Cardinal Gates Door Guardian - Door Lock Security & Door Reinforcement for Inward Swinging Doors - Child Safety Locks for Doors - White

So i gotta start with the packaging it arrived in: very disapointing. It was just in an unlabled plastic bag. I feel like if this is suppose to be the original, it should have some actual packaging that it comes in. There were several others with this exact design, some a bit cheaper, that come in actual packaging. Not a good start.After getting it out of the bag, i noticed the paint (i got the white version) was not done very well. I can see spots of bare metal on the underside of the latch part that flips out of the way. Not sure if this is normal or if they are cutting costs on their quality control as they are on the packaging or what.Third and last complaint: Even though i had plenty of clearance between the door and frame, the protruding section prevented the door from closing as it was still in the way too much. No biggie, bust out a chisel and a utility knife and notched out the frame. Put the plate to sit flush with the door frame vut it was still hitting on the door when closing it.I had to notch the frame out even more, nearly 1/8 of an inch below flush before it would stop hitting the door as it closes. If I saw that elsewhere and disnt know about the clearance issue, i would think the installer didnt take pride in their finished product.My positives about this lock are what should be expected: Its solid construction, seems secure and very easy to use.With all my negatives, im only taking off 1 star overall because they're simply astetic issues and this product is meant for security at the end of the day.I would recommend this lock, but just be aware of the issues before you buy.

The Door Guardian is a great product for keeping little ones inside a home. We have one installed on our front door and it is very effective and easy to use. So how is this different than a standard flip lock, which may cost around 1/4 the price of the Door Guardian?We have several of these standard locks and will use them when lock certainty is less important. First a standard flip lock uses shorter screws, limiting the security of the attachment to the door jam. Sure you could buy extra screws for the flip lock, but that is an extra step and does costs extra (still nowhere near the Door Guardian cost). Two, the Door Guardian is made with much more robust steel - I can't speak to the steel quality, but the lock has substantially more metal, which I must assume adds to the stability of the device. Third the closure mechanism is more solid. I have found standard flip locks can be rattled out of position is the door has enough play.Beyond security, the Door Guardian offers better aesthetics than a standard flip lock. Also the Door Guardian seems less likely to cause damage to the door that is being locked. Additionally, the Door Guardian can be used with door frames that flare out (where the wood thickness increases as you move away from the door). This is due to the fact that a standard flip lock needs to open to about 270 degrees (or to parallel to the wall - or in the opposite position to closed when mounted). The Door Guardian has an angle built into the device that allows it to sit on these angled frames. If you are confused by this explanation, please Google "Door Guardian installation instructions", find a PDF instruction manual, and look at figure 2B. I have been unable to attach a standard flip lock on these types of door frames without damaging the frame (becuase the frame prevents the lock from opening all the way). The last thing I would say about the Door Guardian is that it has a very easy one-handed operation. Standard flip locks are very easy to use as well, but I have found the Door Guardian a little bit easier to operate.Installation requires a 1/8" inch drill bit for the two larger screws. If your door does not have enough space for the screw plate, which is 1/16" inch, you may have to chisel off some material from the door frame to recess the screw plate. A short explanation of this: pencil the boarder of the screw plate on the door frame; remove the screw plate and use a chisel and hammer to create a 1/16" inch groove along the inside of the boarder that you penciled in; chisel in a grid of grooves in the inside of the boarder; and chisel away the interior of the grooved area moving from the boarder groove inward until all the material is gone. The grooves will prevent splintering and removal of excess door frame.

I take reviews very seriously, especially when it comes to child-safety products, so I wanted to use this for a little bit before writing anything. As a new parent, I've researched a ton of baby-proofing items and just kind of stumbled across this one day when trying to find a good solution to keep bigger kids that come to visit from being able to open the basement door for our 1 year old.This product is AMAZING! It literally took me 3 minutes or less to install. The middle screw is pretty genius and helps you find the right place to secure it to the frame without you messing up and putting a hundred holes in your door frame; it works in a way that allows you to "test drive" the spot you chose by opening and closing the door several times before securing the other 2 screws. It's also really nice that you can install this all the way at the top of the door (or wherever you want) like we did. That way, visiting kids can't open the door (and leave it open for our son to fall down the stairs) without an adult's help. There is a tiny gap between our door and the frame so I thought I would have to chisel out a little bit to make room to attach the device, but that was not the case. My only complaint, which I read in other reviews, is that the screws aren't that great. They come with 2 sets (1 longer and 1 shorter) so you can pick the size that's best for your door frame. My issue is that the screw heads stripped pretty bad from a simple installation. I was able to get them in ok, but you might want to use different (better) screws when you install it.This thing keeps the door super secure and can easily be opened with one hand. It's super strong and the door doesn't budge. I will definitely be buying one of these for the door that leads from the house into the garage, and the front door as well. It's well worth spending $15 to keep your kids safely inside. Obviously it works to keep people out as well, but that's not my sole use for this item.If my opinion changes on this product, I'll provide an update. For now, I love this thing and I'm buying 2 more.

I have two escapees for children and these do a very effective job of keeping them contained in the home. They can’t open them (heck- many adults need to be explicitly shown how to open them!) and keep the doors fully shut so no critters can come in if they try and aren’t successful.They’ve also kept bad guys out effectively. We recently had a break-in attempt, and they bumped our locks but the Door Guardian held!

Door guardians work great, they add an extra level of security. Installation on wood doors you need to mark where you want it to go and then notch out about 1/16 of an inch of material with a good sharp wood chisel, then secure with the middle screw and check the locking mechanism with the door closed. once adjusted so that it locks and unlocks with ease then open door and drill pilot holes for the long screws that go through the door jamb and into the framing beside the door. It comes with decent instructions and screws for installation.

These locks are the best on the market. Good quality, slim design, hardly noticeable but they make all the difference in having piece of mind that our son can’t open the front door now. Also gives us piece of mind that if our glass was broken in our front door, it would buy us time to react as it would be super difficult to figure out why the door wasn’t opening from the outside. And once found would be difficult to open from the outside as it’s quite a tight fit. Super happy with it and it came overnight.

I bought this to keep my toddlers from opening the front door on their own. The white blends in with the trim around the door and it’s super easy to open. Easy to install. Simple product that works great.

Easy to install, works well. Perfect from preventing our two year old from escaping. In our case the fit is a little tight, so it scratched some of the paint on the door; however this is likely because we have a 30 year old door and door jam.