UPVC front door - does it need to lock when closed

petertaylor

Morning All,

the wife has managed to lock herself out this morning, by pulling the front door closed, this of course has locked the front door.
is it possible to change the lock type so that it doesent do this?
the back door you have to physically lock.

AlwaysSomething

You can sort this - it's not too complicated. Your back door has a small metal bar joining the inside handle to the outside handle. In the front door, this bar is split in the middle so that the outside handle doesn't work the latch (only the big multipoint lock). You can take off the door handle on one side, replace the internal bar with a solid one, and put it all back together. Doesn't cost much for the bar.

petertaylor

cheers AlwaysSomething,
can i buy these myself on the internet? and are all the bars the same, or will i need a specific one for my door?
for what its worth, the door is made by anglian.

akitabow

Its something you should be able to pick up in most diy places, its called a spindle bar, just make sure you measure the length needed as when I did this same thing at my old house i bought one which was too long and needed to spend ages sawing it down

keystone

Why are you doing all this? If she can't take a key with her when she goes through the door for a simple reason like going to the bin whats the chance that she won't be able to lock the door in the future? Has it not occured that the front door lock is designed this way deliberately so that you canot inadvertently leave it open.

In any event all you need to do is c o c k the door handle upwards as you open it if you are only going outside for a minute. The locking mechanism will come out and the door cannot close properly let alone lock itself. Pull handle down again when going inside. Door closes and is locked. Simples!

Cheers

puddy

we have a front door where you have to physically lock it on the outside,, from the outside if the door is unlocked you can just turn the handle and get in

there are disadvantages and advantages of course, i have, im afraid been so dappy that ive gone out and forgot the lock the front door. thank god we' werent burgled.

on the other hand, because im always in and out of the house getting things in and out of the car, doing the front garden etc, i dont want to keep taking my keys out and i dont want the door not to close because we have cats and a dog who would shoot out into the road if they were able to get out, sot he door has to close properly

in addition, for some reason when the front door is open, it slams the kitchen door shut and again im worried about the pets getting caught in the doors

im now in the habit of keeping the key in the lock (locked) on the inside of the door so im safe when im inside and just have to keep my head on to ensure that the door is locked when i go out