I have one of the commonplace (in the northeast anyway) steel bulkhead doors at the stairs to my basement from outside. The doors overlap where they meet. They lock with a metal rod that is housed in the upper door by pushing the rod over to the lower door. When you try to lift the doors they rise, but the bar won't allow them to separate and open.
Recently a neighborhood kid decided to pull on these doors with all his might. The result is the housing holding the rod to the lower door separated from the door on one side, rendering the lock useless.
It seems the lock could be repaired to it's original condition with a quick pass of a welder, re-welding the lock bracket to the door. Unfortunately, I do not know how to weld. I don't want to pay someone to weld this or take the time to learn myself as this system has already shown itself to be insufficient. If a 15 year old with innocent intentions can rip the lock apart, I don't like the lock.
So, how can I lock this unit from the inside? They sell latches that would allow me to use a padlock to lock it from the outside, as often seen on sheds. The issue with this is that it leaves the lock exposed to the outside world and inaccessible from within the basement, which is where I usually am when I want to open the door. Any suggestions on how to fashion a lock to the inside of these doors that won't leave the hardware accessible from the outside?
Thanks in advance,
Dan