On 28/05/2020 17:11, JoeJoe wrote:
We have a solid oak door between the kitchen and the utility room.

The door was bought by us, brand new and with no holes for the handle
and latch mechanism.
It was fitted by our builders as part of an extension that we did
several years ago, and unfortunately it appears that the
handle/mechanism were not fitted/installed correctly - too far from the
edge of the door.

It is surely too near to the edge of the door if it protrudes too much.

If it is one of those cheap and nasty die cast things then it is worth
checking that the square hole in it is still intact. I had my main front
door fail that way with the initial symptom being hard to open followed
by impossible to open because the casting fractured.

If it is sound then you may be able to improve things by shimming the
existing square bar or swapping it for a slightly fatter one. Some nicer
ones are actually adjustable which is worth checking.

When the door is shut it is almost impossible to open it using the
handle, as the latch does not retract far enough (hardly any) into the
door when the handle is pushed down all the way. This has been the case
since it was fitted, so it is definitely not caused by a recent failure
of the mechanism.

If it was like that from new then they didn't fit it properly.

Trying my best to explain, but happy to send photos/video if unclear.

Any idea how to resolve this please?

Simplest solution might be to sink it 0.5mm more into the door - enough
that the catch works cleanly but not enough to need to move screw holes.

Or alternatively move the plate it mates with slightly further away.

Do check the internal mechanism first.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown