I put in a brand new Schlage door knob on one of my doors about 3 months ago. All of a sudden over the last couple of days, it isn't catching any more to the point where the door opens on its own. Any suggestions as to what has happened and how to fix it?
Shifting, settling, humidity. Take a GOOD conical rotary rasp and enlarge the hole the pin goes into, being careful only to take what's needed where needed. I have to do this periodically with some of my doors. It may be possible to move the whole plate slightly depending on how it is mounted.
Steve
Hi, Even if you push the door tight with your hands?
Usually an alignment problem with the jamb. Sagging, even swelling can make the difference if really close. Check to see if you have to move it up or down. Loosen the screws on the catch. push in the proper direction and tighten. If that does not work, get a file.
Make sure all the hinge screws are tight, first. Amazing how many flaky doors that fixes. Then use a level and mark-1 eyeball to look at the gaps all around the door, and a small framing square in the corners of the door opening, to make sure house isn't moving around with the start of fall weather, or the door slab itself isn't becoming a potato chip. Sometimes, replacing a screw in each hinge with one that goes all the way over to the stud, is helpful. Do that before hogging out the holes in striker, or moving it. Otherwise, next spring, door may be real sloppy.
Sometimes when I slam the door it catches.
First things first - before modifying ANYTHING - check to be sure the bolt is returning fully with the door open. I have had situations where the mechanism inside the door got sticky/stiff. Sometimes lack of lubrication, sometimes sawdust getting into the works, and sometimes an alignment problem. With any of the above you could enlarge the hole in the jam and reposition the striker plate 'till the cows come home, and the door would still not latch. And if the door HAS sagged, shimming the lower hinge is a much better way of "fixing" it than chopping away at the striker. A plastic shim cut from a food container or soap bottle, and placed between the hinge and the jam,will generally raise the bolt enough to solve the problem and be virtually indetectable
Lots of good advice above, some fine for a temporary fix. My bet is on the house moving (based on experience) and in that case after careful checks of square, plumb, and level, if remedial action is possible that will likely be most permanent. Good luck.
Joe
"Kurt Ullman" wrote
In that case, it may not be up and down, but fore and aft. Same scenario applies, move the plate a bit.
Make sure there are proper shims behind the jam (at the hinges).
I figure there's at least 4" of wood there. Might just as well use it all.
Close the door. If it does not latch, pull up on the knob, keeping the door pushed shut. See if the latch will pop into the slot. If pulling up a little doesn't get it to pop, push it in, push it down, etc. That will tell you what part of the little plate you need to grind down. A carbide burr is best, and the ones that come almost to a point will get up in the corners.
Steve
That's difficult to do on some pre hung doors, where the plate is routered into the wood.
Steve
A lot of the plates cannot be moved, being routered into the jamb. If it is an older door, you can fill the holes with match sticks or toothpicks and move it just enough. You have to shave the receiver hole with a conical carbide burr on a lot of prehung doors. And sometimes, the screws holding the whole thing on the studs have to be redone.
Steve
Thanks, everyone for the knockdown of my latch hogging idea.
That was bad advice.
First, trying one longer screw per hinge, and checking all hinge screws.
And checking the locks.
And other things mentioned.
It's just that I've done all that on my doors, and with the extreme temp shifts where I live, sometimes it just takes a little trimming after you've tried all the other stuff. And the original idiot who built this house didn't help a lot, either.
Steve
Umm... Obvious question that hasn't been asked yet:
Are the new locks exactly identical to the old locks you replaced ? New Schlage locks replacing old Schlage locks or what ?
Also, there is quite a bit of "play" when you are installing the latch into the hole on the door -- perhaps you have installed it in the wrong place within the wiggle room available...
Remove the knob portion of the lock set from the door and try reinstalling the latch... Especially if you were not swapping identical locks out for new ones -- the latch being off by
1/8" or 1/4" is enough to mess up the works...~~ Evan
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.