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Posted by Nate Nagel on July 27, 2008, 12:28 am
Joe wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>On 7/25/2008 9:23 AM meatnub spake thus:
>>
>>>>Wife and I moved into an 60 year old (or so) row home with apparently
>>>>original door knob closures. Sorry don't know the techinical word.
>>
>>>>The door or the knobs are out of alignment, and no matter how hard you
>>>>push the door against the door jamb, you can't get the doorknob tongue
>>>>(the metal part that sticks out) to go into the doorjamb recess metal
>>>>thingy (the part where the doorknob tongue goes into).
>>
>>>>The previous owners put those brass looking doorknobs with crystal
>>>>clear doorknobs and brass plates... but never did anything about the
>>>>doorknob part on the doorjamb itself.
>>
>>>>What do i do to repair this?
>>
>>>First of all, terminology: the parts of the door you seem to be
>>>concerned with here are the latch (the thingy that sticks out of the
>>>door) and the strike (the metal plate that's supposed to receive the latch.
>>
>>>Hard to tell for sure from your description (pictures might help), but
>>>it's possible that the problem is that the latch isn't aligned correctly
>>>with the strike. This is the most common problem with doors that no
>>>longer close correctly: the house has moved over time, and the jamb,
>>>which carries the strike, has moved it out of range of the latch.
>>
>>>Pretty easy to tell if this is the case: hunker down so your eyes are
>>>level with the latch. Close the door and see where the latch hits on the
>>>strike. If it's missing the openings in the strike, then that's your
>>>problem.
>>
>>>*If* this is the problem, the usual solution is to move the strike (not
>>>the latch, which would be much harder to do). Remove the strike, mark
>>>the new location, chisel out a new mortise for it, drill new pilot holes
>>>for the screws, screw it back in.
>>
>>>--
>>>"Wikipedia ... it reminds me ... of dogs barking idiotically through
>>>endless nights. It is so bad that a sort of grandeur creeps into it.
>>>It drags itself out of the dark abyss of pish, and crawls insanely up
>>>the topmost pinnacle of posh. It is rumble and bumble. It is flap and
>>>doodle. It is balder and dash."
>>
>>>- With apologies to H. L. Mencken
>>
>>Excuse my lack of terminology and thanks for the quick reply!
>>
>>Latch and strike. Got it!
>>
>>Ah yes, that makes sense - the jambs and house moving over time.
>>
>>That's what I thought I would have to do - remove the strike and
>>chisel a new opening in the strike. I've been a little hesitant in
>>doing this, but I think since all I have to do is move the strike 1/4
>>of an inch or so, hopefully I won't have to chisel that much and make
>>things worse. Though I don't think I can do much harm, as long as I
>>don't chisel where the strike needs to be screwed in.
>
>
> If all the good advice you have here doesn't work, you may have to
> make your own new strike plate. Easy done with a hack saw, drill and
> countersink and file,. For material stop by a sheet metal shop and
> scrounge a piece of .060" stainless steel. Scribe the outline of the
> old strike plate on it, scribe a new location for the latch opening,
> cut, trim, file to fit and install in the old location. Spray paint it
> with Rustoleum brass if esthetics are vital. Used this scheme many
> times in old houses with significant success...
>
> Joe
I have actually found sources for vintage looking strike plates. I
wanted some to match the existing in my house because I didn't want to
have to redo all the door jambs (a lot of doors were removed by a
previous owner, but the frames were still intact. Also a couple strike
plates were missing on installed doors.) I don't remember where I found
them from, but there were at least two different sizes/shapes, and mine
apparently was less common. I can find out if it helps though, the
extras are still in the envelope that they came in.
nate
--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel
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