Door knobs are essential fixtures in bedrooms, bathrooms, closets, and hallways, enhancing home decor and adding style to entryways. They are standard in US homes and can be replaced during redecorating or remodeling. The choice between using a door knob and a door lever can significantly affect the functionality and style of your doors. Keyed door knobs are a good option for exterior doors, while privacy knobs work well for interior doors.
Choosing high-quality materials and establishing a “form language” for the exterior door can help unify all hardware. The finish, knob shape, or detailing on the door knob can create a cohesive look. Installing a door knob in a new exterior door requires a few tools and patience, but drilling the proper holes for the new lockset is not a difficult task.
Exterior knobs use a key to lock, providing safe security from intruders. These locks are made from more robust materials. In Europe/Germany, knobs are used for outside doors where unlocking by key is the predominant use case. Exterior doorknobs play a bigger role than the average interior doorknob, as they need to protect the house from potential threats at all hours.
Locksets, including doornobs, are intended for either interior or exterior use, with some being rated for both. Different types of door handles and knobs can be found to fit your household’s lifestyle and neighborhood.
📹 Let’S Talk Door Knobs! What We Used
Updating door knobs in your home can instantly upgrade your home but where do you start? I’m sharing what we considered …
Is there a difference between indoor and outdoor door knobs?
Exterior door handles and knobs are designed for security, with their primary function being to keep doors closed. They have keyed locks and heavier construction, making them more durable than interior privacy knobs. They are most effective when paired with a deadbolt. Interior door handles and knobs are lighter and more compact, with most not featuring locking mechanisms. They fall into three categories: Privacy Knobs, which have an unlocking mechanism and are typically found on bedroom and bathroom doors, Passage Knobs, which are used for opening doors and are typically found on closet doors and some room entrances, and Dummy Knobs, which serve an aesthetic purpose and don’t turn at all. These knobs and handles are typically mounted on the surface of a door or behind it, making them suitable for shallow closets, small pantries, and the interior of French doors.
Why are door knobs in the middle of the door in France?
French door knobs are typically placed in the middle of a door due to their ergonomic design, which allows for an even distribution of weight when opening or closing the door. This also makes it easier to grab and turn with one hand while carrying items with the other. The central location of French door knobs also makes them look more aesthetically pleasing, as they blend into the design rather than competing with it.
A mortise lock is a type of lock that can be found on both interior and exterior doors and is highly durable, providing extra security for both residential and commercial applications. Mortise locks are easy to install with minimal tools required, but professional installation services may be necessary for advanced security features like keyless entry systems. They can be purchased with either deadbolts or handles, offering extra convenience for those who don’t want to use their key all the time.
To replace handles on French doors, you can unscrew the old handle from its mounting screws and carefully pry off the faceplate covering the mounting screws. Place the new handle in position and secure it with mounting screws before replacing the faceplate cover. If your French door has an electronic locking system installed, consult a professional locksmith for help installing or replacing any hardware components related to security systems.
Hinges on French doors may need to be replaced as old or damaged hinges can cause misalignment of the door panels and impair their performance. Unscrew one hinge at a time and replace it with an identical piece before repeating the process for remaining hinges. If your French doors are made from wood, use only wooden screws as metal screws can easily strip out softwood material. Installing new hinges is relatively straightforward, but if you encounter any problems during installation or have questions about the process, consult a professional carpenter who specializes in French doors.
Why are doors different in Europe?
European doors are made from high-quality materials and materials, providing durability, functionality, and moisture resistance. They offer unique features like better thermal insulation, energy savings, and special security systems like multi-point locks. European doors are also designed with aesthetics and style in mind, offering a wide range of designs, colors, and styles to match the overall style of the house.
They last longer due to their durability and longevity, and manufacturers are committed to providing quality workmanship and materials. For any questions or advice on selecting the right European door, Arrow Doors’ consultants can be contacted at 224 285 0555.
Why are round door knobs illegal in the US?
Vancouver’s decision to phase out the classic round door knob may be a death knell for a mechanical device as old as the door itself. The first references to doors and door handles can be found in ancient literature, including the Bible and ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian history. Recent laws banning round door knobs on all new buildings argue that the elderly, infirm, and disabled can struggle to grip and operate them. The jury is still out, but compelling arguments in favor of the ban are being made. The anti-doorknob movement is spreading globally, with many protesters calling for a door knob purge.
What are exterior door knobs called?
