Can't open door from inside after accidentally deadlocking Post your questions and get answers concerning many areas of this subject

[Fredi]

I have a deadlocking rim lock night latch. My tenant has accidentaly locked herself inside the house several times.

As she tries to open the door with the key from the outside she has turned the key to the left (which deadlocks it) then realising it is the wrong way turns it to the right to open the door. She then goes inside and closes the door at which point it deadlocks her in the house.

Is the lock working as it should or is this incorrect and needs fixing. I would have thought that if you turn the key to the right it shoudld undeadlock itself before opening the door?

[Catlocks]

If it is the most simple form of deadlocking rim lock as you seem to have from the discription it appears to be working correct. The fault lies with the tennent turning the key to far when removing the key.

There is a simple fix for this though. If you remove the latch from the door and look at the back plate where the tongue engages with the latch there is usually 2 arrows or lines. For the latch to work correct as a deadlatch these need to be lined up. If you turn the cam 180 degrees and refit the lock you should no longer be able to deadlatch the door. The key will have to be turned further to open the door but it should solve your problem.

Wayne