wrote in message
...
On Sun, 14 Jan 2007 08:39:06 -0500, Stormin Mormon wrote:
Ah, now we get some more information. You bought the
locks at
Home Depot. Well, that makes you a frugal home owner. If
you were
interested in having it done, you could likely find a
locksmith

Hi there Stormin Mormom,
I do appreciate your expert advice.

The old lock jammed probably because the old five-inch
long entry latch
bent inside somewhere.

So, just before Home Depot closed for the evening, I
stopped by, asked for
help, and picked up a four-lock set (two deadbolts and two
entry lock
knobs) for about fifty dollars. I figured it would take
all of a half hour
to replace something as "simple" as a lock (I know.... I
know ... it wasn't
so simple in the end but I didn't know that so it didn't
play into my
decision tree).

To be frank, I could have bought just one lock or even
just one five-inch
latch. The main reason I didn't buy just the latch is that
I didn't know
what else would break so I wanted to replace the whole
configuration. The
main reason I bought four locks instead of just one is I
wanted to do a
good job by replacing them all, instead of just repairing
the one broken
entry lock. I want one key for the whole house (including
deadbolts and
entry knobs).

I started the job by nightfall assuming it would be done
before dinner and
as you can tell, it was midnight before I finally gave up
for the night.

I guess I COULD have called a locksmith to install the
four locks, but
they'd have to get here before midnight to do me any good.
Again, since I
erroneously believed the "fits all doors" and "easy
installation" claims of
the package, I erred by not realizing that it didn't fit
all doors (not
without removing the cylinder) and the installation
instructions were
silent on this key task!

In the end, I simply installed a new five-inch latch and
put the old lock
back on. It's not as good a job, but I will have to get
the right tool
first.

Thank you for your expert advice.

My intention was to replace the lock and deadbolt on the
outside door

home depot would have probably popped the cylinders out of
the entry locks for you,
if you would have just asked ?
then after you installed the locks on your doors, you could
have just popped them back in the way they needed to be.

g'day
--
"Key"
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