Another recent and interesting task undertaken by Owl Locksmiths and Security was the removal of an old and obsolete Swedish Patio Sliding door mechanism and installing a suitable modern replacement. The Swedish mechanisms that are still available are not very common and generally very expensive. This task took time and thought, we had to consider the closest available alternative whilst still ensuring the door fitted the house aesthetically.
The mechanism we chose was a wide face GU latch and deadbolt with two hooks. The latch and bolt were of no use but the locking points would be the two hooks. The first task was to remove the old mechanism, which was not a simple undertaking. Ideally the door should be removed to get to the top and bottom shoot bolts. As this was not an option we had to drill the face plate (Pic 3) and remove them by simply bending and breaking them.
The rest of the mechanism we could remove in the normal way by removing the handles, locking handle and finally the mechanism (Pic 4). Once removed, we had to cut into the door to house the larger gearbox and the additional two hooks.
We managed to use the existing holes from the old gearbox, which meant less filling and a better appearance to the door; it also helps to retain the strength of the door. Although this meant the handles had to be moved slightly revealing a small hole to one side, this was not visible once the filling had been completed.
Half way through attending to the door, the heavens typically decided to open at one of the most crucial moments. My tools, the door parts, and myself were drenched. The main issue was that when cutting into wood, dry conditions ensure optimum results- too far along to wait for the weather to subside, I persevered through the rain and was able to fit the new mechanism successfully.
The next stage was to fit the keeps into the frame, we marked the position and cut the keeps into the door. This took some time to get just right as they had to be sunk into the wood unlike any other fitting on a standard UPVC door frame. Despite the weather and the now very soft wood, they were fitted with no trouble. After a good clear up the door was finished, it took longer than anticipated due to the unexpected removal of the top and bottom shoot bolts and the good old English bad weather. However we were still able to complete the job in under 5 hours, the end result, after a little filler and staining being well worth the time and effort spent.
