Fitting A Front Door Lock

Where the door is self closing the latch has an angled or rounded edge and is sprung so that it automatically locks when the door is closed.

Fitting a front door lock.

If you don t get this precise the lock may not fit properly. Take care with the marking out and drilling to ensure excellent results. However if you only fit one lock make it an automatically dead locking night latch. Expert tip fitting a night latch that is british standard approved will improve the security of your door.

Position a mortice deadlock about halfway up the door and fit a night latch on your front door one third of the way down. To install this lock see section 4 below. As a rule the more levers pins or discs that a lock has the harder it will be to pick. The difference between a rim lock and a mortice lock is that a rim lock is fitted on the surface of the door whilst a mortice lock is fitted in the door edge.

For front doors it is best to fit two locks a mortice deadlock about halfway up and a night latch one third of the way down the door. Interior doors are usually fitted with a mortise lock with a latch operated by the door handle or knob. If you only fit one lock go for an automatically dead locking night latch made to bs3621.