Entry point
A Rented Apartment Door
Anybody renting an apartment, particularly in a building with shared corridors. It is written on the assumption that you cannot drill anything, do not know how many keys exist, and would like the deposit back.
What constrains the work
- Apartment entrance doors are very often fire-rated, and drilling into one can void the rating it was certified with.
- Anything screwed to the door, the frame or a corridor wall is an alteration and usually needs the landlord’s agreement.
- A shared corridor is other households’ home as well as yours, which changes where a camera can reasonably point.
Start with what costs nothing
These come before any purchase on this page, and on most doors they do more.
- Read the lease before buying anything.
- Photograph the whole apartment on the day you move in.
- Ask the landlord for longer strike screws and, if you have any doubt about keys, a lock change.
- Stop deliveries being left outside the door in a shared corridor.
Deter
Change what the place looks like to somebody deciding whether to bother.
Inside a building, deterrence is mostly about not advertising. An apartment door tells a corridor a great deal: whether mail is piling up, whether deliveries sit outside, whether anybody is home.
Do first
- Stop deliveries being left in the corridor. Registering for a delivery window or a locker is free and solves most of this.
- Clear anything from outside the door that shows how long you have been away.
- Use the building’s entry system properly, and do not hold the street door for people you do not know.
Jobs that add this layer
- Renter Security Without Drilling — No tools, An afternoon, most of it spent deciding rather than fitting, renter safe
Detect
Know that something is happening while it is still happening.
Seeing who is outside before opening. In an apartment this is usually a peephole and, where the building allows it, a battery doorbell camera on an existing bracket rather than a new hole in a rated door.
Do first
- Check the peephole works and is at a usable height. Many are fitted for somebody else’s eye line.
- Ask the building manager what is permitted on the door and in the corridor before ordering anything.
- Choose battery over wired for anything that mounts, because wired means drilling.
Jobs that add this layer
- Place a Doorbell Camera — Drilling required, 1 hour, longer if wiring is involved
- Renter Security Without Drilling — No tools, An afternoon, most of it spent deciding rather than fitting, renter safe
Where hardware is genuinely needed
- Video Doorbells — seeing the doorstep before opening it
Delay
Make the opening take longer and louder to get through than it looks.
The layer where a tenant has the least room and the most to gain by asking. A portable brace needs no permission and no tools. Longer strike screws and a deadbolt need the landlord, and both are reasonable requests that improve the property.
Do first
- Read the lease clauses on alterations and fixtures before buying anything at all.
- Ask, in writing, for longer strike and hinge screws and for a lock change if you have any doubt about who holds keys.
- Establish whether the door is fire-rated, because that decides the question regardless of what the lease says.
Jobs that add this layer
- Renter Security Without Drilling — No tools, An afternoon, most of it spent deciding rather than fitting, renter safe
- Add a Door Reinforcement Lock — Drilling required, 45 minutes, plus the time to check whether you are allowed to fit one
Where hardware is genuinely needed
- Door Reinforcement Locks & Bars — buying time at the door, without blocking the way out
Document
Keep a record that still exists when somebody asks for it.
Two records matter here and only one involves a camera. The second is the set of photographs you take on the day you move in, which settles arguments about screw holes and adhesive marks two years later.
Do first
- Photograph the door, frame, strike plate and every window on move-in day.
- Keep any written permission from the landlord with those photographs.
- If you fit a camera, keep it aimed at your own doorway rather than down a shared corridor.
Jobs that add this layer
- Choose Local or Cloud Storage — No tools, 30 minutes of thinking, before you buy anything, renter safe
Where hardware is genuinely needed
- Security Cameras — seeing what happened, and knowing where the footage lives
- Video Doorbells — seeing the doorstep before opening it