Composite door not locking properly

TheCyclingProgrammer

We had a Door Stop composite door fitted when we moved into our home a few years ago. We have had nothing but problems - some down to poor fitting some down to poor manufacturing.

The latest in a long line of problems is that the door will not lock properly at night.

We have had problems with the locking hooks not engaging before - last year the fitter returned and diagnosed that the frame was bowing inwards slightly in the middle, possibly due to expanding foam distorting the frame. He cut away some of the foam and added an extra fixing which seemed to have fixed the issue.

In the last few weeks or so, the door has not been closing and locking properly at night. It works fine during the daytime but by the evening, if the door is opened then it will not close fully (the catch doesn't fully engage - it doesn't click) and I'm unable to fully lift the handle as the hooks are fouling somehow.

It seems very strange that this is only a problem at night. I did wonder if a fluctuation in outside temperature was the cause although the door is north east facing and doesn't get exposed to much direct sunlight in the day.

We have a black composite back door which does get exposed to sunlight and we get some minor bowing if we leave the hooks off but never to the extent that the door stops locking so I don't know why the front door has this issue. I suspect the door was badly fitted (the last time around - we are ok our third door and our second frame after numerous replacements!).

I've contacted the fitters but unless they send somebody out in the evening I don't know how they will diagnose the issue. Any suggestions? I've tried some minor adjustments to the keeps but had no success.

TheCyclingProgrammer

I finally managed to get the hooks to engage by applying some upwards pressure to lift the door slightly so it seems that it isn't anything to do with the alignment of the keeps but that the door has dropped slightly meaning the hooks are too close to the keeps and that's what's causing the hooks to foul.

This seems similar to the issue we had last year but still doesn't explain why it's only a problem at night. Perhaps it isn't the door but the frame that is distorting instead?

Furts

Doorstop are a nightmare. The doors drop, so lifting your handles to close the door is a common issue. If the hinges are worn/internal damage you can get new ones under guarantee. If your fitters have not been careful with adjustments they could by now have ruined the hinges. Hence new hinges could be a wise move.

This does not explain your night time issue, and the door is north facing so a puzzle here.

I hate Doorstop but there is a justification here. The doors are useless, but that is not to say any competitors are better. My grouse is Doorstop are big enough, and successful enough, to offer customer support. However they have no interest in this, and have no staff to do this. Doorstop is a company hell bent on offering poor service, nationwide, in the pursuit of profits.

TheCyclingProgrammer

Yes it is odd that it seems temperature related.

So I'm still unable to lock the door properly this morning. However it's only 10C outside - the first day in weeks we've had cooler daytime temperatures and now it's not locking during the day either so it seems temperature related to me.

Personally I think the whole frame is fitted badly but I'm not sure I will be able to convince them to take the whole lot out and refit the frame properly.

SatanicHare

Possibly one of the keeps is set in the wrong place too low/high, when it's not locking take them off leaving only the center keep and try and then refit the others one at a time to see if they are the cause