Submitted by SavageMountain t3_zn1o1q in DIY
The door is stuck shut; it's an internal door with no lock. When I turn it the mechanism doesn't catch. The screws are on the other side.
There are 2 small holes on the baseplate; I tried flathead, phillips & hex in the holes. No dice; it seems to be the end of the screws.
Locksmith said he'd have to drill it out.
I’ve done this hammer technique, it works. Probably not good results on a hollow core door but fine for cheap handles on solid doors.
Even if you damage the door they’re about $75. Less than a locksmith
Dude, I was redoing a kitchen for a client. She hired a "locksmith" because she locked her basement door. Of all the easy methods to pop a lock or even just pop the pins out of the door. Mother fucker used tin snips to cut a triangular hole in the door knob to open it, and even just left it like a mangled tuna can for the client. I didn't even know what to say.
Sounds like she hired some meth head
Yeah, if you bust our break off they handle in one way or another you should be able to pull the latching mechanism internally manually.
I got it. Used a hacksaw to cut off the knob. Pliers to wrestle the innards around & pull the latch out of the jamb. Took awhile but managed not to damage the door too much.
At least you weren't trapped inside the room!
That happened to me when we were renting a house. Myself, my wife and my two kids ( age2 and 4) were in the babies room and the door closed. The knob just spun when I went to open it.
No keys, so going out the window wouldn't matter. No phones, couldn't call anyone. No tools, it was a child's room.
I ended up taking the curtain rod off it's bracket and punching a series of holes through the door in a semi circle around the knob. Eventually I got the knob to fall out.
My landlord laughed at the story and replaced all the interior knobs in the house after that.
Great problem solving!
Can you pop the latch with a thin wire, credit card or small screw driver? If it's an interior door the latch could open easily. Try sliding different things in there to see if the latch releases.
pretty sure i'm on the wrong side, where the catch is flat, not curved. there's also moulding in the way, so the credit card has to turn 90° to get in there
Can you remove the trim molding, and try that way?
Edit: just saw you got it open. I'll leave the post up for future reference.
If the door trim is blocking the latch, gently remove the trim with a flathead screwdriver. Cut an old card to look like this, use the lip of the cut card to slide the latch back into the door. You may even be able to do it with a tiny screwdriver.
Crush the handle with pliers like vise grips or channel locks. It will destroy the knob but you may get one last turn. Even if it just spins off, it will expose the interior mechanism which you should be able to turn with a screw driver
Which side is the hinge on?
If it's on your side, knock the pins out of the hinge and remove the door, then change the handle
other side
If the hinges are on the other side, then the "door stop" trim piece is on your side. Remove that trim, and you'll have much better access to the latch.
Damn. Worth a try. Sometimes it's one of those things people forget (myself included once upon a time)
I've used screwdrivers on the flat side of the bolt.
I've used screwdrivers against the flat side of the bolt. Use 1 to pull it then hold it with the other. Repeat
At least look at the hinge pins. If you can pull them, do it. They should be on the other side, but just in case.
Can we get a picture of the knob to see if there's a way it can be dismantled?
Crowbar between the knob and baseplate. Gently pry until the door latch clears the plate. Then your door is open and easy to replace the knob.
I've opened an interior door like this with a butter knife, but a crowbar is easier.
Some door knob/handles have either a pin or a couple spring loaded latches to hold the handle on. Maybe you could just remove the knob/handle so you can get to the mechanical section of the latch.
If it’s an interior door, just carefully detach the molding around the wall adjacent to the door with a sharp knife. (The molding is attached to the wall using very small nails, so detaching the molding shouldn’t take too much force). That will give you access to the latch. Then use a screwdriver to push out the latch out of the wall to open the door. Once opened, you can disassemble the doorknob from the inside.
Attach the molding back, using either a small rubber hammer or even just your hand so that you don’t damage the paint. Repainting can be a PITA, as even if you perfectly match the color it could still stand out.
Did this multiple times when I lived in an apartment and locked myself out of the room. If don’t correctly, it should cost you nothing and can be done fairly quickly.
Exterior doors are a different story. That would be the only time, I’d be spending money on a locksmith or hacking the door handle apart. Doing that on an interior door is just unnecessarily risking damage to the door and surrounding walls.
You can take a drill with a long screw and screw it into the hole’s it will essentially tap out and then you pull it apart.
It is going to need to be replaced, its broken and you'll have to buy a new one... so use a large channel lock pliers and literally twist and break the door knob completely off. Remove all the remaining parts falling off to access the interior mech. of the door knob. Manipulate the latching mechanism to open the door with needle nose pliers.
Go to home depot or lowe's to buy a replacement.
Excellent help here.
By the way, "flathead" does not refer to the kind of screwdriver end that you turn the screw with. It refers to the way the head of the screw interfaces with the surface you're mounting in. A flathead screw is flat across. For comparison of the concept, look at a round head screw. The head comes up from the mounting surface and there's almost a half sphered of metal there. Its finish is round. An oval head has a finish shape between flathead and round head.
What you're talking about is variously called a slot drive. As google says elsewhere, "Slot screw drives have a single horizontal indentation (the slot) in the fastener head and is driven by a "common blade" or flat-bladed screwdriver."
Don't worry about this too too much. It's a common error.
warlocktx t1_j0eea21 wrote
Hit it with a hammer to knock the knob off, or cut it off with a saw
Most interior doorknobs are pretty cheap
Paying a locksmith for this is overkill and expensive. If you don’t have tools to do it yourself get a general purpose handyman to do it for much cheaper than a locksmith