Adjusting very tight door knobs?

[Legend83]

An excellent carpenter hung an interior door for us recently and came back to install the mortice lock, keep and door knobs.

We left him to it yesterday and when we got back it all looked great BUT when I went to open the door, the knob was ridiculously tough to turn - my pregnant wife could not actually turn it (and ultimately would be locked in the kitchen if it shut behidn her!).

Is it likely to loosen up as the spring mechanism is used more over time?

Or is there a way of adjusting the unit so the knobs turn more freely?

[dmitsi]

When you turn the handle is there any unusal noise? Either the spring squeaking or the latch scraping against anything?

[Laurel Green]

I'd say it's either the handle shaft hole is too small, or, more likely, the handles have been fitted out of true(not at 90 degrees to door face). To rectify, both handles will need to be repositioned. Of course, it could be that one or both handles are faulty. Taking the handles off to see if they turn easily will soon determine this.

[Legend83]

No, nothing obvious.

I can push the latch in with my thumb freely so no blockage there.

It basically feels like there is no give in the spring, and I noticed that even when I use all my strength the handle does not turn very far to open the latch.

[dmitsi]

All I can think of is the handles being offset on either side (unless the spring is broken internally, is it a new lock?), and the handles are fighting against each other. If you open the door and push down both handles at once, does it move more freely?

[Deva Link]

Legend83 said:

It basically feels like there is no give in the spring, and I noticed that even when I use all my strength the handle does not turn very far to open the latch.

I put some round brass knobs on our bedroom doors and they were fine for me but the kids and elderly MIL really struggled. Nothing wrong with them, but they were just very strongly sprung.

I found some in Walmart of all places in the US that have a good quality feel at about a quarter of the UK price. They are so lightly sprung they could almost be power assisted!

[bigdods]

A bit of an alternative idea, but I have just replaced every internal door fitting with roller latches. You just remove the sprung latch and replace with one of these (5 for £6) Link to screwfix

You keep the handles but to open the door you simply push or pull, you dont need to depress/turn the handle at all. My Mrs has an illness that means she has no strength in her hands so cant turn a door handles, these are the perfect solution.

[Simpo Two]

When I fitted new locks/knobs to some doors the design was such that some of the fixing screws fouled the mechanism - they just went straight into it and stopped it moving properly.