Patio Door Locks

Most mortised patio door locks are very easy to replace since only 2 screws have to be removed to dissassemble the whole lock. They are often so inexpensive that replacement is the best way to proceed.

These locks are typically made from powdered metal which is very brittle and can crack or break easily. These patio door locks offer the least security of all patio door door locks so its wise to find an extra means of locking the door such as an interior pin lock or locking bar such as shown in the link below.

Surface Mount Locks

Some aluminum doors have locks mounted on the sliding door on the inside. These locks usually have the handle combined with the lock. These locks are usually a bit stronger than the mortised kind but still tend to wear out after years of use.

These can be quite expensive to replace and often hard to find. They usually have special latch plates that mount on the door jamb which cannot be used with other brands of lock. It may be possible to replace one of these surface mount locks with a similar one made by Fasco or Ideal. You may have to drill new mounting holes if the new lock has them in different locations.

Most wooden patio doors use surface mount locks as just described. Unlike aluminum doors though, its usually easier to retrofit a different brand of surface mount lock on a wooden door.

You can always fill the old holes and drill new ones fairly easily. Many locks have the same locating hole dimensions as you can see in the pictures below. So if the screw holes in your door are 4-15/16" apart, for example, any one of the surface mount locks below would work.

Steel Mortise Locks

Many wooden doors use steel mortise locks. All of these look basically alike but vary slightly in dimensions and location of the operating lever. If the lock on your patio door has a hasp that looks like its made up of several thin steel plates sandwiched together, you have got a steel mortise locks.

These locks are expensive to replace and often hard to find an exact replacement. Usually the spring inside breaks and the hasp wont come out to latch the door shut. When searching for a replacement you need to carefully measure the lock so you get exactly the right one to replace it.

Heres some information you need to have to source a new mortise lock

4. Name of the Manufacturer of the door to which a particular lock is unique.

If you dont have enough information take a picture of the lock with your digital camera, this can be really helpful when trying to communicate which kind of lock you are looking for.

Click the Patio Door Locks link to get back to the home page