Keyed entry door knobs are designed for safety and security, often used on front doors, patio doors, and garage doors. They can have a lock and key mechanism on both sides, with some having a button inside that can be pressed to lock or unlock. Others have a twist mechanism on one side. Privacy door knobs, on the other hand, have a twist or button lock that works from only one side. Some have a pin hole on the outside knob and a generic key, making them ideal for rooms with privacy but not needing keyed locks.
Why do French doors have the knob in the middle?
French door knobs are typically placed in the middle of a door due to their ergonomic design, which allows for an even distribution of weight when opening or closing the door. This also makes it easier to grab and turn with one hand while carrying items with the other. The central location of French door knobs also makes them look more aesthetically pleasing, as they blend into the design rather than competing with it.
A mortise lock is a type of lock that can be found on both interior and exterior doors and is highly durable, providing extra security for both residential and commercial applications. Mortise locks are easy to install with minimal tools required, but professional installation services may be necessary for advanced security features like keyless entry systems. They can be purchased with either deadbolts or handles, offering extra convenience for those who don’t want to use their key all the time.
To replace handles on French doors, you can unscrew the old handle from its mounting screws and carefully pry off the faceplate covering the mounting screws. Place the new handle in position and secure it with mounting screws before replacing the faceplate cover. If your French door has an electronic locking system installed, consult a professional locksmith for help installing or replacing any hardware components related to security systems.
Hinges on French doors may need to be replaced as old or damaged hinges can cause misalignment of the door panels and impair their performance. Unscrew one hinge at a time and replace it with an identical piece before repeating the process for remaining hinges. If your French doors are made from wood, use only wooden screws as metal screws can easily strip out softwood material. Installing new hinges is relatively straightforward, but if you encounter any problems during installation or have questions about the process, consult a professional carpenter who specializes in French doors.
What is the trend in door knobs in 2024?
In 2024, satin gold door hardware is gaining popularity as a luxurious addition to interior styles. This trend reimagines the versatility of gold, offering a modern twist on its traditional appearance. Formani’s range of satin gold door hardware features bold and refined designs, allowing them to blend seamlessly into various decor themes. As sustainability becomes increasingly important, PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) finishing is the preferred choice for door hardware.
PVD technology combines durability with aesthetic appeal, offering a variety of finishes to match diverse design preferences. Formani’s PVD stainless steel, PVD satin black, PVD gunmetal, PVD satin gold, and PVD copper options provide architects and designers with an expanded palette of aesthetic possibilities.
Are knobs or levers more modern?
Despite its historical presence within door handles, the lever—a technology that has been in use for centuries—has become increasingly integrated into modern interior design.
What is a deadlatch?
A deadlatch is a door lock mechanism that is activated automatically, without the need for a key or knob. It is designed to rest against a metal strike plate on a door frame. The device employs a bolt mechanism to prevent the door from opening, thereby enhancing the security of the locking mechanism.
Why do Americans use round door knobs?
The popularity of round doorknobs can be attributed to their ease of use, durability, and security. These door knobs are suitable for use by children, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities. They are crafted from high-quality materials, including brass, stainless steel, and bronze. Furthermore, these types of handles are more secure than lever handles, as they cannot be easily pushed down, making them ideal for exterior doors.
Are door levers out of style?
Since 1878, door knobs have been a popular part of American households due to their traditional aesthetic. The round shape of knobs, especially with popular finishes, is perfect for older homes, while trendy knobs are ideal for modern interiors. Door levers, on the other hand, are contemporary and have an elongated design, suitable for minimalist or contemporary interiors. Both types of door handles have their pros and cons, and homeowners should strive to find the best fit for their home.
The debate between door knobs and levers is ongoing, but finding the best fit for your home is crucial. Both types of door handles have their pros and cons, and homeowners should be aware of what to expect from their door handle designs.
📹 How To Fix a Door That Won’t Latch- It’s Simpler Than You Think!
This video demonstrates a simple fix for a door that won’t latch. The issue is often a misaligned latch, and the video shows how to use a Dremel tool to adjust the strike plate. The technique is quick and easy, requiring minimal tools and no damage to the door frame.
I closed my eyes and I heard Seth Rogen teaching us how to fix our door issues, lol. But seriously, thank you for this. Our beautiful money-pit has numerous door issues and now I know what to do. Also, this article is SO much better sans the music…YAY! 👏🏻🚪(btw, this is a door emoji, not a chocolate bar).
