Fitting A Front Door Lock

The key to success is getting the hole for the cylinder in the right position.

Fitting a front door lock.

Interior doors are usually fitted with a mortise lock with a latch operated by the door handle or knob. If you don t get this precise the lock may not fit properly. For front doors it is best to fit two locks a mortice deadlock about halfway up and a night latch one third of the way down the door. However if you only fit one lock make it an automatically dead locking night latch.

Position a mortice deadlock about halfway up the door and fit a night latch on your front door one third of the way down. If you only fit one lock go for an automatically dead locking night latch made to bs3621. Expert tip fitting a night latch that is british standard approved will improve the security of your door. To install this lock see section 4 below.

As a rule the more levers pins or discs that a lock has the harder it will be to pick. Where the door is self closing the latch has an angled or rounded edge and is sprung so that it automatically locks when the door is closed. Fitting a front door rim lock fitting a rim lock the yale type lock on your front door is fairly straight forward.