Composite Double rebated 70 mm Door and Frame Fitting

[Theo.Bromson]

Good morning,

we have had fitters in, couple of days ago.

The double sealed door opens and closes differently than the one we had before.

We were told that while unlocking the door or opening it from the outside, we need to pull the door towards us and only then to turn the key to open the doors.

There is no handle, we had a square handle bar installed with escutcheon.

We were told to use both hands to open the door, one hand pulls the handle bar towards us and second hand turns the key.

May I ask whether this is normal with these double rebated 70 mm thick doors or are qe being taken for a ride?

We do find it bit odd to be quite frank.

Thanks

Theo

 

[robinbanks]

Seems expected. The door when shut compresses its seals so that they seal effectively and it is the locking mechanism that holds that compression on. Because every action has an equal and opposite reaction, the seals are pushing on the locking mechanism too, increasing the friction it experiences. If you take your slender brass key and turn it with the force required to overcome the friction imposed by the seals' push you'll eventually snap your key, perhaps even on the first go. By pulling on the handle you're using effort to compress the seals a little more which relieves the pressure they're exerting on the lock.

Your previous door may have been a "lift the handle to engage the locking rods and compress the seals" type, which uses a different approach and also has much stronger componentry pushing against that friction, but in days of old with wooden doors and mortise locks it would have been quite typical to find a door where you needed to pull or push on it some to free up a pressure it was exerting on the lock

Did you ever get into the car and find you couldn't turn the key because the steering lock was jammed? And you had to turn the wheel slightly to free up the steering lock mechanism while you turned the key? This is the same thing