I answered a call today from a customer who was looking at non-mortise, pocket door privacy latches. He had several questions about them that some of you might also have, so I thought I’d go over them here.
Question 1: Handed Latches
The caller wanted to know if we make the latches handed, as it appeared as though the locking mechanism was on the opposite side they wanted it to be on. These types of locks are not handed. The flush pulls usually attach to the main latch body, with a single screw near the leading edge. However, you can take these screws out and swap the plates around and then reinstall the screws. Now, it will work for a door pulled from the opposite direction.
Question 2: Pulling the Door Out
The customer also questioned how you pull the door out of the pocket it if it is pushed in all the way. These types of locks have built-in gravity edge pulls. To operate, you use a finger and push on the edge near the top, in the center. It works like a little seesaw, and the bottom pops out for you to grab. You then pull the door out of the pocket. Once you let it go, gravity brings it back to flush with the edge.
Question 3: Locking the Door
Another question was, how does it lock? When you turn the thumbturn, a little hook comes out of the edge of the door in the center of the edge pull. That piece, which we just talked about, will hook onto the included strike plate that you put on the door jamb. If you need in from the outside, you can use a flat head screwdriver or a thin coin to turn the emergency release on the outside of the door.
That took care of our much appreciated customer’s questions. Hopefully this post answered a few for you, as well. If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact us. We’d be happy to answer them for you.
