Anyone know a good fix for this?

Mort-

You said.....

"I took off the doorknobs to look but that really didn't help"

Did you just remove the knobs or the sharfts that the knobs fit on as well?

Wth the door knobs removed & the trims rings as well

you should be able to see the screws (heads should be on the house side" that hold the knob shaft assembly in the door. Remove the screws & you'll be able to slid the shaft assembly out of the door

The only thing left now should be the bolt inb the edge of the door & the sheet metal part that interfaces with the shaft assembly.

Stick a screwdriver into the sheet metal part attached to the bolt & should be able to retract the bolt & open the door

Save the chainsaw for another day.

cheers Bob

You had the right idea. Once you have the door knob off, completely removed so that you can see through the hole. You should be able to see either a 1/2 round / moon shaped object that you can rotate with a screwdriver or a "T shape object that you can pull away from the jamb side of the door towards the hinge. That should open the door.

-Lee

I've seen at least a few cases with Kwikset. Kitchen door to the garage. Hinges spring loaded (fire codes). AFter awhile, the latch breaks. The only solution is to take the knobs off, and destroy the latch from the door knob hole.

This was my take on it too, I think this is exactly what happened. I got the knobs off both sides, exposing the inner assembly. It has a square hole that the square shaft from the knobs turn. You can turn the square hole, but the bolt unit does not retract from the door jamb. However the other posters had some interesting ideas and I will try the least destructive solutions first. Thanks very much for the comments.

mort

another quick option is to remove the pins from the door hinges and open the door from the 'hinge side'. i.e, pulling it offf the hinges and pulling the whole door away from the latched side.

lee

With a square hole, more likely Weiser. Same prescription. If you can't pry the latch back with a screw driver, credit card, etc, then you need to destroy the latch from inside the knob hole.

This is what I finally had to do (remove the pinsm pry the door open). When I finally got it apart the bolt was jammed open. The locketset brand was "Defiant".

Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions!

Mort