A few months ago I installed this latch protector on these double doors. The door on the left is always locked, so there was no concern about making it awkward to open and close that side. I found the part in a dusty old box in my shop and I thought it was a pretty elegant piece of hardware. I didn’t know where it came from and it was the first of its kind I ever installed. It covered the crack between the doors to protect the latch; it had a collar to protect the cylinder; and it had pins that seated into holes in the inactive door to prevent a burglar from spreading the doors far enough for the latch to come clear of the strikeplate so the door could open. I was also pleased with my own installation. The holes I drilled for the anti-spread pins were precisely placed and no larger than necessary for the pins to slide perfectly in without any rubbing as the door swung shut.

A few months after I installed this, and on the first warm sunny day of the year, the customer called me to say the door wasn’t closing all the way because the pins weren’t seating into their holes. I hadn’t accounted for how the aluminum doors would expand and contract in different temperatures, causing the pins to become misaligned with the holes. That was dumb. I went back and expanded the holes to fix my mistake. Next time I’ll know better, I thought to myself.

Upon further investigation, I find that this product has been discontinued and no manufacturer is currently offering one like it. After this minor adventure I can guess the reason that they make latch guards with anti-spread pins for steel doors but not for aluminum doors: aluminum expands too much in hot weather.