upvc door lock replacement - split spindle?

toasterman

Hi all,
Me and my girlfriend have just bought our first house (well I suppose the bank owns it really, but..), and the previous owners seemed to have had LOADS of keys cut for the front door. They gave us a few when we moved in, locked up with a key they didn't leave, and then said "we've got more - we'll find them and post them to you!"
Subsequently, we're going to change the locks (as advised by everyone, anyway - and I guess it does make sense).

I realise you just need to replace the barrel, but...

With the front door of our new house, you open and close it from inside or out, and until you pull up the handle and lock it fully, anyone can come/go.

In the last place we lived, the front door worked whereby you just close it, and then it opens from the inside - BUT needs the key to open from the outside. You still put up the handle and lock it properly, but it meant if we forgot to lock it, it wasn't just unlocked - it was sort of part-locked.
Am I right in thinking this is called a "split spindle" mechanism?
I can find very little information about this. Is this part of the lock, or part of the handle? Or neither?

Also, can I go ahead and change the barrel (somewhat more urgent), and then change the handle/spindle bit later? Or do I have to buy a specific barrel?

Thanks

thebaldwindowfitter

yes you can change the barrel on its own .Split spindle is on lock its self were the handle spindle goes in basically the square you put the spindle is in two parts and so is the new spindle you would need to check the lock you have see if it has facility for this if not source one that does and uses same positions for lock keeps etc