French Door Wont Close Shut Without Lifting Handle

[Muskythedog]

Hello

We have recently moved into a house with french doors to the rear - the doors won't "catch" shut without lifting the door handle. Is there any way that the handle/lock can be modified so the door shuts when pushed to? Looking at the latch there is a small black section in the middle of it that seems to face the opposite way to the outer (top and bottom) parts of it - don't know if this makes a difference

Please excuse the lack of terminology - I am a bit of a novice with this type of thing, maybe try and take some pics tomorrow to show what I mean.

thanks in advance

 

[crank39]

Sounds a simple fix but pics will help

 

[Muskythedog]

Thanks for the reply, pic enclosed.

regards

 

[crank39]

Oh that black bit , don't worry about that bit, its meant to be like that.

All i can suggest is the door has settled and dropped slightly and the latch in you pic is lower than the striker plate on the other door, one way to test is to draw a pencil mark on the door where the top and bottom of the latch is, then bring the door to the frame and transfer the marks onto the frame, the two marks should fall between the the top and bottom of the latch keep