Will do on the pictures! I can't wait to get rid of the knasty knob that's there now. If I can get a nice looking deadbolt and knob for the original backplate, I'll stop there and search for years for the right lock. I'll settle for looking good right now. <br> <br>It's very interesting to talk to those who have lived in my neighborhood since my section was built in the 1920's. They were newcomers once, and I bet they had the same conversations with those who started the town in the 1870's. I wonder if they put locks on their doors at all?

Well, we made some progress with our door this weekend! We spent a few hours at a salvage place in downtown St. Louis and found a cool set of doorknobs and a mortice lock that had the right setback and was close on all the other measurements. It was a little too big for the scar, so we filed it out a bit and managed to get it in. This was the only lock in the place (we must have looked at over 50 locks) that had the right setback, so we figured we could make everything else work. The knob latch works fine, but the key latch is stuck with the bolt retracted in the lock. This is a bit of a problem, because we were wondering what the two buttons on the lock did. Turns out they keep the door knob from being able to open the latch. Without the key working, we managed to shut the door and were not able to open it! After lots of sweat and cursing at our stupidity, we were able to push the button from the inside of the house and open the door. Moral of the story- partially working things are dangerous! Oh, and don't use those silly buttons. <br> <br>The other dissapointment of the day was that the great knobs we got would not fit on the longer spindle we need to use for the front door. So, we've got a very nice set of dark red marble doorknobs on the door to the bathroom (which could use the shorter spindle that came with the knobs), and a less impressive brass knob on the front door that needs to be refinished. The other lesson for the day- when you buy doorknobs salvage, even though they may be on the same spindle, make sure they are actually both the same knob. The two we got are slightly different- one fits on the longer spindle, one does not. <br> <br>Anyway, as soon as my new deadbolt arrives and we get a nice set of doorknobs for the front door, I'll take some pictures. Thanks for the encouragement- I don't think I would have attempted this without the board.

Here's another titbit- After removing the horrible, modern, gold doorknob that was placed above the plates for the original doorknob, I put the deadbolt in and found that the opening for the bolt in the existing strike plate was too small. So, I took it off, expecting to have to widen the hole in the moulding. Turns out under that modern gold horror of a strike plate was a much older strike plate for a deadbolt! <br> <br>Based on this, I have now deducted that at some point in the distant past, the door was drilled for a deadbolt in addition to the latch. I don't think it was original, but it is much older than I had thought. My guess is that once the original mortse lock froze up, the last PO just gutted the lock, threw away the door knob (horror!), and slapped a knob in place of the deadbolt, which might also have been nice to save. If I had known how shoddly the previous owners had fixed things, I might not have bought the place. It's hard to judge these things in your first house with the limited exposure you get, but I'll know for the next one. There is a difference between "old", "antique", and "crappy". <br> <br>The other insult is that the deadbolt and the original doorknob are drilled at different backsets- something I'll never be able to undo. <br> <br> Jonathan <br>

My set came in today, it is beautiful. And it is HEAVY! This ain't no cheap pot metal, it's substantial.

Well, I think we're finished. I've got the new deadbolt in place, and a nice antique door knob. You can see the picture below. We got lucky and were able to find an actual exterior door knob at the salvage place. It's built with a set screw only on the inside, and came with a longer adjustable shank. It fits perfectly, like it was built for the door. It's clearly a different finish than the rest, but I think it looks nice. Anway, thanks for the help. <br> <br>The link goes to a blog that I'm starting, so you may have to scroll down a bit to see the picture of the door. <br> <br>http://homepage.mac.com/der_kommissar/iblog/B46059352/index.html

Jonathon, <br>Your door turned out really great. Congratulations on your salvage find, I know you've been looking for a while, patience pays off. I wish there was a salvage yard in my area but there isn't one. . .yet. <br>Rick

It sounds like chicago and the west coast are the places to be as far as salvage. In St. Louis we have a bit because of all the urban blight. I'm usually sad when I go there because I can imagine all the houses that have been stripped. There has been a lot of archetectual looting in the city as well. Lots of Louis Sullivan stuff stripped and sold. <br> <br>Post some pictures of yours when you get it done too! I bet it will look great. <br> <br> Jonathan

There are salvage yards in Los Angeles and Orange County, but none that I can find in the San Bernardino area. Restoration hasn't gotten this far yet. There's a city sponsored rehabilitation program here where old homes get remuddled and resold and since there's no restoration interest or salvage yards, the fixtures and mouldings, and . . history gets thrown into dumpsters and hauled to the dump on a daily basis, and no one seems to care.

My lockset arrived about 3 weeks ago. I waited for the recent rainy, damp weather to clear before I installed it since I also needed to paint my door at the same time. Although I'd dearly love to have a solid oak craftsman door, it isn't in my budget right now, so I had to make due with what I had. I installed it today and it is beautiful. I cannot believe the difference it makes. I painted my metal clad door, one with the etched woodgrain on the surface, with Behr exterior "breakfast blend". It looks like a light cinnamon color in bright sunlight but in artificial light it's a dark brown. After it all dried I put on the lockset and I couldn't believe how good it looks. it looks like it's always been there, which is what I was hoping for. Sure beats the icebox white the door was before.

This site has changed to www.lockhouse.com. It is the same company it has always been with same owner and management. Just the domain changed. Just fyi!

With the actuator rod out you can see down into the hole to the spring clips. You need to release them both at the same time. You could use screwdrivers, but I found that two BBQ skewers worked perfectly