UPVC door not locking

ben_m_g

Hi all, I would appreciate some help.

Our house is three years old fitted with a five point locking front door.

The last couple of days it has been very difficult to lift the door handle to engage the 'hook' when the door is closed.
With the door open the mechanism works as per normal.

I haven't managed to take a proper look yet, and really not sure where to start.
What should I be looking at first?

Hasbeen

ben_m_g wrote: »

Hi all, I would appreciate some help.

Our house is three years old fitted with a five point locking front door.

The last couple of days it has been very difficult to lift the door handle to engage the 'hook' when the door is closed.
With the door open the mechanism works as per normal.

I haven't managed to take a proper look yet, and really not sure where to start.
What should I be looking at first?

Would look at the latch and see if it is fully inserting into the strike plate.
Can be viewed from inside when closing door.
Sometimes door sags slightly and if not inserted correctly hooks will not engage.

societys_child

As above ^ might need some adjustment, but also, mine have a sticker on the edge of the door (where all the latches are) with little pictures of all the latches showing a drop of oil being applied to each and the instruction "2x a year".
Might help?

Reece_

Since the lock is working when the door's open I would suspect that the door has dropped slightly, depending on type of door this can usually be fixed by either hinge adjustment or toe and heeling the door. There's also usually adjustment on the catch points on the frame, there's a chance one of these may have moved and is preventing one of the hooks from projecting properly, however I'd say the door itself dropping is more likely.

HappyMJ

With the heat cold cycles we've had lately the door just needs adjusting.

ben_m_g

Thank you all for commenting, a quick feedback.

I cannot see a thing when the door is closed, so a bit of trial and error needed.
I'm thinking loosening one strike plate, if it closes that will give me an idea.

I am popping out of my lunch to buy some more wd40, even if that doesn't work it is always good to have a can around.

I have no clue what heeling the door means???

Le_Kirk

Toeing and heeling is a technical term meaning how much the door sticks out or in at the bottom or top.

Ectophile

You should be able to get an idea of where the problem is by operating the lock while the door is open, pushing the door against the frame, then comparing the height of the latches on the door with the metal plates on the frame.

If all else fails, I have resorted to marking on the frame with a pencil where the various lock bits end up, then opening the door again and comparing the pencil marks with the plates on the frame.

If the problem is only a millimetre or two, adjusting the hinges should do it. However, I have ended up removing and re-fitting the latch plates on the frame of my front door, as they left no tolerance for sagging when they initially fitted the door.

ben_m_g

Ok so had a play last night.


Tightened up the hinges, and oiled the mechanism.
Couldn't see a thing when the door was closed. But luckily I noticed some marking on one of the hooks (I should really learn the proper name for them.)

Loosened the strike plate and locking was far easier, so I tightened it back up and it seems to be far better!

Thank you all for the help.

However.

What I though was one problem is actually two.
Although the handle will lift up engaging the lock with ease, I have noticed that pushing it back down on occasion is very tough (even with the door open).

It is not a major issue as it is very infrequent, but something I want to look into.
Is there anything I can do? I'm thinking this might be a locksmith job.