wrote in message
oups.com...
I have one of the commonplace (in the northeast anyway) steel bulkhead
doors at the stairs to my basement from outside. The doors overlap
where they meet. They lock with a metal rod that is housed in the
upper door by pushing the rod over to the lower door. When you try to
lift the doors they rise, but the bar won't allow them to separate and
open.

Recently a neighborhood kid decided to pull on these doors with all
his might. The result is the housing holding the rod to the lower
door separated from the door on one side, rendering the lock useless.

It seems the lock could be repaired to it's original condition with a
quick pass of a welder, re-welding the lock bracket to the door.
Unfortunately, I do not know how to weld. I don't want to pay someone
to weld this or take the time to learn myself as this system has
already shown itself to be insufficient. If a 15 year old with
innocent intentions can rip the lock apart, I don't like the lock.

So, how can I lock this unit from the inside? They sell latches that
would allow me to use a padlock to lock it from the outside, as often
seen on sheds. The issue with this is that it leaves the lock exposed
to the outside world and inaccessible from within the basement, which
is where I usually am when I want to open the door. Any suggestions
on how to fashion a lock to the inside of these doors that won't leave
the hardware accessible from the outside?


Thanks in advance,

Dan


I'm not sure if the design of your door will allow this, but you could drill
two 7/16" holes and run a piece of 3/8" threaded rod through them. Bend one
end of the rod 90 degrees to make a handle. A nut on the other end prevents
it from coming loose unintentionally. This is probably similar to what you
have already and may not prevent the present situation from happening again.