SLAM lock door - external handle

kantblue

Hi - can anyone help, I've recently had a new front door fitted which has a 'slam lock' mechanism, which means the door automatically locks when the door is closed. To get in from the outside you ALWAYS need a key.

This is working fine, but the external door handle is only used to pull the door shut, however the company has fitted a conventional door handle which rotates 360 degrees as it doesn't have a spindle or do anything. They say this is the normal way they fit these doors which I accepted at the time.

However, I could not get out of the house recently as the external handle had been rotated around and stopped the door opening from the inside - as the external handle was stuck on the door frame. Its my first time posting so I can't add a pic unfortunately.

I'm waiting to hear back from the company but any advice would be appreciated - it seems to me that the external door handle should be fixed for slam lock doors?

Kantblue

Rodders53

Seems very odd. Fitter by the name of John Wayne by any chance, arriving on a horse?

Just had a new composite door fitted and that has a handle on both sides. Originally it was 'slam lock' style requiring the key to operate the spindle from outside. My fitters swapped the split spindle for a different one that does not slam lock.

In both cases the handles stood at the correct position. The outside one was not free to rotate significantly... although it was only like it for a matter of hours before being rectified.

Fitter said both types of spindle were supplied with the door as standard.

Quick look online at handles suggests that they've omitted to fit the return spring (back) on the external handle to make it a left/right opener as required by your installation... http://www.mbdiy.co.uk/door-hardware-c3/door-handles-c13/hoppe-type-replacement-spring-cassette-p55 is an example... Your door furniture may well be a different make!

ic

I have a split spindle, pad handle door - the external handle operates the locking mechanism but not the latch, only the key operates the latch - whereas on the inside the handle is more conventional, operating the locking mechanism and the latch. When the door is closed and only held on the latch, without turning the key I would never consider it locked - only latched. When latched it is held by a simple catch at the middle of the door - when locked the multi point lock is engaged and a key is required, inside or out, in order to disengage it.

I wouldn't dare leave the house, or go to bed, if I haven't locked the door with a key.

In fact as a matter of course, we always lock the door - I simply opted for the split spindle so that on the odd occasion we get distracted and forget to lock it, there is the back up of the need for a key to get in from outside. What you describe is slam latched, not slam locked. Don't fool yourself that the door is locked and secure simply because you shut it.

kantblue

Hi Rodders53 and ic - thanks for your replies.

The door is a slam lock one - when you shut the door the multi-point lock is automatically engaged. The latch is key operated and from the outside opens both the latch and the multi-point locking system. A thumb-turn on the inside opens the door without the need for a key (our choice).

When we ordered the door we specifically asked for a slam lock mechanism as we wanted the door to lock as soon as it was shut.

When the door arrived the locking mechanism was the single spindle type in which you had to specifically lock the door otherwise the outside handle would always open the door.

This was not what we asked for so they came back out and changed the spindle to a split spindle one merely by changing the single spindle over. The door had been fitted with a slam lock mechanism which was not active so they also engaged this.

So we have a SLAM LOCK, SPLIT SPINDLE lock which seems to me to be a contradiction. In split spindle operation, when you close the door the LATCH engages but the outside handle does not operate the latch bolt - only a key will do this.

In our case the following is true:
1. When you shut the door the SLAM LOCK always engages the multi-point lock, but not the latch.
2. A thumb turn on the inside engages the latch.
3. On the outside you can engage the latch by turning the key.
4. The handle on the inside can only be pushed down to open the door.
5. The handle on the outside is only used to pull the door closed, it doesn't do anything lock wise.

My gut feeling is that the outside handle on a slam lock door should either be non moving or a pull bar of some type. I'm thinking that the company has fixed the wrong handle for a slam lock door (as it originally came without the slam lock active) so we have ended up with the issue with the outside handle.

They seem very reluctant to change this saying this is always the way they fit these doors - at first I accepted this until I was locked in the house because the outside handle was rotated around (and no I don't know how - presumably when someone exited the house in a hurry)

Kantblue