A common question here at the Seconline support desk is in regard to door handle heights and lock sides. One of the unbreakable golden rules reiterated to our customers daily is that they must always view their door from the outside looking in; in this way we are able to ascertain the true and correct lock side to be installed here at our factory. This is extremely important as viewing the door from the inside looking out would give an opposite result.
In other words, if you want your door lock on the right-hand side from the outside looking in view and you are facing the door from the outside then we would put your lock on the right-hand side; however, if you are measuring from the inside looking out through the door and request the lock on the right-hand side of the door you will be giving us the measurements for the lock to be placed on the opposite and incorrect side. This cannot be expressed strongly enough.
You must be on the outside looking in when providing all lock and height measurements.
When it comes to the required height for your door handle then other considerations can come into play; the most important consideration is to ensure your lock will not clash with the existing solid door lock. Usually it will be placed above or below and this will depend on the height of the existing door lock and also the height of the landing step that is outside the door. In some cases a step can be down 300mm to 400mm and in this instance it possibly could make more sense to have the lock below the existing door lock.
When measuring for doors above the existing then simply measure from the the bottom of the door sill to the top of the existing door handle and add 125mm. This will be your new handle height.
When measuring for door handles to go below the existing door, then measure from the bottom of the door to the bottom of the existing door lock and subtract 60mm.
If you have an existing cut out from a previous door and you are confident that this handle height is not going to obstruct the existing door lock then simply measure from the ground to the centre of the existing hole and deduct 4mm; this will be your handle height of the new door.
It is usual to have the new lock placed on the same side as the existing door lock, but not absolutely necessary, and in some cases it may be a situation where it is far more effective to have it on the opposite side. This would be the case if you were to exit your back door for instance and you are looking to turn immediately in the opposite direction to the door lock position. This may be a pathway down to a clothesline or it may be because there is a brick wall and if fitted this way would cause you to have to walk around the door to go where you want to go. It could even be that the pathway is designed to go in that direction. I believe around 20% of doors may fall into this category. If this is the case then the best position for the lock handle is generally in the middle of the door as you need not consider the existing door handle as it will now be on the opposite side. An example: If your door is 2060mm high then I would suggest an appropriate place to put the handle would be between 1000mm and 1100mm depending on what you find more comfortable.
At Seconline we believe it is important that you give due consideration to exactly what your future use will be of your Security Screen Doors Online purchase and be mindful of which direction you are turning once you exit the door so as to get the right handle side.
Again, always be on the outside looking in when you give us your door measurement side.
