Fitting Mortice lock on storm doors

[hutchie101]

Double barrelled problem here - excuse the pun We have original Victorian storm doors (double doors) as our external front door. They had a cylinder rim lock on when we moved in, but we were told that we needed a 5-lever mortice on for insurance purposes. We are not sure how to do this as there is no flush edge to fit onto as the two doors interlock to each other - any advice gratefully received. Second half of problem... Last night the key snapped in the cylinder lock and we had to bash the door in. The wood of the door has splintered on the inside (not too bad - splinters about a quarter of the way into the door). Can we build this up with putty to re-fit a cylinder lock to tide us over until we figure out problem 1? Or does anyone have any better advice? We would appreciate any advice on either side of the problem. Thanks.

 

[big-all]

putty is not structural

you need to cut out and splice in back to good wood

if you look more mortice locks for french doors you will get locks with stepped keeps

http://www.sdslondon.co.uk/product/78406-rebate_kit_13_mm.html

 

[hutchie101]

Hi, thanks for info Big_All! We have a 10mm rebate - do you know if you can get hold of this size at all? Also, when you say cut and splice good wood, should we pull the splintered wood totally away and then plane out to get a flat surface? How do we splice wood on? Glue/nails etc? Sorry for my ignorance - am a bit clueless on this one! Thanks again.

 

[JohnD]

you can get a rimlock which meets the British Standard. they are quite expensive but much better than ordinary rimlocks.

Chubb make a good one, Yale do one which is very large and does not have such a good cylinder. Look for the BS3621 (2004) mark which your insurance company will almost certainly demand. most cylinder locks and rimlocks do not meet this standard.

Chubb 4L67. Observe the special key shape which resists certain methods of attack that can be used on most cylinders.

Yale XBS1 (cheaper)


You must have an internal cylinder as well, or be able to deadlock it from the outside so that entry cannot be gained by breaking the glass and turning the knob.

p.s. if you are not skilled at woodwork you might do better to get a joiner or locksmith to make the repair and do the fitting for you, to get a strong and neat job.

If the door is fairly substantial, a mortice deadlock is generally better than a rimlock, but needs to be fitted with skill. Better still is to have both. Double doors must have the non-opening door secured firmly with strong bolts, preferably flush bolts that cannot be undone without unlocking the first door.

 

[HandyHands]

Its a rebated keep that you'll need, and most lock manufacturers produce these. You'll need to check with your insurance though, as fitting a rebate kit to a BS rated lock may remove its BS rating. I'd suggest getting a joiner or a locksmith in to fit the rebated lock and keep, as its very easy to bodge these.