A customer in Richmond got in touch about a communal door lock that had been playing up and asked me to see what could be done.
The existing nightlatch case was missing screws and had not been fixed to the door particularly well. The latch had also spent years grinding against the keep.
There was a more important problem with the function of the lock. The existing nightlatch could be deadlocked from the inside, which meant somebody could prevent every keyholder outside from getting back into the building. Even with a key, they would be relying on somebody remaining inside with access to the intercom.
That alone was enough for the customer to decide the backbox should be replaced, quite apart from the wear and poor installation.
I fitted a replacement nightlatch backbox that still had a hold-back button for the latch but could not be deadlocked in the same way. I also fitted the missing faceplate screws and adjusted the lock properly against the keep.
The communal door was left with a correctly fitted nightlatch and without the risk of one person accidentally deadlocking every other resident outside.
