new doors don't lock properly

[Melissa]

We had a new front door, back door, and set of french doors installed. All three have the same problem with the deadbolts. The back and french doors open out. When you pull them closed, they catch fine. To lock them you have to pull the door tighter, or closer to the frame, else the lock won't engage. You don't have to pull hard, but you have to pull everytime. The front door has the same problem, though it opens in instead of out, so you have to push the door or lean into it slightly to get the deadbolt to engage. The front door knob and lock set are all new. The french door and back door have the old back and front door knobs and locksets. Any tips? A friend who knows well how to install the doors did it for us for free, so if it's something we can readily correct, I'd rather not bother him over it. Thanks!

Melissa

[Edwin Pawlowski]

What kind of weatherseal is on the doors? In most cases, you just wait a week or two and the gaskek material compresses and everything is just fine.

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN]

*IF* it becomes a problem in the summer with the wood swelling and no longer allowing you to lock or unlock the deadbolts, then I might consider opening up the hole with a chisel. But that's a big "if". All my doors lock the same way as yours and I don't consider it a problem. If you get too generous with the trimming of the hole, you may well end up with a door that rattles in the winter when the wood shrinks.

I'd leave them alone and thank my friend for the good job.

[Melissa]

It's been a couple of weeks now since they were installed. The doors were made by a company called Door Fab, and the weatherseal is a textured plastic film over something squishy. :) It says in small print either NOTO or it might be NO1 then a smiley face. If this is normal, we'll just wait and hope it gets better. It just seems unusual, so I thought I'd better check on it. Thanks for your help!

Melissa

[ceraboy]

It definetely sounds like the weatherseal, although I would typiclly expect this problem in colder weather when the seal is less compliant and more difficult to compress. It will improve with time and from the standpoint of energy efficiency the tighter the seal the better (within reason). If it does not improve in another several weeks, talk to the installers as this can be a bear in the winter months.

[Joseph Meehan]

I agree with Mortimer. With this design you really want to tight fit with a little spring in it to assure no rattles. I think you got a job well done. If it gets more difficult with the change of the seasons, then maybe you might have a problem, but I suspect that will not be the case.

[No]