Screen Door HandleEven kitchen cabinet handles can be used in a pinch. But its best to stick with a proper screen handle if you want your screen door to slide in between glass panels on your patio door. Usually the door handle is only necessary on the inside because screen doors often have a vertical fin on the outside that serves as a handle. Some screen doors use handles that incorporate a lock for the screen door as well. If you cant find the proper handle with the lock it may be better to find a surface mount lock with a handle to replace the existing one. Some screen doors have come up with interesting ways to mount handles. One of the more popular screen doors uses a handle that slides in a track that runs from the top to the bottom of the screen door. The handle itself works as a lock, that is until it breaks off. But even these handles can be replaced with a simple screen door handle from Lowe's or the Home Depot, and if you want the lock, those same stores often have locks that work far better anyway.
Screen door latch and handleSome of these handles come with latches built in. These latches are intended just to keep the door closed, they really are not intended for security purposes.There are basically two types of screen door latches. Surface mount and Mortise. The mortise style usually has a metal latch that slips inside the screen door frame, and a lever the sticks out which you move up and down to lock the door. The A145 lock shown below is a mortise style. Its the same lock I use on my knock down screen door kits. The big advantage of a mortise style latch is that you can have the screen door right up against the sliding glass door and still be able to slide it back and forth and lock it.
Because they mount on the inside of the screen door you must have enough space between the screen door and the sliding glass door for them to fit.
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