How to Change a Door Lock

If you went out and bought a lock set only to find that the hole in the door wasn’t big enough for the new lock, what do you do? I have known people that took a rasp and worked on this hole for a couple of grueling hours to correct this problem. This will work and the lock will fit just fine, after trying the lock several times to get it right. I don’t want to work any harder than I have to, so here is the way to get the job done in a few minutes.

First you will need a hole saw. These are made like a round saw and in the middle there is a small bit to guide it straight through. The small bit in the middle of the hole saw needs to have a solid place to drill. If you try to drill the hole without a place for the small bit to hold onto, you’ll most likely be purchasing a new door. The hole saw will grab onto the door and jump around and before you can stop it, your door will be ruined beyond repair. Also this isn’t the way these tools were designed to work and it’s not a very safe way to do this.

First you need to measure the hole that the door already has in it. Next you will need to measure the thickness of the door. Cut a piece of wood that is as thick as the door, and will fit into the hole tight. This piece must be really tight. If this wood plug won’t move then you can measure and drill perfectly. If the plug turns, the saw won’t drill through. Don’t worry, I also have a solution for that. From the edge of the door, where the other hole is, drill another hole into the plug and put a smaller plug into that hole, this way it can’t move. The reason you don’t want to use a screw or nail, is that the hole saw will be ruined when it hits this fastener. If you’re anything like me you probably spent a lot of money on this kind of tool. For the average home owner, this is something you might not use a lot so you don’t want to ruin it on the first use. After you have the hole the size you need it, install the new lock and clean up the mess.