"GI Joe" wrote in message
ps.com...
Morning all,

We're fitting a new 4-panel Victoruian door to the bathroom, and are
fitting a mortice lock.

Am I right in thinking it is a bad idea to fit the lock at the end of
the crossrail? I started drilling about 6 inches above that (basically
mid-height of the door) to fit the lock, and invoked merry hell from
SWMBO who is adamant that the handle should be level with the centre
of the cross rail. Admittedly the knobs on the other interior doors of
the house (in situ when we moved in) are central with the cross rail,
but surely fitting a mortice lock there would be a bad idea?

I need someone to reassure me that I'm not going crazy...

Cutting away part of the joint holding the cross-rail is not a particularly
good idea. However, it rather depends on what sort of mortice lock you are
fitting and what you want from the door.

If the lock is something like this:

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...32217&id=24917

It is going to take quite a lot of strength from the joint. However, the
main concern about cutting into the joint is that it can make an external
door more susceptible to being kicked open. Whether you need to keep the
full strength in an internal door in the face of opposition from SWMBO and
in view of the fact it will make the door handle look odd is another matter.

OTOH if you fit the bathroom version of something like this

http://www.vandykes.com/product/02007891/

the impact on door strength is minimal and you still get the ability to lock
the door from inside, but open it with a screwdriver from outside.

Of course, if you are not worried about being able to open the door from
outside when locked, you could simply fit a bathroom rim latch, which only
needs a small hole through the door for the handle spindle. It is probably
because they have rim locks that the other doors have the handles where they
do.

Colin Bignell