The door handle acts in a strange way, is it broken?

[banjodeano]

Hiya guys,
Im going to have a look at my partners door handle this weekend, it seems to be acting odd, it works perfectly from the inside, the handle and lock works as it should, but from the outside it doesnt, when you try to open the unlocked door with the handle it will not open, she has to open it using a key, if she doesnt use a key she can not open the unlocked door, she says its been like this a long long time, and cant remember if it worked any differently, she thinks that it may some kind of security, have any of you guys got any ideas, is this normal? can it be fixed if its broken?
Thanks in advance

 

[blup]

It’s a built in security device, useful for a front door

 

[banjodeano]

It’s a built in security device, useful for a front door

thanks a lot blup

 

[crank39]

It's probably a split spindle set up which stops strangers just walking in if you haven't locked it from inside, it would have been like that from day one, I can't just appear overnight unless you've had the handles changed and replaced a solid spindle with a split spindle?

 

[Mottie]

It's probably a split spindle set up which stops strangers just walking in if you haven't locked it from inside, it would have been like that from day one

Ours is like that. So is my mums as well as Mrs Motties mums. I thought all UPVC doors were like that?

 

[crank39]

It's usually called a lever/pad set up, lever handle inside and a pad handle outside, the pad handle does lift and will allow the locks to engage and disengage but it just won't operate the latch, sometimes the outer pad handle is lower than the inner, that's an offset handle. If you don't ask for it doors will come as lever/lever, you have to specify lever/pad

 

[JohnD]

Quite a lot of burglaries occur when an intruder walks through an unlocked door. In a few seconds they can grab handbags, car keys, wallets and whatever else may be just inside.

If challenged they may say they're selling teatowels, delivering leaflets, or have the wrong address.

It is a great advantage to have a door that a stranger can't open without a key.

 

[banjodeano]

Quite a lot of burglaries occur when an intruder walks through an unlocked door. In a few seconds they can grab handbags, car keys, wallets and whatever else may be just inside.

If challenged they may say they're selling teatowels, delivering leaflets, or have the wrong address.

It is a great advantage to have a door that a stranger can't open without a key.

yes....but i can imagine its a nightmare if you just nip out to the bin and it shuts behind you

 

[banjodeano]

It's probably a split spindle set up which stops strangers just walking in if you haven't locked it from inside, it would have been like that from day one, I can't just appear overnight unless you've had the handles changed and replaced a solid spindle with a split spindle?

Thanks for the reply...if i wanted to change it to what i would call a normal type mechanism, what would i need to do? her dad is 82 and she is pretty sure he will lock himself out one day..

 

[Mottie]

yes....but i can imagine its a nightmare if you just nip out to the bin and it shuts behind you

I was caught like that once when I picked up the wrong bunch of keys and shut the door behind me. Never again. I keep a spare key in a keysafe hidden in my back garden. I've used it several times since.

 

[Mottie]

Thanks for the reply...if i wanted to change it to what i would call a normal type mechanism, what would i need to do? her dad is 82 and she is pretty sure he will lock himself out one day..

Leave a key along with your contact numbers with a neighbour.
We have the keys to 4 houses down our street - apart from one elderly neighbour who I collect her post when she's off cruising, all the others were given to us by the children of the parents that live there in case they lock themselves out or need us to go over to them. Only one locks herself out on a regular basis though. Had a nice little bonus one day.

More alarm problems for me today, luckily not mine though. The neighbour opposite had her alarm going off. Nothing unusual as she often forgets to unset it in the morning and she normally switches it off after 15 seconds or so but not today. Her windows were open so she was obviously in. Anyway, Mrs Mottie sent me over with the key (we seem to be Key holders for half the street!) and after knocking and getting no answer I let myself in. I called out her name a few times and as I was walking through the house, all of a sudden her daughter came in from the rear garden (daughter was visiting and lives in Austria) wearing EarPods. She had been sunbathing and was wearing the skimpiest of bikini's . Anyway, she was unaware that it was her mums alarm going off and mum is nearly deaf. I made my excuses and left - she saw me to the door. Did I get any thanks from Mrs Mottie? Did I heck! All I got was "That was a nice surprise for you, did you get a good eyeful?". Anyway, ten minutes later it’s screaming it’s head off again. After about 15 minutes I had a foreign number call on my mobile and it was the daughter asking me if I could disable it - mum was there but they couldn’t call me from the house phone as it was the electric tripping that was setting the alarm off and the house phone was out too. Oh, and she told me she was isolating as she had just come over! Of course I couldn’t say no so Mrs Mottie sent me back with gloves and a mask (and would have fitted a blindfold to me if she could ) No need though as being a gentleman I told her to stay in the garden. I disconnected it the battery and pulled the fuse for the alarm. Told them to get it sorted and get a sparks out to get the electrics sorted - I wasn’t getting involved in that. I had to scrub up and disinfect the key when I got back indoors.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I'm pretty sure for new builds Building Regs nowadays prevent a lock that can lock you out without a key.

 

[crank39]

Thanks for the reply...if i wanted to change it to what i would call a normal type mechanism, what would i need to do? her dad is 82 and she is pretty sure he will lock himself out one day..

If the inner and outer handle levers are level with eachother then its probably as simple to replace just the spindle, remove the handles and check if the spindle is in 2 halves and both sides go halfway through the same square hole but meet in the middle(hence the term split spindle), means the outer handle isn't technically connected to the inner, they work independently, swap it for a solid 1 piece spindle so ten the outer handle is physically connected to the inner handle

 

[banjodeano]

If the inner and outer handle levers are level with eachother then its probably as simple to replace just the spindle, remove the handles and check if the spindle is in 2 halves and both sides go halfway through the same square hole but meet in the middle(hence the term split spindle), means the outer handle isn't technically connected to the inner, they work independently, swap it for a solid 1 piece spindle so ten the outer handle is physically connected to the inner handle

Ah brilliant thanks, ill have a look at the weekend when i get over, i suppose if the handles are at different heights then its a case of replacing everything?

 

[crank39]

Not necessarily, if the handles are at different heights it definitely means there's 2 half spindles and 2 square drives in the mechanism for each spindle, the inner handle will use the top square drive, outer uses the lower one, the inner drive operates the complete mechanism, open/close and retracts the latch, the outer handle only operates the hooks and cams when pushed down but it won't retract the centre latch, you need the key for that .

Measure the PZ for the inner handle and screw centres, these are critical measurements and buy a pair of handles and utilise the top square drive, the lower one will now be redundant, the top one will lock and unlock and unlatch from both sides with a solid 1 piece spindle, that'll come with the handles

If you can take a picture of the inner handle I can use my power to tell you the pz and screw centres