Hi my door closes but then it does not stay close, for example if you push the door without touching the handle it will open, it does get latched but it does not lock anymore and you can just push the door to open in it without lowering the handle, i loosened the screws and put my a plastic card behind it now it holds the door but still does not lock and also the card falls so often! Any tips??
I respectfully disagree. First check the screws holding the hinge to the door jamb. Tightening them might just fix your problem. Then put a shim under the upper hinge on the door jamb side away from the pin side of the hinge. Best to use a 3inch piece of wire. Unscrew the upper hinge, put the piece of wire under the hinge that attaches to the door jamb. The wire would go under the hinge farthest away from the pin. This moves the hinge pin back pulling the upper part of the door back lifting the door and it will latch. This fixes the problem. Your way of defacing the striker plate is only temporary because the door will eventually start to rub. Use wire in case of a fire the door will still hold upright in a fire.
Thank you. This didn’t completely solve our problem but it made enough of a difference that our door can finally latch without just being pushed back open. It was just all of a sudden one day that our door no longer latched, right around the time the temperature started rising. We found we could get it to latch if we slammed it with all our might, but even then sometimes we would have to slam it 4 or 5 times to finally get it to latch. We didn’t have a drimmel so we used a drill bit and ground a little from the bottom away…now we can close it, give it a slight lift, and it latches. We’ll probably grind more away once we have a carbide bit, but for now at least we can sleep at night. So thank you for this article. Hopefully we won’t be living in this place much longer. We’ve learned to not even call maintenance anymore as they either ignore the problems or make them worse.
I’m trying to improve the weatherproofing on our doors and windows because our electric bill is ridiculous. The front door had some light showing through the door jamb and the weather seal was pretty mushed up, so I picked up a replacement vinyl/foam MD brand weatherstrip to replace it. The new weather strip is fully seated in the kerf, but there’s an even bigger gap now! I don’t know what to do from here but I’ve definitely made the issue worse, rather than improving it.
I once saw a guy fix the issue by putting a couple Post It Notes behind the strike plate to help set it out a bit. Problem was he had to use some of the ones he had on the wall already. He used I think either blue, pink maybe yellow. He had a lot of them on the wall. He meant to use one that said “Buy more black T-shirt’s ” Turns out he used one his wife had left..to “Get dinner”. When he didn’t remember she slapped him so hard he started talking funny. Glad you had a different fix. …….
I like your articles but they don’t solve our problems. Two of our doors change fit according to temperature. In the winter it closes but the latch doesn’t catch. In the summer, the door seems to “grow” and won’t close. If we force it closed it’s sticks and we have to pull hard to open it. Ever encountered this before?
Thank you so much. I have my inlaws visiting, and our washroom door was like this one. One or two of my kids pushed the door open when my father in law was shi.ting. As you can imagine, he was not happy, and my wife was not happy. I’ve been taking the strike plate off and trying to bend and Twist it to fit. Thankfully, I didn’t destroy it too much. This solution worked wonderfully. Ground down the hole a bit, and now the door latches and the lock works. I’m subscribing!
Just loosen the screws in the striker plate, or, if you prefer put a couple of washers between the striker plate and the door frame then tighten it. Had to do that to a bathroom door when we moved here, I must have put eight washers behind each screw to make the door latch….and then the door knob broke inside and I hate working on door knobs, so I had to pry the door open and remove the washers and use a door stop inside the door. Yeah, I know, a DIY project, not professional, but hey, I’m not a pro either.
Are you seriously kidding me right now? I literally moved a strike plate on a door just 10 hours ago by patching screw holes and using a hand chisel. NOW YouTube shows this article to me! I never thought about making the strike plate hole bigger. Would have been easier had I seen this article first. Great tip!
This is ok, but my problem is that the strike plate I have is set too far into the frame. It has a piece of metal that bends into the hole and so I can’t file it down? How would I fix this? The only way I can see is like you said. Insert and glue two dowels into the holes and then pull the strike plate forward a bit so the latch slots in behind it. Do you know of any other easier way than this??? Cheers.
Sorry if this sounds stupid I’ve watched quite a few articles tonight trying to solve my problem. I’m still in shock. I knew my bedroom door lock wasn’t that secure because the lock part is kind of far from the frame. I’m not understanding how to fix that but today my 11 year old and 7 year old daughter’s just used a playing card and came in my room!! I was completely dumbfounded I can’t imagine ever even thinking of doing anything like that but they clearly see no problem!! But how would I fix? Thank you!!
