Michael Chare wrote:
In a bungalow, the front and back doors are both aluminium
and have pins that come out of the top and bottom.

In the case of the front door, it is impossible to raise the handle to
move the pins out, so I presume that they never move.

I removed all the visible screws and the lock barrel from the door, but
the lock itself did not want to come out.


If it's a eurolock, the key must be inserted and turned through about 30
degrees before the lock barrel can be removed. Just needs a bit of trial
and error and jiggling. The barrel is held by just one screw.



In the case of the back door the pins move out if you raise the handle
and back if you lower the handle, but you can do this regardless of
whether the door is locked or not.

That's not right.

So not much use! I have not tried to
take it to pieces.

The locks on both doors are made by Union. Is it likely that they can be
made so that you have to raise the handle to push the pins out before
you can turn the key to lock the door?

That's how they usually work.


The previous owner of the house was probably quite old, so the doors
might have been changed to make them easier to open and close.


Further questions:

1. Is changing a lock barrel to work with a different key a DIY job?

Yes. Very easy. Just one screw and the old key needed.


2. Is there a significant security risk having a lock barrel with a knob
on the inside, thus obviating the need for a key to open the door from
the inside?

Logically there must be but seeing as we usually leave the keys in the lock
for speedy exit in case of fire etc, it makes no difference to us and we
have knobs now.

Tim

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