Door Knob and Deadbolt Replacement
In the name of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, I just had occasion to install the former front door hardware from our rental onto our door to the garage in our home.
Ever since we moved in, the door to the garage has required a secret handshake to open. Then, finally, the knob gave out all together, and it spun around in circles, doing nothing from the inside. Fortunately our garage access was not actually blocked, since whatever happened that final time pulled the latch in just enough that the door could be pulled open or shut without requiring the knob to do anything but be a handle.
On the down side, to keep the door closed, we had to throw the deadbolt – a source of frustration to the person still inside the garage when one of us would notice, “huh! the door’s not closed!” and then lock the other of us out there. Oops.
But all that’s changed now! We replaced the hardware at the rental and decided to use the old models on our own home. (Not that new door hardware is expensive – $20 or so at a Big Box … but it was just one of those things we were “living with” until now).
Since it’s tremendously easy to do, no one should ever be as silly as we were and not replace broken hardware. Here’s the tools and steps to replace a deadbolt and lock on a door:
Tools Required
Requires only a phillips-head screwdriver.
Steps to Replace a DeadBolt and Door Knob
Step 1: Deadbolt Removal – Unscrew the two screws on the face of the deadbolt, and pull the two sides (the one on either side of the door) apart from one another. Unscrew the plate holding the bolt itself into the end of the door, and slide the bolt out.
Step 2: Knob Removal – Repeat Deadbolt removal process for knob.
Step 3: Slide Deadbolt latch into door (it indicates which side is “Up”). Then connect the two sides of the deadbolt through it, and tighten the screws.
Step 4: Insert the knob latch through the side hole on the door, then slide the half of the knob with the rod through it. To attach the other half of the knob, note the orientation of the hole on that half – the rod should be oriented so that it can fit snugly. Then tighten the screws to attach both sides of the knob together.
Step 5: Check strike plate to verify that the door latches (I ended up having to move ours about a half-centimeter, so that it would “catch” and actually latch the door closed).
Final Thoughts
We hope this quick tip helped you if you’re thinking about replacing door hardware but are a little intimidated. Dont’ worry, all new door knob hardware comes with detailed instructions and the job is actually really easy. You shouldn’t wait as long as we did 
What do you think? Are you holding off on a project that you know is easy?
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4 Responses to Door Knob and Deadbolt Replacement
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January 30th, 2009 12:40 pm
What a great and helpful post for those who have never done this before! For our Remodel of the Stone House we will be replacing all the doors because there were none there when we got it. So this will be a pretty simple no brainer!
January 30th, 2009 1:21 pm
Thanks, Baba. Yeah, I thought I should put it out their after a friend of mine paid a locksmith to do this on her house – WAY too expensive, when it’s this dinky little job to do! (He didn’t tell her how easy it was, of course. Made me sad for her to get ripped off – or to just be that afraid to try to do something like this on her own. She’s more than capable!)
October 10th, 2009 4:54 pm
You forgot to mention that knobs may not be interchangeable. A few things have changed in the last 47 years. A Schlage Dexter knob today won’t fit in the same hole as its grandfather. The new hole should be about 1/4″ larger. Also the bolt assembly is now about 1/4″ longer. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to compare the old model and the new one. Often the plastic container prevents accurate measurement. (I hope someone still makes knobs with the old dimensions.)
October 15th, 2009 10:52 pm
Thanks for the caution!