Doors and Windows - Securing Double Doors

I live in Florida and am trying to prepare my home in case of a hurricane. My windows are all protected with steel shutters but I have three sets of double doors that need some type of protection. The front doors are solid wood (open in)with a deadbolt and standard upper and lower slide bolts on the fixed door. I also have two sets of double french doors opening out on to my patio with similar deadbolt and slide bolts. I considered shutters for the doors but was concerned about egress in the event of an emergency. Any ideas on how I can improve the security of these doors short of boarding them up.

Good thinking!! Adding anything other than the deadbolts and knobs to the doors could create real problems in the event of an unexpected emergency. Don't do it! I'm in CA, and we don't have hurricanes, but from what I gather on the evening news, a hurricane has NEVER arrived unexpectedly! You should have plenty of advanced notice to board up the doors in question.

Considering how many near misses we get my frames/walls would look like swiss cheese. I'm trying to come up with something that I could remove and replace as needed. Thanks. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by lefty:
Good thinking!! Adding anything other than the deadbolts and knobs to the doors could create real problems in the event of an unexpected emergency. Don't do it! I'm in CA, and we don't have hurricanes, but from what I gather on the evening news, a hurricane has NEVER arrived unexpectedly! You should have plenty of advanced notice to board up the doors in question.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

If you are creating a new hole in the trim everytime you have to board it up, yes, it will look like swiss cheese in pretty short order. But what if you could use the SAME holes each time?? If the trim around these doors is removable, take it off and put a 1/4-20 tee nut on the back of it as needed (Maybe 4 or 5 up each side.) Now cut and label sheets of plywood to fit, and drill holes in them to align with these tee nuts. Now when you need to install them, just bolt them in place. When you don't need them, store them, and the only thing that will show in the trim will be a few 1/4" holes.

Thank you! I hink I will try a variation of your suggestion. First I will drill through the trim in the desired locations to mark the spots. Then remove the trim and sink something into the frame that I can run a bolt into. This should be a little more secure than just the trim. I can probably fill the holes with plastic cap plugs that I can remove if or when I ever need to bolt something up. Thanks again. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by lefty:
If you are creating a new hole in the trim everytime you have to board it up, yes, it will look like swiss cheese in pretty short order. But what if you could use the SAME holes each time?? If the trim around these doors is removable, take it off and put a 1/4-20 tee nut on the back of it as needed (Maybe 4 or 5 up each side.) Now cut and label sheets of plywood to fit, and drill holes in them to align with these tee nuts. Now when you need to install them, just bolt them in place. When you don't need them, store them, and the only thing that will show in the trim will be a few 1/4" holes. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>