How do I go about changing the locks on my doors?
A brief intro to the terminology I will be using.
Inside/outside – I will be referring to ‘inside’ the room/house, and ‘outside’ the room/house.
Door Locks:
Latch bolt – The bolt that is controlled by the knob/lever. It is angled on one side to allow the door to
be closed without turning the knob/lever.
Handleset – This is the two part lock set usually found on the main entryway of a home. It consists of a deadbolt and a long handle with a thumb-latch. The deadbolt will have a decorative ‘shield’ on the outside. There are some handlesets that have a one-piece shield that goes from the top of the deadbolt to the bottom of the handle.
Entry set – This set consists of a deadbolt and knob/lever. The deadbolt normally would be plain (round, with no shield). But unlike the handle in the handleset, this knob/lever would normally be a ‘keyed-lock’ type.
Bedroom/Bathroom – These knobs/levers will lock, but can be opened from the outside with a small tool that is provided with the lock. These locks are meant to allow for privacy, but with an easy access if there is an emergency.
Hallway/Closet/Pantry – These knobs/levers have NO locking mechanisms whatsoever.
Deadbolt Locks:
A deadbolt must be unlocked in order to open or close the door.
THE SINGLE DEADBOLT:
The single-deadbolt is the most common. It has the keyhole on the outside and a turn knob on the inside. It makes for easy exit and locking from the inside, as you do not need a key if you are inside.
The drawback is two-fold.
First, if someone gains entrance through a window, they can now remove large items (TV) by unlocking the door. Second, if there is a window in the door or right next to it, a someone can break the window, reach in and unlock the door.
THE DOUBLE-DEADBOLT:
The double-deadbolt requires a key to lock/unlock from either side of the door.
This type is often used when a window is near/in the door. It is, overall, a more secure lock, but has its drawbacks as well. First, you need the key to lock/unlock even from the inside. If you leave a key in the lock, to be convenient, it will negate the very reason in spending the extra money to buy it. Secondly, the double deadbolt can be a danger to you. If you are awakened in the wee hours by a fire/intruder/etc, you will need to be alert enough to remember your key before you run to the door to escape. Fire marshalls frown on the use of double deadbolts, as they often find victims of smoke inhalation, just inside a locked door that has a double deadbolt on it. Either the smoke wouldn’t allow the victims to go back and find the key, or the key was too close to the fire.
The choice is yours. You know best what your needs and abilities are.
Before you start, be sure you have all the tools you will need. Most packages will give you a list that is specific to their brand/style, but this should help:
(1) medium phillips screwdriver
(1) small slotted screwdriver
(1) medium slotted screwdriver
(1) set of S.A.E Allen wrenches
(1) set of metric Allen wrenches
Since I am going to be only talking about replacing an existing lock, we should not need any other tools.
At a later date, I will discuss installing a new lock without benefit of an existing hole.
I want to take a moment to let you know about my preference in locks. I absolutely love the Kwikset Smartkey series. They are incredibly secure, consumer re-key-able, and very competitively priced. If we take off for a week, we can re-key (in 10 seconds) one of our doors, to a relatives’ key (they must have a Kwikset-type of key). They can go in and feed our wild animals. When we return home, we can re-key the lock back to our key (again, in just 10 seconds).
Now To the Work
There is only a slight difference between changing a front-entry handleset and the other entry doors in your house.
There is also a slight difference between those other entry door lock sets, and all the interior door hardware.
Let’s install the deadbolt first. I will assume there is a deadbolt currently occupying the space you need, so let’s get it out of the way. There are two stove-bolts on the inside part of the deadbolt. If you cannot see them, they are covered by a plate. If there is a smooth plate, it should either unscrew, or (more likely) pop off using a thin, slotted screwdriver. On some brands, there might be a set screw on the post of the ‘turn-knob’ for the deadbolt (if this is a ‘double-deadbolt’, there will be no knob on the inside, just the two bolts). Find the allen wrench that fits and loosen/remove the screw holding the turn handle.
Now unscrew both stove bolts completely. Both sides (inside and outside) of the deadbolt should come out. Watch your toes, as one side (or both) will sometimes fall out easily.
Now, look at the edge of the door where the latch bolt protrudes. There will be two wood screws holding it in place. Remove the screws and slide the latch bolt out.
Immediately slide the new one in and screw it into place. Do not tighten the screws yet.
Now you are ready to install the body of the deadbolt. Make sure you put the inside piece on the inside of the door, and vise versa. Even with a double deadbolt, there is a difference between the inside and outside. The inside piece is the one with the screws. That way, a burglar cannot remove your lock. Fit the two lock pieces together and tighten the screws. Now, tighten the screws on the latch bolt. Done.
For knob/lever/handleset installation, let’s start with the front entry door.
Most homeowners like to put a handleset <see picture for example> on their front door.
Now you are ready to install a handleset.
Take a deep breath. This is going to be easy.
You already know how to replace the deadbolt. The holes in the door are the same as all other knobs/levers/deadbolts, BUT the very bottom of the handleset has a screw to hold the handle in place when being pulled on to open the door.
If you are replacing an existing handleset, you need to measure from dead-center of the hole for the latch (ignore the deadbolt for now), down to dead-center of the bottom screw on the handle. This will usually be anywhere from 8 ½” to about 11”. You may want to find a handleset that matches your current set, or patch the old screw hole and install anything you want. The advantage you have from just a few years ago, is that lock makers are starting to make ‘adjustable’ locks. That means they will adjust to fit “most” measurements.
The knob/lever/handleset goes on relatively the same as a deadbolt, with one important exception. The latch bolt has an angled side, and therefore the angle must face the door jam, when the door is open. When the latch bolt hits the strike plate, it will retreat into the door until it lines up with the opening in the strike plate.
Sometimes, with a lever set, the handles are facing the wrong way. This is easy to change over. Just read the instructions that come with your lock. Each manufacturer has a different method of changing a lever from right-hand, to left-hand, but all of them are quite simple.
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