The primary and essential purpose of any door is to provide security so as to control access to doorway. With the incorporation of proper locking mechanism, you can assure who all can have access to the door. There can be doorbells or knockers so that outsiders can alert you with their presence. Properly locked doors can keep the intruders away. This will keep you, your family and belongings safe. You could have a peaceful sleep at night without worry. There can be many ways to achieve this. There are different lock types present which can help you in our task. For each lock type, the mechanism involved for proper locking may be different. In this article we will be dealing with how we can lock doors from the inside and that too in the proper way. So let us get into the details of the same.
Using Sliding Bolt Locks
Sliding bolt locks are somewhat common. They are simplest and easiest means to safely lock the door from the inside. They can also be used along with other lock types to enhance your security. The Sliding bolt which is also known as the barrel bolt has two pieces: one piece on the door frame and the other piece is the main locking assembly on the door. The latter has a cylindrical lock that you can slide into the latch locking the door from the inside. For extra safety, you could install one at the top of the door and another at the bottom of the door.
Using Doorknob
These types of doorlocks are usually found in addition to deadbolts. However they are never used alone in exterior doors. The locking mechanism is present within the door lock. The knobs can be present on either side of the door with single and double cylinders based on whether you want the door to be closed from both outside and inside. They can either have a push lock or twist lock button present on the inner side of the doorknob.
In order to lock the doorknob from the inside, firstly you need to find the push-lock or twist-lock button which is present on the inner doorknob.
Push lock is a small, cylindrical button which is present at the center of the knob, protruding from there. You need to push this button. As a result, the door will get locked. You need to double check that the door is indeed locked. For this, turn the doorknob so as to ensure that the door is locked. The door can be unlocked by turning the knob from the inside and it will not unlock from the outside.
Twist lock is a circular button which has a ridge down at the center. Now for locking the door from the inside, you need to pinch the ridge. Next you need to twist the button clockwise as far as it will go. This can take up to a ninety degree quarter turn. The door must have locked. Now twist the door knob once again so as to ensure that the door is indeed locked. To unlock the door you need to twist the button counter-clockwise as far as it will go.
Using Deadbolts
The Deadbolts add extra security to your doors. The deadbolt lock comes with a bolt which needs to be activated by means of a key or thumb turn. They are not spring activated and hence can offer good security. They cannot be opened by knife blade or similar sort of tricks sorted by intruders for bumping into your space. They cannot be easily battered and thereby resist forced entry.
Let us see how we can lock a deadbolt from the inside. A key is not actually needed to lock a deadbolt from the inside. There will be the twistable switch on the inner side of the door. You need to locate it. Now, turn the switch in the clockwise direction and see how far it will go. Now you can see that the deadbolt is slide into place. Now unlocking is simply the reverse process. You need to turn the twistable switch in the counter clockwise direction as far as it goes. This process will make the deadbolt to retract back into the door.
Using Night Latches
Night latches are locks fitted on the surface of a door. They are operated from the exterior side of the door by a key and from the interior side of the door by a knob.These are usually rim locks. They can be deadlocked with the help of the snib (which is a little round button present on the night latch) present in them. They are intended to be used exclusively for night time security and hence the name night latch.
Night latches are mostly used in wooden doors. When you close the door into the frame, the latch will spring into its catch thereby holding the door in place. There will be a snib on the night latch. By pushing down the snib down, the latch will not operate from the outside. So the door will remain closed from the inside. Thus the door gets deadlocked and no intruders can trouble you by slipping the door with plastic.
Using Mortise deadlock
Mortise deadlocks are also mostly installed on wooden doors. They are locked from the inside with a key. They are fitted within the material of the door and not on the surface of the door. You can deadlock the door by inserting the correct key into the mortise deadlock and turning it towards the latch frame.
Using Locks with Multi point Lock System
Multi point Locking System is usually found on PVCu and composite doors. Here the door gets locked into the frame at multiple points. You need to close the door into the frame. On pulling up the handle, the multipoint lock gets engaged. You can prevent the lock from getting disengaged by turning the key or thumb turn in the cylinder.