Yesterday morning I noticed the latch on the bedroom door was getting a
bit "tired" - the handle was not fully retracting the latch and now and
then it would catch on the striker plate a little bit, and need a firmer
push to open it. That was until SWMBO tried to go to bed...

"I can't get into the bedroom!"

Sure enough the handle is now having zero effect on the latch. Tried the
normal tricks with bits of plastic pop bottle wedged round the edge of
the frame. In the end I went to the workshop for a stout scraper and a
hammer. Tapped that behind the door stoop and prised it away from the
frame a few mm, so I could see right through to the latch. Tried pushing
the scraper past it, but it still would not budge.

ok back to the workshop... (daughter and SWMBO were speculating on my
return with a chainsaw at this point)

Came back with pad saw, and cut through the latch to get it open! Just
glad it was a normal steel latch and not some high security affair.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Tue, 29 Sep 2015 10:59:04 +0100, Jonno wrote:

Yesterday morning I noticed the latch on the bedroom door was getting a
bit "tired" - the handle was not fully retracting the latch and now and
then it would catch on the striker plate a little bit, and need a
firmer push to open it. That was until SWMBO tried to go to bed...

Good job it didn't happen in the middle of the night when you'd gone for
a ****.

That's what windows are for, isn't it?

On Tuesday, 29 September 2015 10:26:42 UTC+1, John Rumm wrote:

Came back with pad saw, and cut through the latch to get it open! Just
glad it was a normal steel latch and not some high security affair.

If there's one thing I've noticed about security, it's that it often ends up keeping out the person it's meant to let in.


NT

On 29/09/2015 11:18, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Tue, 29 Sep 2015 10:26:45 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:



Came back with pad saw, and cut through the latch to get it open! Just
glad it was a normal steel latch and not some high security affair.


What!? A pad saw...you mean to say...you didn't use...and you a
regular contributor to this group. I'm shocked! :-)

Mmmm tempting, but I was trying to keep the door and frame in one bit...

(Although I could have got a reciprocating saw in there I guess ;-)


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 29/09/2015 10:59, Jonno wrote:
John Rumm scribbled


Yesterday morning I noticed the latch on the bedroom door was getting a
bit "tired" - the handle was not fully retracting the latch and now and
then it would catch on the striker plate a little bit, and need a firmer
push to open it. That was until SWMBO tried to go to bed...

"I can't get into the bedroom!"

Sure enough the handle is now having zero effect on the latch. Tried the
normal tricks with bits of plastic pop bottle wedged round the edge of
the frame. In the end I went to the workshop for a stout scraper and a
hammer. Tapped that behind the door stoop and prised it away from the
frame a few mm, so I could see right through to the latch. Tried pushing
the scraper past it, but it still would not budge.

ok back to the workshop... (daughter and SWMBO were speculating on my
return with a chainsaw at this point)

Came back with pad saw, and cut through the latch to get it open! Just
glad it was a normal steel latch and not some high security affair.



Good job it didn't happen in the middle of the night when you'd gone for
a ****.



It might have been more fun if they were stuck in the bedroom.

I have found that latches that have become worn and do not retract past the catch plate can sometimes be opened if you can rotate the spindle bar a touch further and it is the stops within the handle that prevent this. Unscrewing the handle and pulling the bar out of the other handle but leaving it in the latch often does the trick.

Richard

On 29/09/2015 13:10, Tricky Dicky wrote:
I have found that latches that have become worn and do not retract
past the catch plate can sometimes be opened if you can rotate the
spindle bar a touch further and it is the stops within the handle
that prevent this. Unscrewing the handle and pulling the bar out of
the other handle but leaving it in the latch often does the trick.

Twas the first thing I tried, but it did not appear as if the spindle
was moving the latch at all...

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 29/09/2015 13:10, Tricky Dicky wrote:
I have found that latches that have become worn and do not retract
past the catch plate can sometimes be opened if you can rotate the
spindle bar a touch further and it is the stops within the handle
that prevent this. Unscrewing the handle and pulling the bar out of
the other handle but leaving it in the latch often does the trick.

