two sashes together so they resist pulling apart vs bolts into the top or bottom jamb (or both).
Or, probably better than bolts are latches like this:
View Image
But they're a bit ugly, require some machining of the sash, and may not fit in many cases.