Rattling Door Latch

[fraya]

Hello

We have moved into a 100 year old house which have lovely old doors upstairs with latches. If we leave the window open at night the latch rattles in the wind. We have fixed the problem by jamming a sock between the door and frame, however I am looking for a more permanent solution. Any ideas?

 

[Me!]

We just leave the door open as well as the window!

 

[Nemesis]

Which part rattles? The latch against the sneck, or is it wear on the pin?

 

[fraya]

Oh dear here comes my non technical reply. Its the latch on the back of the door rattling against the piece of metal that stops the latch from dropping out of place. Not the metal piece that's screwed to the door frame that you hook the latch onto but the vertical piece that slides over the latch before being screwed onto the door. There's about a quarter of an inch of play back and forth. I hope that makes some sense.

 

[Mark]

So what you mean is that the latch doesnt hold the door tightly closed?

You could try a little felt between the latch and the door or on the catch. Alternatively you could put a bit of padding on the door surround to push the door out enough to hold it tight - maybe some of that expanding draught excluder stuff?

 

[Nemesis]

A door wedge may hold the door closed so it doesn't move.

 

[Mark]

bit of a pain in the middle of the night after a few beers though ?

 

[middi]

All those type of door latches rattle if a wiindow in another part of the house is left open.

Sometimes they even rattle when opening another door within the house thus creating turbulance in the air.

It indicates that the door is reasonably square against the door stops and the gap between the two may be exessive

I suggest you reposition the door stop wood fillet slightly out of alignement so that the top or bottom of the door edge makes contact wiyh the stop slightlly before you can put the latch on.

Lightly push the door and put the latch on, the very slight distortion in the door will exert pressure on the latch therefore eliminating your rattles.

 

[Lime]

Hello

We have moved into a 100 year old house which have lovely old doors upstairs with latches. If we leave the window open at night the latch rattles in the wind. We have fixed the problem by jamming a sock between the door and frame,
however I am looking for a more permanent solution. Any ideas?

How about nailing the sock on?

 

[fraya]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I just had another look at the door and noticed that it had no door stop (how did I miss that?) So the only thing stopping it from going through the frame is the latch. I will try the felt on the latch trick first (thanks Mark) and if that doesn't work then will replace the stop (the way Middi suggested). After 5 months of renovation I am looking for the quick fix for the time being, just to get some sleep. Or if Lime thinks socks are the way forward maybe I should continue with that. Look out for it in a future edition of "Homes and Gardens"

Thanks again

fraya

 

[Nemesis]

Alpaca would be very upmarket... maybe the Alapaca Centre in Cumbria would make a new range of door furniture especially?

(I do like watching these in the field - they are so cute)

http://www.thealpacacentre.co.uk/

 

[Penners]

I just had another look at the door and noticed that it had no door stop (how did I miss that?) So the only thing stopping it from going through the frame is the latch. I will try the felt on the latch trick first (thanks Mark) and if that doesn't work then will replace the stop (the way Middi suggested). After 5 months of renovation I am looking for the quick fix for the time being, just to get some sleep. Or if Lime thinks socks are the way forward maybe I should continue with that. Look out for it in a future edition of "Homes and Gardens"

Fraya, I would go straight for Middi's solution (which I had never thought of, and I think is a stroke of genius!). Fitting butts to the door is quick and easy, and without them the door will always be very draughty, as well as noisy.