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I replaced all of my locks with electronic deadbolts (the ones that *don't* have a battery-powered motor drive the bolts). I also removed the locking levers since they serve no purpose and I didn't want multiple different keyed locks on a single door.
After replacing the Kwikset bolts and levers with the Schlage ones I bought, I noticed that the strikes don't align properly. Looking at the door, you can see that the bolt and lever strike sit about 1/8" higher on the door side than the corresponding jamb strike plates. They probably didn't before but they worked because they used two-piece builder leftovers with huge holes, but using the Schlage strike plate leaves me with no clearance on the bottom. The bolt slides freely, but the lever strike does not and is slightly pushed up.
The hinges are tight, so that leaves me with two options - chiseling more, filling, and moving the strike plate down (probably the "right" way), or shimming the hinges. I have never shimmed hinges so I am wondering if this will work well enough. Is that a suitable solution? I was going to put washers underneath the screws on the bottom hinge to bump it up slightly. That should be more than enough to let the lever strike work unimpeded.
I don't see any reason why it would cause a problem, but I did want to ask and see if anybody has done this.
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Putting the old strike plate back on is the easiest solution.
The problem you'll run into by moving anything an 1/8" is the old screw holes.
Fixing this correctly involves a fair amount of work.
You didn't throw out the old strike plate did you?
In fact, before I did any screwing around with moving the hinges or strike plate, I'd look at opening up the hole on the strike plate with a dremel.
Mark
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(02-15-2018, 11:31 AM)CLETUS Wrote: Putting the old strike plate back on is the easiest solution.
In fact, before I did any screwing around with moving the hinges or strike plate, I'd look at opening up the hole on the strike plate with a dremel.
^ This. BTDT.
Mark Singleton
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What they said. Filling the screw holes and striker hole and re cutting it all is a royal pain.
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I'd open up the hole in the new strike plate so the lever strike has clearance. Shimming the hinges is going to change the door reveals. By the time you move the door enough so the lever strike fits into the strike plate it's likely the reveals are going to look poor or the door actually rubs on the frame and/or sill.
John
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Using a file on the strike plate will leave a better result than a dremel.
BTDT
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(02-15-2018, 01:09 PM)jteneyck Wrote: I'd open up the hole in the new strike plate so the lever strike has clearance. Shimming the hinges is going to change the door reveals. By the time you move the door enough so the lever strike fits into the strike plate it's likely the reveals are going to look poor or the door actually rubs on the frame and/or sill.
John
I saved the old strike plate, but there's no more than maybe 1/16" between the bottom of the new strike plate and the bottom of the mortise in the wood. It had to have been very close before, perhaps just rubbing the wood.
I might try the washers first before going the Dremel route. I'm not concerned about the reveal much (it's a garage entry door from the house to the garage) and if anything rubs I'll try moving it. I may also check for a bronze strike plate with a larger opening.
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(02-15-2018, 01:13 PM)FS7 Wrote: I saved the old strike plate, but there's no more than maybe 1/16" between the bottom of the new strike plate and the bottom of the mortise in the wood. It had to have been very close before, perhaps just rubbing the wood.
I might try the washers first before going the Dremel route. I'm not concerned about the reveal much (it's a garage entry door from the house to the garage) and if anything rubs I'll try moving it. I may also check for a bronze strike plate with a larger opening.
You can always enlarge the mortise behind the strike plate, if needed, once you get the hole in the plate enlarged enough for the latch to pass. A few whacks on a chisel should do it.
John
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What's a "lever strike"? I assume you mean the latch?
Anyway, shimming a door is no big deal. First off make sure all of the hinge screws are tight. Check the gap at the head and latch side of the door. If it is bigger at the bottom (latch side) you can shim the bottom hinge and the center hinge to remove the sag. Use card stock or the very thin edge of a wood shim.
You might want to first try to pull in the top hinge with a long screw thru the frame into the rough framing. This could bind the top hinge!
Al
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I'd go with the old plate, or as mentioned above, a Dremel operation.
Steve
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