Put deadbolt in place of knob


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Old 05-04-17, 02:42 PM
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Put deadbolt in place of knob

I have a storage room on back of house with outswing door. Currently has cheap key knob which I don't even have a key so never locked (hoping I don't lock myself out). I would rather have a deadbolt on that door. Is it possible to install deadbolt in place of knob? Is the hole in door for deadbolts the same diameter as knobs? I might need to deepen the latch hole for deadbolt throw. Might this work? Then just install a handle to pull door open after unlocking deadbolt.

One other issue is the gap between door and frame is HUGE so current knob barely latches. The door needs to be replaced someday. Can I install something to close that gap some? Don't think shimming door a solution given the width of gap.
 
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Old 05-04-17, 03:58 PM
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You could always post pictures so we can see what you see. Yes, you can install the deadbolt in place of the lockset. I have a secure cleaning closet in our rental cabin that I don't want weekenders going in to, so I put a deadbolt on it.

As far as your gap, yeah, shimming the latch side may be your only alternative, but we can wait on the pictures so our advice can be more precise.
 
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Old 05-04-17, 04:12 PM
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As Chandler already mentioned. Yes, you can install a deadbolt in the doorknob location.

If there is too much room between the door and jamb shimming can help but may require you to pull or cut the nails holding the jamb/door frame in place so you can shim it out further. You can also stack up several strike plates. It's not the strongest or prettiest but it's better than nothing. There are also higher security strike plates that are longer and thicker that might help bridge the gap.
 
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Old 05-04-17, 04:16 PM
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The dead bolt strike plate hole may be bigger and you will have to dig out some wood so the bolt will go in.
 
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Old 05-04-17, 04:48 PM
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Pics of storage room door and latch area

The storage room has my lawn mower and other power yard tools. That's why I want it to lock. Also, the circuit breaker is in there so don't want anyone to access that. I do have an ADT security sensor on the door but have opened the door accidently triggering the alarm because not locked. When I am out back working on something, I generally arm my system but put bypass on back door so I can go in and out. That is when I forget the storage door is not bypassed and open it to get something.
Latch barely goes into latch hole and could easily be opened with almost anything.
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The door is sagging a lot with distance across door top from hinge to latch starting very small and ending very large. Along the latch edge, it goes from 1/4" at top to 1/2" at bottom. It is about 3/8" at latch. I could do some hinge shimming to change that some. Don't know if I can do enough for gap to be reasonable at latch.
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Old 05-04-17, 04:52 PM
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Really not interested in doing major door jamb adjustment. I need to install new door and will do so with new prehung. So just need to make do until that project makes the top of my "must do" list.
 
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Old 05-04-17, 04:59 PM
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That gap is not really that big on a door that you will be replacing shortly. The deadbolt will prevent jimmying of the lock to gain access. As Don mentioned, you may need to drill the receiver hole a little deeper to accept the longer plunger of the deadbolt. Adding a second strike plate is not out of the question of you see you need it, but I doubt you will.
 
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Old 05-04-17, 05:15 PM
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That is the very reason I just want to put deadbolt in place of knob (make it a bit more secure). Right now you just open it up because I don't lock knob. With an outswing door, not going to be kicked in. The door frame wood is probably old and weak so maybe someone could jerk it open with a deadbolt installed. But then the alarm would go off. It would off with a normal knob, but a deadbolt buys sometime (harder to jimmy open).
 
 

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