We had a new front door, back door, and set of french doors installed.
All three have the same problem with the deadbolts. The back and french
doors open out. When you pull them closed, they catch fine. To lock
them you have to pull the door tighter, or closer to the frame, else the
lock won't engage. You don't have to pull hard, but you have to pull
everytime. The front door has the same problem, though it opens in
instead of out, so you have to push the door or lean into it slightly
to get the deadbolt to engage. The front door knob and lock set are
all new. The french door and back door have the old back and front door
knobs and locksets. Any tips? A friend who knows well how to install
the doors did it for us for free, so if it's something we can readily
correct, I'd rather not bother him over it. Thanks!

Melissa

"Melissa" wrote in message
...
We had a new front door, back door, and set of french doors installed. All
three have the same problem with the deadbolts. The back and french doors
open out. When you pull them closed, they catch fine. To lock them you
have to pull the door tighter, or closer to the frame, else the lock won't
engage. You don't have to pull hard, but you have to pull everytime. The
front door has the same problem, though it opens in instead of out, so you
have to push the door or lean into it slightly to get the deadbolt to
engage.

What kind of weatherseal is on the doors? In most cases, you just wait a
week or two and the gaskek material compresses and everything is just fine.

Melissa wrote:
We had a new front door, back door, and set of french doors installed.
All three have the same problem with the deadbolts. The back and french
doors open out. When you pull them closed, they catch fine. To lock
them you have to pull the door tighter, or closer to the frame, else the
lock won't engage. You don't have to pull hard, but you have to pull
everytime.

*IF* it becomes a problem in the summer with the wood swelling and no longer
allowing you to lock or unlock the deadbolts, then I might consider opening up
the hole with a chisel. But that's a big "if". All my doors lock the same way
as yours and I don't consider it a problem. If you get too generous with the
trimming of the hole, you may well end up with a door that rattles in the winter
when the wood shrinks.

I'd leave them alone and thank my friend for the good job.




--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
"Melissa" wrote in message
...

We had a new front door, back door, and set of french doors installed. All
three have the same problem with the deadbolts. The back and french doors
open out. When you pull them closed, they catch fine. To lock them you
have to pull the door tighter, or closer to the frame, else the lock won't
engage. You don't have to pull hard, but you have to pull everytime. The
front door has the same problem, though it opens in instead of out, so you
have to push the door or lean into it slightly to get the deadbolt to
engage.


What kind of weatherseal is on the doors? In most cases, you just wait a
week or two and the gaskek material compresses and everything is just fine.

It's been a couple of weeks now since they were installed. The doors
were made by a company called Door Fab, and the weatherseal is a
textured plastic film over something squishy. It says in small
print either NOTO or it might be NO1 then a smiley face. If this is
normal, we'll just wait and hope it gets better. It just seems unusual,
so I thought I'd better check on it. Thanks for your help!

Melissa

Melissa wrote:
Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
"Melissa" wrote in message
...

We had a new front door, back door, and set of french doors installed. All
three have the same problem with the deadbolts. The back and french doors
open out. When you pull them closed, they catch fine. To lock them you
have to pull the door tighter, or closer to the frame, else the lock won't
engage. You don't have to pull hard, but you have to pull everytime. The
front door has the same problem, though it opens in instead of out, so you
have to push the door or lean into it slightly to get the deadbolt to
engage.


What kind of weatherseal is on the doors? In most cases, you just wait a
week or two and the gaskek material compresses and everything is just fine.

It's been a couple of weeks now since they were installed. The doors
were made by a company called Door Fab, and the weatherseal is a
textured plastic film over something squishy. It says in small
print either NOTO or it might be NO1 then a smiley face. If this is
normal, we'll just wait and hope it gets better. It just seems unusual,
so I thought I'd better check on it. Thanks for your help!

Melissa

It definetely sounds like the weatherseal, although I would typiclly
expect this problem in colder weather when the seal is less compliant
and more difficult to compress. It will improve with time and from the
standpoint of energy efficiency the tighter the seal the better (within
reason). If it does not improve in another several weeks, talk to the
installers as this can be a bear in the winter months.

Melissa wrote:
We had a new front door, back door, and set of french doors installed.
All three have the same problem with the deadbolts. The back and
french doors open out. When you pull them closed, they catch fine. To
lock them you have to pull the door tighter, or closer to the
frame, else the lock won't engage. You don't have to pull hard, but
you have to pull everytime. The front door has the same problem,
though it opens in instead of out, so you have to push the door or
lean into it slightly to get the deadbolt to engage. The front
door knob and lock set are all new. The french door and back door
have the old back and front door knobs and locksets. Any tips? A
friend who knows well how to install the doors did it for us for
free, so if it's something we can readily correct, I'd rather not
bother him over it. Thanks!
Melissa

I agree with Mortimer. With this design you really want to tight fit
with a little spring in it to assure no rattles. I think you got a job well
done. If it gets more difficult with the change of the seasons, then maybe
you might have a problem, but I suspect that will not be the case.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

Its probably the way it should be. I wish all my doors were that way. You
can be sure you are getting a better seal and will apreciate it come winter.
You should not need to apply too much force. If it gets too hard to operate
ten I would look into adjusting. If you and your family can manage w/o
dificulty then I would say its good the way it is.
"Melissa" wrote in message
...
We had a new front door, back door, and set of french doors installed. All
three have the same problem with the deadbolts. The back and french doors
open out. When you pull them closed, they catch fine. To lock them you
have to pull the door tighter, or closer to the frame, else the lock won't
engage. You don't have to pull hard, but you have to pull everytime. The
front door has the same problem, though it opens in instead of out, so you
have to push the door or lean into it slightly to get the deadbolt to
engage. The front door knob and lock set are all new. The french door
and back door have the old back and front door knobs and locksets. Any
tips? A friend who knows well how to install the doors did it for us for
free, so if it's something we can readily correct, I'd rather not bother
him over it. Thanks!

Melissa