Why Having Proper Alignment of Residential Locks is Important

Door Lock Alignment Is Important

Often times in the field, I see a common issue over and over again. This issue is the misalignment of door locks and strike plates, usually on homes. It is important that your locks and strike plates be properly aligned, which results in the hardware operating to its' full potential and lasting a long time. Having a misalignment can lead to degradation in the locks, difficulty in operating, or even a breach in security. I am writing this entry after visiting today a home in Winchester, MA that had lock alignment issues that were beginning to manifest as broken parts and security issues. One door had a broken latch due to an improperly installed lock, while the other door was barely even latching and could be easily pushed open without turning the door knob.

How To Determine If You Have Alignment Problems

When you close your door, your keyed door knob should latch with the door snug to ensure a good weather seal. In addition, the small deadlatch pin should rest against the strike plate and not fall into the pocket. The purpose of the deadlatch feature is to lock the latch in place, which will prevent a credit card or other similar tool from being able to walk (or jimmy) the latch back. This feature only works when the small pin is depressed.
Second, if your door is equipped with a deadbolt, throwing the bolt into the locked position should be easy- there should be no friction and the pressure of the door should rest against the door knob latch. The bolt should throw completely (1"), and if not, then it is not locking into position. A deadbolt only fully locks when the bolt is allowed to fully extend. An improperly aligned deadbolt lock will lead to excessive wear, maybe a broken key, or broken internal parts.
If you believe that your door locks have poor alignment, then it is important that you call a professional locksmith to remedy the situation. Your home will be better secured and you will be helping to prevent costly lock replacements in the future.

Remedy

Lock quality is important, but not necessarily the most important. A poor quality lock that is installed very well may last a long time and potentially offer better security vs. a high quality lock that is not properly installed. To fix alignment, we will start by aligning the door knob strike plate, often by moving the plate or hand filing to better fit. Only after the latch plate is aligned do we consider the deadbolt plate. For the deadbolt plate, it is recommended that a reinforcement plate be installed with long anchor screws for better security. A security plate is made of stronger material and anchors in more places. Door strike plate is an important consideration in your home's security and should not be ignored. Call Cityside Locksmith for a consultation.