DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi all,

Im hoping for some advice and info on two UPVC lock issues here please.

First one is my new home back door has a thumb turn euro cylinder lock on it. Something I had never seen before but apparently its quite common these days.

Its not suitable for our family needs and the thumb turn has got to go and be replaced with a standard key operating multi lock UPVC unit.


The house has 1 key- the same for the front door as the back door currently.

Quick inspection ot=f the tumb turn shows I cannot just pull the thumb turn part out and reveal a keyhole.

My internet research has found dozens of How To's on fitting a thumb turn to a standard key operating euro cylinder but nothing for reversing this.

Can anyone advise me hat to do here? If I can resolve this without resorting to a locksmith I would really like t do so- not least of which to fix it before moving in date rather than having to deal with it after.

The second issue is on the first floor landing the house has a large single unit UPVC window and I believe theyre called tilt and turn units.

The operating hande for this isnt fitted with a lock.For safety with children, I need this window handle replacing with a locking tilt and turn handle.

Can anyone provide key identifying features of what seems to be about 4 or 5 different types of tilt and turn handles available in a bid to work out which handle type is currenty fitted to the window?

Also I was concerned that it may be further complicated because this tilt and turn unit opens out (as opposed to in to the house) on the (forgive the lack of correct terminology here) height/top to bottom hinge but descriptions on the internet appear to suggest tilt and turns should always open in to the house.

As with the back door locking mechanism, Im hoping I can resolve this myself by just buying the correct replacement , key locking handle.

Any help very much appreciated.Thanks.

This is a standard euro cylinder wit a thumb turn.
All you need to do is take the existing euro cylinder out and replace them with double keyed ones of your choice. It will take about 2 minutes.

These locks come in many different variants. But all very quick to sort out.
1st Open the door & look at the lock from the side of the door. Put the key in the lock & then remove the screw in the side of the door. When the screw is removed turn the key about a centimetre to the left & pull. You may have to giggle the key a little to draw the barrel out.
Now you have the locks out of possibly both doors, check they are the same. If so best to pop down your local locksmith & get 2 new barrels & he can sort having 1 key for both barrels. Cost around £80-£100 as you can guarantee they will only sell a good yale or similar. Cheaper would be to have barrels with 2 different keys. But to do this you must have the barrel out & measure from the centre of the screw hole to the outside edge on both sides. My ones at home are 50mmx50mm, But it could be 35x50 or many other sizes. But once you got this, i got some BS barrels on eBay for around £20 each with 3 keys.

Thanks for the guidance here.
I've copied the posts to print them out and will give removing both locks a go this weekend.

Since putting up the post I've combed the internet for any information on this and still got nowhere- without your replies, I'd have drawn a big fat zero - so cheers!

Flappy the bat wrote:Thanks for the guidance here.
I've copied the posts to print them out and will give removing both locks a go this weekend.

Since putting up the post I've combed the internet for any information on this and still got nowhere- without your replies, I'd have drawn a big fat zero - so cheers!

I think your combing techniques need a little refinement, ;-) the search term "fit euro cylinder lock" gives links to simple guides and in YouTube there are many, here is one.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X9A915L_mlk