Common Door Knob Problems and How to Fix Them

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Although small purchases, doorknobs play big and important roles in keeping a home safe, secure, and complete. If anything, doorknobs are also seen as staples or essentials in upscaling a home’s decor, which is an additional feature to its primary function. Whatever doorknob you may want for your home, it’s important that you find the right one based on your needs and preferences as this can make things easier for you. More than anything, having a clear idea of what you want your home to look like or what style you’re trying to go for can also give you a clear sense of which types or styles of doorknob to incorporate in your home.

However, just like any other home furniture, feature, or fixture, doorknobs also often get caught up in problems concerning the main handle, its lockset, and so much more. While doorknob prices in the Philippines come off as relatively cheap yet durable, it’s still a rising issue today of whether or not getting new locks and doorknobs would be a good thing or not because hey, sometimes, a good ol’ fix can solve lots of hardware problems. That being said, it’s an essential thing for homeowners to take a look at these problems fast and look for ways on how to solve and correct them before things get worse. Most of the time, doorknobs experience problems regarding a malfunctioning latch assembly or lock mechanism.

Curious about the many other doorknob problems you may face in your homes? Look no further and spend yourself the aggravation of stressing over your home’s doors because we’ve laid out below some of the most common doorknob problems and how to fix them.

Lock-Latching Issues

Locks failing to latch correctly is one of the most common doorknob problems many homeowners experience until today. When door latches don’t click into position, chances are both its latch and strike plate are out of its original posture or alignment.

To fix this, first, try tightening the hinge screws. After that, try adjusting the strike plate by loosening all screws while shifting it slightly. With this issue, repairs usually range from making minor door latch adjustments to repositioning the entire door itself. If simple troubleshooting of the said doorknob’s latch doesn’t work, you might want to call in professionals who can help you fix the problem accurately. After all, you wouldn’t want to ultimately add problems and issues to an already existing one.

Loosened Doorknob

Doorknobs can naturally get loose over time, and it’s a common problem among households, which, of course, can be fixed. However, there are different methods of tightening a doorknob’s grip, depending on the type of lockset. For simple interior mortise locksets, you can tighten it by first loosening the setscrew on the knob’s shank. Next, you’ll want to hold the knob on the other side of the door to keep it from falling, then turn the loose knob clockwise until it fits. Finally, proceed with tightening the screw until you feel it resting against the flat side of the spindle. From here, your knob should already turn freely.

However, if these steps don’t help at all, try removing the entire knob and checking the spindle as this can indicate that you need to replace the old, worn-out rod with a new one. Meanwhile, if you notice that the entire lockset has already worn out, then it’s best to replace all of its parts immediately or until you see fit.

Door Often Swings and Won’t Stay Open

This issue is commonly caused by doors out of plumb in its opening. To fix this, try inserting a small amount of shim between the door jamb and the back of its hinge (usually the bottom hinge). To do this, you must first loosen the knob’s hinge screws all the way to give you enough space between for the hinge and the jamb. Next, behind the hinge, try to insert small pieces of plastic laminate (we try to give you the simplest options--ones you can immediately find in any home) then re-tighten its screws.

Note that you may need to adjust a couple of times the amount of shim you insert to get your door to swing accurately this time. The same thing or procedure goes for when you also want to place the hinge somewhere at the center.

Frozen Door Locks

Exterior locks commonly freeze while interior locks can get dirty. These are common doorknob problems that can be fixed through quick remedies such as those mentioned below:

First, try putting some graphite into the keyhole. You can either squeeze it from a container or dust it on towards a key. After that, try to operate the lock a few times to make the graphite work its magic into the mechanism.

Another trick or remedy you can try doing is opt for lock de-icers, which contain alcohol and other lubricants, that could help dissolve dirty deposits within door locks. It pretty much works just like how spritzing graphite on keyholes does.

Your last resort could be completely disassembling the entire lock to see if something inside has started to jam up or break down. Frequently, you really have to opt for a replacement, but without buying a new lock.

Wrapping Up

Doorknobs, locks, and hinges can often get caught up in issues and problems mainly because of how long it has already been hinged or placed within door frames, or maybe because of a knob’s faulty nature (could also be a factory defect). Experiencing troublesome doorknob issues? Try browsing through these common problems and ways on how to fix them so you’d know what to do next time before you splurge on a new knob!