Keyhole (mortice) draught (rubber) excluder/stopper (for mortice lock)??

[Allan]

I'm looking (probably along with a lot of people this week!) for a draught excluder for a mortice lock keyhole. My Mum is (rightly) complaining of the draught whistling through the door lock. It's for doors with a standard keyhole lock/handle arrangement where there isn't already an escutcheon. I could adapt a standard escutcheon, but I've been looking for anything that resembles a rubber plug (a true plug would get in the way of the key, and isn't ideal, but she'd probably put up with it for the sake of the warmth, but there might be a middle road).

I've stumbled across a couple of possibilities, both on ebay (although now ended auction), but sadly the manufacturers have either disappeared or discontinued production. See:

know there are plenty of escutcheon covers, which I could adapt, but having seen this rubber insert, I'd really like to exhaust all avenues of finding something like it before I use an escutcheon as the rubber stopper route is so neat (and very unintrusive). I could probably rig one up with a bit of old bicycle inner tube as well, but just (again) exhausting all avenues)

Does anyone know of suitable/similar products?

Thanks in advance

Allan

x-post uk.d-i-y free.uk.diy.home

[Ronald Raygun]

"For the sake of the warmth"? Don't be silly. The chilling effect of a keyhole-sized "gale" is likely to be subliminal unless one positions oneself directly in the jet.

But old ladies are impossible to convince on the basis of anything rational, so I guess you do have to do *something*.

Nothing wrong with a plug (or even a bit of gaffer tape). Put it on the inside, then you never need to remove it. One should only ever lock the door on the mortice from the outside (when one is out and no-one is in). Locking it from the inside is dangerous - you don't want to have to be finding and fiddling with a key in a panic when there's a fire and you need to get out in a hurry. But perhaps even this is too rational and hence unconvincing.

[Mr Pounder]

A blob of Blue Tack. Unfortunately most people use the key to lock the front door from the inside.

Mr Pounder

[Jeff Gaines]

Doesn't work if you only have a mortice lock though.

[Ronald Raygun]

In that case, if you don't want to put in a yale type as well, I would recommend putting in a good old fashioned sliding bolt.

[fred]

In article , Allan writes

In the short term, and if your mum is in the habit of leaving the key in the lock on the inside then this little tip may help:

All proper security mortice locks (BS3621) have an anti-picking device (curtain) which closes the slot when the key is turned even a little. If she has a BS lock fitted then inserting the key and turning it a bit will reduce the draught dramatically.

If she doesn't have a BS lock then buy her one for Christmas ;-).

[Dave Liquorice]

I think you'd be surprised how much air can come whistling (literally) through a mortice lock hole. Blocking them up here does make a noticeable difference to the comfort of the room and in ajoining rooms as the draft is less and not as icy.

The infreqently used doors have parcel tape over the hole. The front door has a bit of copper (snipped from an old water cylinder) pivoted on a brass screw hanging over the hole.

I've have thought that short bit of long bristled brush type draft excluder behind the handle plate might work quite well but have not got the tuit to try it, yet. Tape works...

[Java Jive]

[Ronald Raygun]

Eh? The door is your means of escape. If you can't find the key, you're in trouble. Remember there may be dense smoke, so if you simply drop the key on the floor you may not be able to find it again.

You may choose to leave the key in the lock, but that's not very good either. For one thing, if one of you is in, and the other is out, the one wanting to come in may not be able to get the key in the door. There's always the doorbell, but if the one on the inside is having a heart attack... For the other, if you leave the key in the lock, then the burglar can also get in, having smashed a panel.

Agreed.

Not really. If anyone's in, a burglar is going to high-tail it out of there pdq, in most cases. Aggravated burglary with violence is very much rarer than ordinary stealthy burglary. Perhaps as rare as fire.

If you make the door too secure, they'll just use a window instead.

[Chris R]

"For the sake of the warmth"? Don't be silly. The chilling effect of a keyhole-sized "gale" is likely to be subliminal unless one positions oneself directly in the jet.

But old ladies are impossible to convince on the basis of anything rational, so I guess you do have to do *something*.

Nothing wrong with a plug (or even a bit of gaffer tape). Put it on the inside, then you never need to remove it. One should only ever lock the door on the mortice from the outside (when one is out and no-one is in). Locking it from the inside is dangerous - you don't want to have to be finding and fiddling with a key in a panic when there's a fire and you need to get out in a hurry. But perhaps even this is too rational and hence unconvincing.

------------------------------------------------

So long as you don't want to be insured... most insurance company security conditions require all locks to be locked and keys removed at night.

The danger is in removing the keys to an inaccessible place.

Chris R

[Alan Braggins]

However, if you want to lock both the back and front doors when you go out, it's a lot more convenient to lock one from inside and walk through the house than it is to lock both from outside. The risk that you lock one and only then find that your path to the other door is blocked by fire is tiny.

[The Medway Handyman]

I'm amazed at the amount of people who lock the front door from inside while they are at home. Very often when I ring the bell it takes them several minutes to find the keys & open the door. Those minutes could kill you in a fire as you say.

I often mention the fire risk, but it seems to go straight over their heads.

[Andy Dingley]

Swinging escutcheon cover is the traditional solution.

If that's not enough (and there's some steel nearby), glue a broken slice of rare-earth magnet (cheap on eBay) to the lid, so that it's held firmly down against the wind.

[Mr Pounder]

Do you have a fire extinguisher at home?

Mr Pounder

[dennis]

They aren't really for draught proofing. They are for privacy. That is why they are supposed to be fitted on the inside of the door even though most get fitted to the outside. When its outside you can just push it over and look through the hole. When its inside you can't push it out the way easily. It probably doesn't matter these days as nobody actually worries about people peaking through keyholes do they?

[dennis]

Fire extinguishers are too dangerous for the untrained home user, they encourage people to get trapped.

[Tim Streater]

Certainly if you're in a room and the furniture catches fires, you've got a minute or two *at most* before you're gonna be dead.

[ARWadsworth]

So are you a fire expert this week? I'll add that to your list of made up talents.

[dennis]

Are you claiming to be an expert and disagreeing with what I said?

[ARWadsworth]

No, I am just claiming that you are a man with no talents.