New house - front door won't lock
Comments
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Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »No. In the dark, smoke, heat, and panic, you'll drop it or not be able to find the keyhole.
Whole families have been found dead inside their front door after a fire, all piled up on each other with the key on the floor underneath them.
Could you actûally provide a documented example of such an unlikely scenario?
If you are that worried, fit a couple of hefty bolts and only use the lock when you go out.0 -
lauravenue wrote: »
I don't think you understand my original message, i'll try again and try to explain better. When I get home, I use a key to get into my house. That is because I locked it with a key when I left. Once inside the house, if I shut the door/pull the handle up from the inside, you can still get into the house from the outside by just using the handle, as I haven't used the key to lock it. So we are having to come home and lock ourselves in with the key to make sure you can't access the house from the outside. This means that if we needed to leave the house quickly, we would need to find a key and unlock ourselves.
Leave the key in the lock on the inside once you've locked it. Then you won't need to find it. You don't need to carry the key around the house once you're inside.
My greatest front door fear is locking myself out without a key, since I live alone with no relatives nearby to leave a spare with, so I've set my front doors so they can only be locked with a key whichever side of them you are.Proud member of the wokerati, though I don't eat tofu.Home is where my books are.Solar PV 5.2kWp system, SE facing, >1% shading, installed March 2019.Mortgage free July 20230 -
Mine is a new build (7 years), lift the handle, use the key to lock the door.
The lifting up just engages extra bolts at the top and bottom to secure the door in more places.
All perfectly normal. It stops you being locked out.
If you're going in/out, use the handle.
If you're going out to the shops, lift the handle to engage the extra bolts and use the key to lock the door.0 -
Change the lock for one with a thumb turn lock?
I've never lived in a house that has as door that would just lock by pulling the handle up, I've always had to lock with a key. Our new build had a thumb turn lock on the inside for fire safety reasons but I had to change it for a normal key lock one. I couldn't risk my toddler being able to unlock the door and escape!0 -
Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »No. In the dark, smoke, heat, and panic, you'll drop it or not be able to find the keyhole.
Whole families have been found dead inside their front door after a fire, all piled up on each other with the key on the floor underneath them.
So anyone with a mortice lock needs that changed right away as that makes their house a death trap?
Also the link provided in another post refers to a key being in the room in which the fire started. If the fire is in the hallway I will need to take an alternative route (or brave the flames - though an alternative makes more sense).
So can anyone provide evidence of an entire family being found dead next to the the door with the key in reach of them?
I'd also add that if Owain's point is valid I would expect the tragic scenario to have taken place in a house with a properly planned and functioning smoke/fire detecting system. Without such worrying about how your door unlocks seems pointless.0 -
Also the link provided in another post refers to a key being in the room in which the fire started. If the fire is in the hallway I will need to take an alternative route (or brave the flames - though an alternative makes more sense).
I should have added more to the post but was interrupted. It was about the only link i could find in about 10 mins of searching. Everything else was related to either families who escaped or fire safety advice.
TBH I think a split spindle system is enough to avoid worrying about escaping. Personally we have a front door with a yale latch, and a porch door with a standard euro lock. We leave the porch door unlocked unless there is no one home.0 -
d0nkeyk0ng wrote: »
Not quite the scenario you described - Whole families have been found dead inside their front door after a fire, all piled up on each other with the key on the floor underneath them.
"An elderly couple killed in a blaze at their home may have been unable to escape because their front door key was in the room where the fire started, an inquest heard."
We've only ever had the kind of door you have now. We have a spare key nearby with a big glow-in-the-dark fob (so it can be found easily by feel or sight if it gets dropped during an emergency evacuation).0 -
d0nkeyk0ng wrote: »
TBH I think a split spindle system is enough to avoid worrying about escaping. Personally we have a front door with a yale latch, and a porch door with a standard euro lock. We leave the porch door unlocked unless there is no one home.
The split spindle is not enough as a security measure the handle can be pressed back down again and entry can be gained im not saying how ,the key should always be turned to lock the door not just lift the handle .a yale latch can be unlocked in secondsif you think peoples advice is helpfull please take the time to clicking the thank you button it gives great satisfaction0 -
Leave your key in the lock, job done0
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