(no subject)

[vaznetti]

I have changed my default icon to this one, which infinitemonkeys made, because it pretty much sums up my life. Productive, indeed.

Also, is it difficult to replace a doorknob/latch setup? The knob on one of my doors no longer connects to anything--I had to break in with a phone card last night, which was funny, but not very funny.

Comments

Re: Doorknob/latch setup

[vaznetti]

Thanks! There isn't a lock on this knob now, so I won't be buying a replacement with one. I just want the door to open when I turn the knob!

[se-parsons.livejournal.com]

You might just be able to fix the lock you have. If it's "not connecting to anything" then the door is probably hung crooked, or the house has warped or whatever.

You'd want to move the connecting piece on the doorframe, so that it would again line up with the thingiefloop that sticks out of the handle mechanism and moves backward and forward when you turn the handle. This would require moving the plate on the frame upward or downward so the floopy-thing hits it in the center.

You can just take the plate off the frame, chisel a bigger hole with the screwdriver, and move the plate up or down as necessary. You don't need a whole new latch. The old one should work unless the mechanism inside it is broken and the key no longer turns it.

Another way to fix it is to move the hinges on the door, so the door hangs straight and connects with the latch where it is now. But that's usually a LOT more work.

[vaznetti]

No--I must have been unclear. The problem is that when I turn the knob, nothing happens--the little latch thing doesn't move in and out. The thing that isn't connecting is whatever is supposed to connect the knob to the thing that sticks out of the door and goes into the little slot in the doorframe, which undoubtedly has a technical name, but I don't know what it is.

The door is badly hung, but I feel that taking a door down and rehanging it is beyond what may be reasonably expected of a tenant. That's why landlords hire workmen.

[se-parsons.livejournal.com]

Ah, then the interior mechanism IS broken and you DO need to change out the knob.

If you want to, just take it off and with you to the hardware store and replace it with one that is the same dimensions.

That's REALLY easy to do.