Stand in the lock aisle of any hardware store and you will find deadbolts from roughly twenty dollars to well over two hundred, many of which look nearly identical on the shelf. The packaging is not much help either — everything is “heavy duty,” everything is “maximum security.”
There is one marking on the box that actually means something, and it is worth learning to read.
ANSI/BHMA grades, in plain English
ANSI (the American National Standards Institute) and BHMA (the Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association) publish a standard that rates door hardware by how it performs in a set of physical tests. Locks are put through repeated cycles of normal use, and subjected to strikes and applied force, then sorted into three grades.
- Grade 3 — the entry level. Meets a basic residential standard. This is what builder-grade hardware usually is.
- Grade 2 — a genuine step up in both durability and resistance to force. A sensible minimum for an exterior residential door.
- Grade 1 — the highest rating, built for commercial traffic and the toughest of the three test regimes.
The grade is not marketing language. It reflects measured performance against a published standard, which is exactly why it is more useful than any adjective on the front of the box.
What grade do you actually need at home?
For most houses, our practical advice is:
- Front and back entry doors: Grade 1 if the budget allows, Grade 2 as a solid, sensible floor.
- Side, garage-to-house and basement doors: Grade 2. These are frequently the weakest point in a house precisely because people treat them as secondary.
- Interior doors: Grade 3 is fine. You are managing privacy, not resisting attack.
The garage-to-house door deserves a special mention. People often leave it as a basic interior knob because it feels like it is “inside.” It is not — once someone is in the garage, that door is an exterior door with an audience of nobody. Treat it accordingly.
Things the grade does not tell you
Bolt length
Look for a deadbolt with a one-inch throw. A short bolt has less material engaged in the frame, which means less to defeat. Most quality deadbolts meet this; some budget ones do not.
Key control
A standard keyway means anyone can get a copy cut at any hardware store or kiosk. For most homes that is a non-issue. For rental property, a small business, or a house where keys have circulated widely, a restricted keyway — where blanks are controlled and copies require authorisation — is worth asking about.
The frame
We will keep saying this because it keeps being true: a Grade 1 deadbolt anchored into a split pine jamb with three-quarter-inch screws is not a Grade 1 installation. Reinforced strike plate, three-inch screws into the stud. It costs very little and it changes the outcome.
Installation quality
A misaligned bolt that needs the door lifted or shoved to lock is a lock that will eventually not get locked. If you have to fight it, it is installed wrong — and a lock nobody bothers to throw provides no security at all.
Where the money is well spent
If you have a fixed budget for door security, we would rank it like this:
- Reinforced strike plates with long screws on every exterior door.
- A Grade 2 or better deadbolt on every exterior door — including the garage-to-house door.
- Correct alignment and a smooth, easy throw on all of them.
- Then, and only then, upgrades like smart locks, keypads or restricted keyways.
That order matters. A connected lock on a door frame that splits under one kick is an expensive way to be notified about a break-in rather than prevent one.
Not sure what is on your doors right now? We can tell you what you have, what it is rated, and whether it is worth keeping — without pushing you toward hardware you do not need.