Before Buying New Locks You Need to Know - 1 views
started by kbojezhang44 on 09 Apr 20
started by kbojezhang44 on 09 Apr 20
started by kbojezhang44 on 09 Apr 20
started by kbojezhang44 on 09 Apr 20
When you've made the decision to buy new locks for your home, there are some critical terms and measurements to know.
A locksmith shop or door hardware showroom will need these answers to choose the right versions of the door lock products you select in order to make a smooth transition to more beautiful doors.
Before buying new locks, you need to: know how many of each lock type you need, determine your lock's keyway, determine the door handing for the door, find the lock backset, and determine the existing lock's footprint.
Determine Your Lock Needs
The best place to start is to make a list of all the doors of your home, and give them a name that you can remember them by. "Front door security gate" or "Kitchen Pantry Door" are examples.
You want to name them in a way that is clear to you and won't be confused with another door by mistake. So, if you have a door from the kitchen into the garage, and in the garage you have a door leading outside the house, and another from the garage to a storage room, you can call them "kitchen to garage door", "garage to outside door" and "garage to storage room door", so you can be sure to not get confused about which particular door you are referring to.
However, be sure to share it if you've hired someone for the installation. It will help them install the right locks on the correct doors.
How to Determine Your Lock's Keyway
If you are replacing every keyed lock with a new keyed lock, this may not be important. But if you are only replacing locks on one or a few doors, this is essential information.
When you want to match your existing key, you will need to buy locks that use the same keyway as your existing locks. One way to do this is to simply by the same brand that is currently installed. But there are other brands that use common keyways.
How to Determine Door Handing
If you plan on buying lever handle door locks, door handing is VERY important.
Simply put, door handing refers to 1) the direction the door swings when it opens and 2) from which side, left or right, that the door is hinged.
Door handing helps with three things. It determines which side of the door lock will take the key, it makes sure the levers point toward the hinged side correctly, and it makes sure the door latch will latch correctly when the door is closed.
Th door handing determination is always made from what would be considered 'outside' the door. The outside is the side where keys would be used if the door had a locking function.
So, on the front door, it's from the outside of your home looking in. In a bedroom, bathroom, or pantry, it's from the outside space from these rooms, looking in.
For doors that swing into a room space, hinges on the left mean it's a left-handed (LH) door, and hinges on the right mean it's a right-handed (RH) door. You can also think of this as which hand you would normally use to open the door. If you would use your left hand, it's a left-handed door.
For doors that swing toward you, hinges on the left mean the door handing is left-hand-reverse (LHR) door, and hinges on the right mean it's a right-hand-reverse (RHR) door.
The 'Reverse' aspect refers to the latch portion of the hardware, ensuring the latch hits the strike plate correctly to allow the door to close.
If your chosen door locks require door handing information, it's important that you request it correctly, as specialty hardware often has long lead times for shipping.
A lot of new mass-produced door locks from manufacturers are now being released with 'field reversible' door handing. That means that they've built their door locks in such a way that it can be adjusted to work on all doors, regardless of whether the door swings in or out, or to the left or the right.
This is a very common on door locks purchased from a big-box store. But some design styles (most commonly levers) will require handing, and most of the upscale, custom, very decorative door lock manufacturers will require door handing information.
How to Determine the Lock Backset
The next piece of important information is determining the 'backset' of your locks. This is the distance from the edge of the door (where the latch projects from), to the CENTER of the bore hole where the lock is installed.
Think of a lock backset as: "how far is the center of the lock set back from the edge of the door"
In the U.S., there are two common lock backsets, 2-3/8 inch and 2-3/4 inch. Although not common, it's entirely possible that some doors on your home may have a different backset than the others, so you need to check each door. Many of the most common locks are coming with adjustable latches to switch between the two so look for those if this is the case.
It can sometimes be a little tricky with such a small difference to determine the lock backset. Usually, if you place a level on the top of the existing lock (if the rosette, the portion of the lock that touches the door, is round), and level it, it will be resting very close to the center-line, and you can get an accurate measurement. In rare cases, you may need to remove the existing door locks to determine it correctly.
Other than replacement parts, most manufacturers aren't making new products with lock backsets other than the 2-3/8 and 2-3/4 sizes. It's possible if you have a lock backset other than those you may have to replace the door if a matching door latch cannot be found in your selected hardware styles, or you may need to bore new holes for the lock sets, and use some sort of filler plate to plug the other holes.
But always check with your local locksmith for odd-sized lock backset latches before taking action. They will likely have the latch that you need. As an example, here in Arizona\ we often see 5-inch backsets that require a 5-inch latch not found at the big box stores. We specifically stock these for our customers.
Knowing the Lock Functions
The next piece of information you'll need is a decision from you, which function lock do you want to use on the door. For detailed article on locks functions see our article Understanding Lock Functions.For most homes, a lock set can be one of three functions:
Passage: the lock has no ability to be locked from either side. Used commonly for things like closets or pantries.
Privacy: the lock has no key, but can be locked from the inside with either a thumb-turn, a button, or by pressing in on the knob slightly and rotating the knob. Privacy locks can be opened from the outside using a small tool provided by the manufacturer or purchased from a locksmith.
Entry: the lock has a keyed cylinder on the outside, and on the inside a means to unlock the door such as a button or thumb-turn.
Dummy: the lock isn't even a lock. It's just screwed onto the door to look like the other locks you have, but can be used for doors that either don't function (decorative), or for doors like linen closets that stay closed by the use of small magnets or ball catch latches. Dummy levers are always handed so door swing needs to be considered.
Which lock function you use is a personal choice of the home owner. You may want a pantry door that you can lock. You may not want a lock on the front door lever, preferring using just a deadbolt above for quicker access.