On 25/04/2013 14:41, GMM wrote:
On 24/04/2013 22:06, The Medway Handyman wrote:
On 24/04/2013 16:43, paulfoel wrote:
Tried taking door handle off and turning with pliars etc but it just
seem to turn enough to open the latch.

What are my options? All I can see at the moment is kick the door
in....

This is a very common problem, I carry 2 of each length & finish of
mortice latch in the van. Probably do up to a dozen a year.

I've never managed to get one to retract via the handle aperture.

As in taking off the handle and turning the bar? I suspect I would have
managed a couple of weeks ago when I went out into the garden and the
door slammed behind me, disconnecting the handle from the bar in the
sashlock. Only problem was that my tools were inside and I was outside!

You didn't have a Swiss Army Knife on you? :-)

No, I meant when the latch is broken. I've often tried taking the
handle off, removing the bar, then trying to retract the latch. Hasn't
worked.

Had to climb over the hedge and get teh neighbour to let me through to
the front.

It turned out that the bar had cut off short so had had dropped away
from one handle and had disappeared into the other, so easy to open from
the other side. Decided it was time for a whole new handle.


Prise the door jamb strip off, they are usually nailed on. It's going
to do a bit of paint damage.

Then get a pry bar into the gap between door & jamb, force it open as
much as possible, which won't be much, then use a hacksaw blade to force
the latch back.




--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk