By By TOP4
Most people didn’t notice how important door locks are until they break and you ended up having problems such as shutting yourself outside of your house or being unable to secure your home. For you to be able to solve these problems, you have to identify first the problem with your door locks.
Here are the top 4 common problems with door lock you might encounter and how you can solve them.
1. Seized up locks
If you can put the key in the lock but can’t turn it, possibly it’s because the lock was seized due to dirt or grime. To solve this, try to clean the lock mechanism by inserting a damp cotton swab into the keyhole and jiggle it. This will help you get the dirt inside the lock. Next thing you have to do is to lubricate it. To do this, you can use a graphite or silicone spray with the directional nozzle, but you should never use oil for this task. After applying the spray to the keyhole, get the key and insert it in the lock and try to wiggle it to distribute the lubricant evenly.
2. Weather stripping
This may cause the door to be misaligned. It also prevents the lock to properly function. If this happens to your door lock, try to remove the weather stripping and place it further back on the door frame. It’s easier than moving the lock.
3. Frozen lock
This usually happens when the weather is cold. The best solution for this is to use a heated key and insert it in the lock. You can warm the key by placing it on top of a radiator or a bowl of hot water. Use gloves in drying the key and insert it carefully into the lock.
4. Door latch not catching shut
With misaligned bolt, the latch won’t be able to catch when the door is shut. If the problem with misalignment is minor, try to fill down the latch plate a little to see if it will accept the latch. The reason for this might be that the gap in the latch plate is too shallow and the mortise needs are deeper for the lock. If it doesn’t work, try to unscrew the strike plate and reposition it.