Inside House Door Won't Open---Help!!!
#1
02-19-11, 03:16 PM
Inside House Door Won't Open---Help!!!
The door to my laundry room won't open. The handle turns, but does nothing. I have taken the handle off & the screws are on the other side--inside. Credit card will not work. I need to know another way to take all the hardware off without busting the door.
Can I drill through the screws--even though it's the non-head side. I don't want to bust the door down or take the wood off around the latch. There are no windows & no other way to get in.
What should I do??
Can I drill through the screws--even though it's the non-head side. I don't want to bust the door down or take the wood off around the latch. There are no windows & no other way to get in.
What should I do??
Last edited by jfink69; 02-19-11 at 05:58 PM.
#3
02-19-11, 06:11 PM
Hi j,
I'm not a lock guy, but I'll keep you busy while we wait for someone who knows. From my experience, interior doors do not have the little button that prevents you from teasing the latch back to open the door. The latch on your front door has a little button on the flat side which stays depressed when the latch engages the hole in the plate. Once this happens, you cannot pick the latch. But that should not be a laundry room set up.
If the gap is too tight, you might have to force something in there to give you room to work, but essentially the credit card process should work.
The guys that open car doors have an inflatable wedge that forces the glass out of the way so the lock can be reached. Maybe they do houses as well. I assume the hinges are not an option.
That's my best.
Bud
I'm not a lock guy, but I'll keep you busy while we wait for someone who knows. From my experience, interior doors do not have the little button that prevents you from teasing the latch back to open the door. The latch on your front door has a little button on the flat side which stays depressed when the latch engages the hole in the plate. Once this happens, you cannot pick the latch. But that should not be a laundry room set up.
If the gap is too tight, you might have to force something in there to give you room to work, but essentially the credit card process should work.
The guys that open car doors have an inflatable wedge that forces the glass out of the way so the lock can be reached. Maybe they do houses as well. I assume the hinges are not an option.
That's my best.
Bud
#4
02-19-11, 06:43 PM
You can only access the latch with a credit card from one side and that is the side that doesn't have the door stop in the way. That would also make the hinges exposed to you. If you have access to the hinges, pop the pins out.
#5
02-20-11, 03:33 AM
The hinges are only accessible on the side where the latch is also accessible 
If the handle is off, can you get to the 'guts' of the lockset and turn it with a screw driver? While a credit card or putty knife really only works the hinged side, you should be able to remove [or loosen] the door stop and pry back the plunger that way.
If the handle is off, can you get to the 'guts' of the lockset and turn it with a screw driver? While a credit card or putty knife really only works the hinged side, you should be able to remove [or loosen] the door stop and pry back the plunger that way.
#7
02-20-11, 11:56 AM
When the handle is off, along with the cover plate---I can't get to the guts of it. There is another face plate that covers the the door hole--all I can see are two holes where the screws are coming from the other side. There is another hole where the handle was that goes through the middle--very small--diameter is a little bigger than a pencil led.
Thanks everyone for your input!!
Thanks everyone for your input!!
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