Simple and elegant, like all your articles and suggestions. One important thing that I have come to realize while doing work around the house is that doors once were hung perfectly. This means that normally one would not have to move or adjust hardware, let alone taking wood off of doors. Therefore I would prefer the earlier solution you posted. Typically the doors and molding you work with are (virtually) new. I think it would be helpful if you could also the post the stuff DIYers come across in century-old homes (for example, failed/ugly repair jobs, warped doors, and work with stained instead of painted wood) and how to restore those. Thanks!
I just fixed my son’s door that suddenly stopped latching! I wonder if it had anything to do with change of seasons? I’m pretty sure it latched before. Anywho, thank you for the article! I really appreciated that you gave options for tools. I only had a drill and bit, nothing special I don’t think. It took a little while to grind it, but it worked! I’m a single mom and don’t have anyone to help me with little things like that except for my dad but I don’t like to ask him for help allllllll the time. Our cats were getting into my son’s room and breaking a bunch of Lego sets he had sitting out on shelves. Now we can keep them out of his room!
Can’t tell by eyeballing it absolutely if the bottom of the plate is the culprit. But I guess I’ll go with your estimation and try the grind to the bottom. Tryin to lift the door with the handle so as to get the plunger and the plate to align isn’t working. But even if so we all need to accomplish the proper fix, eventually
My bedroom closet door is just slightly off but has scared me a few times by popping open! It seems to be weather related since it only happens in summer. My front door had the same problem and I grinded it so I’ll probably do the same. Now where I have a real problem. One bedroom door has a slight crack about 1/4″ behind the top hinge so it drags (but latches fine). Just remembered that bedroom closet needs to be ground a bit too…. Any advice to fix a split frame?? I’ll check your other articles. I’m thinking maybe some beefier screws? It’s an older house with all redwood framing so I’m pretty sure I can screw through the frame and into something substantial.
Thanks! This article saved the day. But, you failed to mention the infinitesimal, evil slivers of metal that would be produced by using the dremmel. My tender, uncalloused fingers had several of the finest slivers I’ve ever seen in them and boy they hurt! I learned my lesson. Wear gloves! But, seriously, thank you for the article. I can now latch my back door again.
We’ve lived in this 12 yr old house in NS for 10 years now and have this issue with our front door when Winter comes every year. We know it’s the shifting of the temp/moisture but the men in my life won’t try this because it’s an exterior door and say it will be too loose in the warm weather. Right now we have to lock the front door to keep it closed. HELP!
My wife made me change everything and still won’t close I took the stroke plate out and now it works perfectly. I’m going to give a guy what you said I’ve been working on all day it’s shipped I’m going to give a guy what you said I’ve been working on all day it’s shipped me I’m going to give a guy what you said I’ve been working on all day it’s shipped me I’m going to give a go what you showed.
Movement is usually hinge bending or foundation shifting. Sometimes flipping top hinge with bottom corrects problem but you should check both hinges for alignment by laying them flat and aligning the hinges to each other to see if there is any bending. If both are still aligned to each other then placing heavy weight paper shims on bottom hinge to correct crooked door alignment.
I live in a very old house and the house would shift to where multiple doors in the house would start to get stuck when closed or would not close at all. My bedroom door was giving me anxiety because when I closed the door my cat would open my door when I’m not home and would wreck my stuff and I was worried about people in the house who may steal from me. perusal this article gave me confidence to inspect my door and strike plate. The latch of my door was touching the top and side of the strike plate, preventing it to stay closed and I was able to see inside the strike plate and see that it had a lot of extra space so I unscrewed it and with only using the screw and a screwdriver, I made my own holes when I moved the strike plate and I fixed my problem. My sister took the idea of grinding the strike plate to fix her door and that worked as well, so thank you tremendously for the help!
I had enough play in the striker mortise. I loosened the screws and held down the striker plate and then I inserted a toothpick I broke in half and tightened the screws. The toothpick kept the striker plate from moving back up and gave enough clearance to latch the door. Toothpick blends in nicely and only notice if you really look at it.
I have done each of those types of fixes for this problem. If you do the small adjustment, one of the things that helps with the screw hole issue is using the longer screws you should have used in the first place. By putting a 2 1/2″ screw in place, it won’t try to go back to the original screw holes or strip out. The longer screws will also reinforce your door jamb and security.