Well that's what I get for assuming, but I would
have assume correctly about 95 percent of the
time. And the date of your house explains it.
Don't know about a high end house. High end here
currently means $500,000 and above, but in CA
my low end house would be above $500,000.

In the west a house built before 1850 is old, old,
but then only a few trappers were around before
1850 in many places. You ought to see a one of
the first houses in Boise -- log cabin about 10
feet by 15 feet. Not exactly high end. Kind of
high end with all the money the spent on
preserving the wreck.



blueman wrote:
"George E. Cawthon" writes:
Right you are, and I did. I've never seen a mortise lock in a newer
home. But, it sounded like the OP simply meant a standard lock with a
plate around the plunger mortised into edge of the door. On rereading
it, he probably did mean a true mortise lock. He ought to have
someone else do it for him if he isn't skilled with hand tools and be
prepared to pay a lot.

Yes I did mean a true mortise lock and our home is by no means new (at
least by U.S. standards) since parts of it were built back in the
1700's and the rest in 1870.

Even so, true mortise locks, like the Baldwin Estate series, are used
commonly today in many high end homes.

Personally, I love the solid feel of the hardware and the ability to
have both a standard plunger and a dead bolt in the same mechanism.

Still debating though whether to do it myself or pay the several
hundred dollars the local locksmith wants for the installation (plus
his marckup on the lock itself).