Twas the first thing I tried, but it did not appear as if the spindle was
moving the latch at all...

I remember this well
In my case the cast ali piece which the square spindle fits through had
disintegrated.
Now, my doorframes get a 1/8" hole drilled in them, just at the point where
the jiggle/push/jiggle of a small screwdriver retracts the latch

In message ,
Tricky Dicky writes
I have found that latches that have become worn and do not retract past
the catch plate can sometimes be opened if you can rotate the spindle
bar a touch further and it is the stops within the handle that prevent
this.

I had that problem, and as a short term fix, rotated the handle, the
plate of which was oblong, with two screws at the top, and two more at
the bottom. I turned the plate so the left hand screw fitted the right
hand hole at the top, with the reverse at the bottom. Looked a bit odd
on the skew, but worked - for several years :-)

When I eventually investigated further, and extracted the lock from the
door, the lock was held together with screws (not rivets) and the
business part was brass, very worn at one end. It is double ended, so I
flipped it over, reassembled and it works perfectly now. Result!

--
Graeme

"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...
Yesterday morning I noticed the latch on the bedroom door was getting a
bit "tired" - the handle was not fully retracting the latch and now and
then it would catch on the striker plate a little bit, and need a firmer
push to open it. That was until SWMBO tried to go to bed...

"I can't get into the bedroom!"

Could you not have just knobbed her on the stairs and slept in the spare
bedroom:-)?



--
Adam

On 29/09/2015 18:10, ARW wrote:
"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...
Yesterday morning I noticed the latch on the bedroom door was getting
a bit "tired" - the handle was not fully retracting the latch and now
and then it would catch on the striker plate a little bit, and need a
firmer push to open it. That was until SWMBO tried to go to bed...

"I can't get into the bedroom!"

Could you not have just knobbed her on the stairs and slept in the spare
bedroom:-)?

Have you seen the amount of crap stored in the spare room?

I would need climbing gear to get in there! ;-)


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 29/09/2015 18:10, ARW wrote:
"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...
Yesterday morning I noticed the latch on the bedroom door was getting
a bit "tired" - the handle was not fully retracting the latch and now
and then it would catch on the striker plate a little bit, and need a
firmer push to open it. That was until SWMBO tried to go to bed...

"I can't get into the bedroom!"

Could you not have just knobbed her on the stairs and slept in the spare
bedroom:-)?

Have you seen the amount of crap stored in the spare room?

I would need climbing gear to get in there! ;-)

Bit of role play Sir Edmund? "Those ropes look like they could come in
handy".





--
Adam

wrote in message
...
On Tuesday, 29 September 2015 10:26:42 UTC+1, John Rumm wrote:

Came back with pad saw, and cut through the latch to get it open! Just
glad it was a normal steel latch and not some high security affair.

If there's one thing I've noticed about security, it's that it often ends
up keeping out the person it's meant to let in.

Not often, just sometimes, most obviously with car security.

In article , Adrian
scribeth thus
On Tue, 29 Sep 2015 10:59:04 +0100, Jonno wrote:

Yesterday morning I noticed the latch on the bedroom door was getting a
bit "tired" - the handle was not fully retracting the latch and now and
then it would catch on the striker plate a little bit, and need a
firmer push to open it. That was until SWMBO tried to go to bed...

Good job it didn't happen in the middle of the night when you'd gone for
a ****.

That's what windows are for, isn't it?


What!, no under ****in potten?..
--
Tony Sayer

On 29/09/2015 18:36, ARW wrote:
"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 29/09/2015 18:10, ARW wrote:
"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...
Yesterday morning I noticed the latch on the bedroom door was getting
a bit "tired" - the handle was not fully retracting the latch and now
and then it would catch on the striker plate a little bit, and need a
firmer push to open it. That was until SWMBO tried to go to bed...

"I can't get into the bedroom!"

Could you not have just knobbed her on the stairs and slept in the spare
bedroom:-)?

Have you seen the amount of crap stored in the spare room?

I would need climbing gear to get in there! ;-)

Bit of role play Sir Edmund? "Those ropes look like they could come in
handy".

Hold on luv, I will get the gimp suit ;-)


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/