Replacing an internal door mortice latch

ed110220

The mortice latch on my bathroom door has failed so I need to replace or repair it. A hairpin like spring is broken and another part i don't even know the name of (see photo).

I got a replacement 3" mortice latch at Toolstation but perhaps I was being too optimistic expecting it to fit where the 65 year old one had been taken out - the plate part where it screws in is not large enough for the screws to go into the woodwork - they are over the hole.

Has anyone got any ideas?

The old one was also a bit unusual (to me) in that it had a special spring mechanism so that from inside the bathroom you could turn the handle to face upwards and then the door would be locked to prevent anyone opening it from the outside.

societys_child

Only way I can think, would be to cut 2 square pegs to fill the voids above and below the new latch and glue them securely in place.
Probably not ideal but the only thing I think, or find something else?

Leif

I would not use a tubular latch as they are not lockable. You want a bathroom mortice lock. These have a knob on the inside with which you can lock the bathroom, but a screwdriver or a penny can be used to unlock the bathroom from the outside, presumably as a safety feature.

Assuming you want to keep the door, you should be able to widen out the existing cavity to take the new lock. But you need to fit a new latch plate on the side of the door frame. Chances are the replacement will not fit perfectly, you'll have to chisel out some wood, and perhaps fill a bit with two part wood filler. Don't use ready mixed wood filler from a squeazy tube, or a tub, it's rubbish.

If you must use a tubular latch, fill the void with a block of wood glued in place, then drill out to receive the tubular match.

ed110220

Leif wrote: »

I would not use a tubular latch as they are not lockable. You want a bathroom mortice lock. These have a knob on the inside with which you can lock the bathroom, but a screwdriver or a penny can be used to unlock the bathroom from the outside, presumably as a safety feature.

Assuming you want to keep the door, you should be able to widen out the existing cavity to take the new lock. But you need to fit a new latch plate on the side of the door frame. Chances are the replacement will not fit perfectly, you'll have to chisel out some wood, and perhaps fill a bit with two part wood filler. Don't use ready mixed wood filler from a squeazy tube, or a tub, it's rubbish.

If you must use a tubular latch, fill the void with a block of wood glued in place, then drill out to receive the tubular match.

Thanks for the advice. I wanted to re-use the existing door handles to match, so I don't know if a bathroom mortice would be suitable.

I was actually going to put the tubular mortice in one of the doors that doesn't need to be lockable and swap the old lockable type into the bathroom door.

tony6403

societys_child wrote: »

Only way I can think, would be to cut 2 square pegs to fill the voids above and below the new latch and glue them securely in place.
Probably not ideal but the only thing I think, or find something else?

Along the same lines , but as a less fiddly option , I would prepare and glue a single piece of pine into the void and then drill that out for the latch.

Leif

ed110220 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. I wanted to re-use the existing door handles to match, so I don't know if a bathroom mortice would be suitable.

I was actually going to put the tubular mortice in one of the doors that doesn't need to be lockable and swap the old lockable type into the bathroom door.

Okay, then as several of us have suggested, stick a piece of wood in the hole, and use wood glue to hold it. If the hole is irregular, drill/chisel it out to ensure a good fit.

societys_child

tony6403 wrote: »

Along the same lines , but as a less fiddly option , I would prepare and glue a single piece of pine into the void and then drill that out for the latch.

Yeah, I agree with that, but not sure what skills or tools the op possesses.
Personally I'd be looking at a way fix the original, I like an engineering challenge :rotfl:

WestonDave

Ed - my advice would be to take the old one over to Langbridges in Larkhall, and explain the problem to them. It may well be that hidden away in one of their many little drawers and cubbyholes, they have one that is a better fit. I had a slightly similar issue with strike plates in that the ones which came with new latches were too small - they fished me out a couple that were bigger and sold them to me on their own rather than having to buy yet more latches!

Apologies for anyone else following this as that is a "Bath area only" solution!

EuroCylindersDirect

Best way would be to replace it with a basic Union mortice, that can incorporate the handle, and a basic thumb turn lock... this would be larger than both of those, so just order one (3") and cut the excess wood out

This way you don't have to start filling holes with pegs!

ed110220

Thanks for the suggestions, especially the local knowledge Dave! I'll give that a go as I think it was an extremely common type of door and latch... most of them are probably rotting in landfills now after being replaced with cheap and nasty replacements which is a pity as they are good quality solid wood (actually they looked beautiful stripped, but didn't suit the rest of the decorations).