Home & GardenHome ImprovementDoorsHow to Lubricate a Door Lock How to Lubricate a Door Lock Many people put up with the aggravation of a sticking door lock for years. Ironically, by cleaning and oiling them, you can fix most locks in a matter of minutes. Fixing a few stubborn locks might involve disassembling, cleaning, and then reassembling the lock. First, clean the keyhole with a penetrating lubricant like WD-40. (Don’t apply household oil to the key or cylinder because it attracts dirt and eventually would gum up the lock.) Spray the lubricant into the keyhole itself and then spray it on the key. Slide the key in and out of the lock several times to spread the lubricant. If this superficial cleaning doesn’t free the lock, eliminate the aggravation altogether: Take about ten minutes to disassemble, clean, and reassemble the entire door lock. Here’s how to remove and clean the most common type of door lock: With the door open, use a Phillips screwdriver to take out the two connecting screws that are located by the doorknob on the inside of the lock.

Remove the two screws that hold the lock faceplate on the edge of the door. Slide the doorknob off the spindle, pull out the lock mechanism, and remove the latchbolt from its hole in the edge of the door. Lay the disassembled lock parts on layers of newspaper or paper towels. Spray a light all-purpose household lubricant or silicone lubricant on all moving parts of the lock, flushing out the latchbolt. Use powdered graphite to lubricate the lock cylinder. Spray until all the dirt is flushed from the assembly and then let the latchbolt assembly lie on the newspaper or towels until all the excess lubricant has dripped off. To reassemble the door lock after cleaning and lubricating it, follow these steps: Insert the latchbolt assembly into its hole in the edge of the door. Insert the exterior doorknob and spindle into its hole, aligning it so that the spindles and connecting screws pass through the holes in the latchbolt assembly. Drive in the latchbolt screws, but don’t tighten them until the lock is completely assembled.

Slide the interior doorknob onto the shaft, aligning the screw holes, and then drive in the screws. Turn the doorknob back and forth to check that the cylinder and latchbolt are engaged and in proper alignment. Tighten the screws on the latchbolt and recheck the alignment by turning the knob. If you have any parts left over, guess what? Disassemble the lock and replace all the pieces. Test the lock by turning the knob and locking the lock. If the lock doesn’t work smoothly, loosen the screws, realign the cylinder and latchbolt, and try again. You can lubricate deadbolts the same way. Remove the connecting screws, the faceplate screws, and then the knobs. Next, pull out the latchbolt assembly and clean and lubricate the lock as just described. To reassemble the lock, reverse the procedure.Doorknob set screws can wear out. The part of a doorknob that you grasp with your hand connects to a rod that extends though the door to the knob on the other side. The rod passes through a spring-loaded mechanism that connects it to the barrel, and when you turn the handle, the rod turns the mechanism which retracts the bolt.

If nothing happens when you turn the knob, it's usually because the set screw holding the knob to the rod has worked itself loose. If the bolt moves, but not enough to allow the door to open, the mechanism probably needs lubrication. Look for the set screw on neck of the knob, between the handle and door. shower door hinge leakIt may be on the underside of the knob. iron entry doors charlotte ncTighten the screw, using the appropriate flathead screwdriver or hex wrench. cost to install a bifold doorThat should restore the operation of the knob. emergency exit door alarm hardwareIf the knob is old, the screw may be stripped or stuck.

Pull off the handle and spray lubricant onto the screw to get it to turn more easily. Replace the handle and tighten the screw. Disassemble the knob to lubricate the spring mechanism if the barrel doesn't retract all the way. Loosen the set screw on one of the handles and remove the two screws holding the knob together, using a Phillips screwdriver. Alternatively, if you can't see any screws, look for a notch under one of the rosettes. Insert a flathead screwdriver into the notch and pry off the rosette to expose the screws. Pull the handle and rosette off of one side of the door to expose the barrel and spring mechanism. Spray the mechanism with spray lubricant while you operate the barrel with the other handle. The spring should loosen enough to allow the barrel to retract. Reassemble the knob when you're satisfied with its operation. Don't forget to tighten the set screw on the handle that you removed. /Getty Images Suggest a Correction Here's how it works: Anybody can ask a question

The best answers are voted up and rise to the top This just started today. I have to turn the knob in order for the latch to retract. Before, I could just push to door shut and the latch would retract when it hit the plate on the door frame. But now it just hits hard against it. Other than that, the door knob works perfect. You may have a deadlocking latch bolt, which in addition to a normal door latch has a plunger. When this plunger is retracted (which happens when the door is closed), the spring loaded mechanism on the latch is disabled. This prevents someone from using the credit card trick to open the door from the outside, so the only way to open the door is by unlocking it and turning the knob. In other words, it's for security. My guess, assuming this is an external locking door, is that this plunger is either jammed or some of the internal mechanisms that it activates have jammed. You can unscrew the door knob and remove both sides, then unscrew the latch and pull it out of the door.

From there, try some lubricant (silicone spray and graphite powder are my preferred lubricants for locks, WD-40 will quickly dry and attract dirt). And if it still doesn't work, it's probably time to go to the store to pickup a new doorknob. The answer provided by @BMitch is good, but here's another suggestion: Check to see that the plate on the door frame is actually making contact with the angled part of the latch. It's possible that due to thermal expansion or contraction of the door or frame, the plate is now striking the latch on the non-angled part causing it not to retract. The exact same thing happened to us last week. We called Schlage, the manufacturer, and they said that part of the internal mechanism was broken. Because they warranty the mechanism for life, they sent us a new mechanism with instructions on how to install it. It arrived just a few days later, and installing it was a simple task. Now we can just push the door shut again without having to turn the knob.

The latch bold was sticking on my front door. It's a schlage dead latch. I called the company after fiddling with it. Something had clearly gone wrong with the latch itself. After a little time on hold I got through to customer service. She was able to determine what model I had because there is no model number anywhere on the thing. Long story short my product and possibly yours has a life time warranty on parts. She put the order in and true to their word 5 business days later the latch showed up and I just finished installing it. No problems, it's not hard to do. FYI Customer service number is 1-888-805-9837. and there was no charge. The part you are refering to is a hardened pin designed to prevent someone from cutting the latch with a hacksaw to gain entry. It is a part of the backset mechanisim. The backset will need to be replaced. Most are lifetime guaranteed for mechanical defect, and commonly replaced by the manufacturer, or purchased at most building supply stores.

I work in such a place on Vancouver Island in Canada. This is a very common problem, with a very easy remedy. The tongue of the door latch leading from my garage to the kitchen began malfunctioning just as described above. It would retract when either knob was turned, but not when attempting to close the door without turning a knob. After reading everything written above, I concluded that I was looking at replacing some or all of the internal mechanism. With that realization in mind, I decided to just hit the thing a few times with a hammer. Unbelieveably, that seems to have worked, and now the tongue isn't sticking any more. Thank you for your interest in this question. Because it has attracted low-quality or spam answers that had to be removed, posting an answer now requires 10 reputation on this site (the association bonus does not count). Would you like to answer one of these unanswered questions instead? Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged doors lock or ask your own question.