I wonder if anybody using the forums could advise me where to look online for a diagram showing the works of a uPVC front door handle. Mine seems to be working loose. It seems to do it regularly and last time I employed a locksmith who charged me some small fortune for not much labour. I have performed the Tchaikovsky violin concerto for less (in a distant memory!)
I’ll work it all out eventually - it’s just a door, but there is a mystifying array of dissimilar screws and rollers, and I can see this turning into a major project without some helpful knowledge.
I’m off work tomorrow and Thursday, so if there is no joy with communal knowledge here I’m going to tackle it tomorrow come what may. I would quite like to close my front door at night so I hope it will be finished tomorrow too.
Common sense tells me the ordinary screws in the door side are the ones to unscrew first. The funny roller ones need Allen keys and all sorts. I’ve got all that but I’ll try the easy route first.
I’ve had a good look online and the websites I’ve seen offer no real specialised advice despite what they say. They seem to be only for sales and parts and are lacking in pictorial detail beyond telling you what a window is, and a door. Luckily I went to school so learned all that then!
I had a similar problem, but tackled it differently. I went to a DIY store and bought another lock unit and fitted it myself and I must have done it right as it’s still working 3 years on. I think it cost around £12.00 (plus petrol costs to the store).
If its too fiddly for you a neighbour might help or a handiman might not charge you a fortune (locksmiths are very expensive).
Im guessing you mean the handle its self is working loose?
If thats the case their maybe a little screw or allen key on the underside of the handle to tighten it. Some do come off but some are fixed to the whole mechanism.
Firstly, thank you for offering help Darren, Karen.
I’ve done it and all is ok. It took me two hours and is not that easy. Poll, I can’t justify getting the door fitter back in - he was about 5 and was charging me a few hundred plus some preposterous call out charge. And Darren, it wasn’t the allen key, if only!
And Karen, there was nothing on YouTube for this job, just plenty of things telling you how to save fortunes but of no actual help whatsoever!
I couldn’t believe that a front door could be so complex. There are rollers and drawlinks and spring loaded things which spring out when released. Anyway, it’s done and next time I know what to do. There are screws in the vertical rails and some machine screws too, all of which have to come off. There are lots of potential problems and you must think outside the box. I even considered getting a locksmith home but I don’t give in easily. And then, when you finally get the handles off, it’s just a small screw that is the culprit. Pat, if your door is Safestyle like mine I suspect you could probably unscrew the handles alone from inside which would make it much easier. I undid the whole shebang of course as a drawlink had dropped.
It’s up to you of course Pat but I would only consider doing it if you are used to diy things.
By the way, thank you too Mary for your solution which might have happened if I’d got into trouble.
Pat, thinking about it, it could be done by just taking the handles off, screw top and bottom inside which go right through the door, but your design might not be the same. If you don’t disturb the drawlinks this will work, but there are spring loaded things in the handles so watch out for springs trying to get away. If one does zing off somewhere try to find it again as it’s not difficult to put in back together. You will need a long narrow screwdriver to fasten the offending screw, phillips head on mine.
Now an electric light in the kitchen has stopped working in sympathy with the door.
It’s diy day I think, as I start to investigate that.
I’ve never been good at DIY, but as per recent posts, I now have difficulty even replacing a lightbulb.
Last week I had to pay £225 to replace two fence panels. I had no choice, as it’s not a job I could have attempted myself, and it took even two burly blokes some hours, as they had to lay new foundations. So I’m not saying I was overcharged, but I still resent £225 for a bit of fence! I’m not even interested in fences, so it’s not as if I ended up with something that’s a source of pride and joy, at the end of it. It’s just a damn fence!
Life’s very expensive, when you have no competent DIYers on hand.
What a drag for you. I know exactly what you mean. Fence, front door, all charged at some silly rate. That’s why I do it myself. As I sit here I’m trying to work out what my electrical problem might be, and it’s this and that out, meters, special insulated screwdrivers, things with lights on that play a concert A. I don’t know if I’m much good at all this but I manage.
Unbelievably my car broke down two days ago and it’s the fuel pump. I’ve just been quoted nearly six hundred pounds. What choice do I have? I’m just not going to do that as well and I need it for work.
When I was a boy, the professionals earned the money. In 2013 it’s the labourers.
Hi, well done on fixing your door. You are so right about the laborers earning all the money. I will not tell you what I am paying to get the downstairs area of the house decorated, lol. Cheryl:-)
