I have heard this complaint dozen\u2019s of times over the last three decades. Many times I have tried to help the customer over the phone. The conversation goes something like this:<\/p>\n
Me: Put the key in the door and while you are turning the key push-in on the door really hard.<\/p>\n
Customer: I\u2019m turning the key and pushing but I am afraid the key is going to break if I turn any harder.<\/p>\n
Me: You don\u2019t have to turn the key with so much torque, just put normal turning pressure on the key and push-in on the door at the same time.<\/p>\n
Customer: I\u2019m turning and pushing but nothing is happening, can\u2019t you just come out here and get me in?<\/p>\n
When I arrive, I insert their key into the lock, put turning pressure on the key and give the door a couple of bumps with my knee, pushing the door in while turning the key at the same time. The door opens in seconds and the customer is amazed and confused, wondering why it didn\u2019t work for them.<\/p>\n
This scenario is very common with residential and commercial wood, metal and fiberglass doors. There are a variety of reasons that will jam-up the latch, loose hinge screws, stone stuck in the threshold, or the door was slammed harder than usual.<\/p>\n
Most often, the dead-latch button, which is part of the door latch (see photo 5) falls into the strike plate hole when the door is slammed shut by the wind or somebody.<\/p>\n
The photographs below explain this very common problem more clearly.<\/p>\n
Jeff<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I have heard this complaint dozen\u2019s of times over the last three decades. Many times I have tried to help the customer over the phone. The conversation goes something like this: Me: Put the key in the door and while … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gaterslocksmith.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Deadlatch-jam-057.jpg\")
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