UPVC doors are by far the most common type of door in use throughout the UK today. They are often thought of as maintenance free as they do not require painting or varnishing to maintain their appearance and waterproof qualities. However, UPVC doors can develop problems and if these problems are not fixed quickly, they can quickly turn into more complex and expensive problems. Let’s take a look at the various problems that can occur with a UPVC door.
The door locks on the side or bottom of the frame.
UPVC doors are heavy and expand and contract with changes in temperature. This means that the hinge can wear out and the door can become misaligned with the frame. The easiest way to check if this has happened to your UPVC door is to look at the miter joints at the corners of the door and frame. If the miters do not line up, it is necessary to realign the door with the frame. Look at the hinges to see how to adjust the door to move toward or away from the hinge. If the bottom corner of the UPVC door is too low, the top hinge must be adjusted to move the door toward the hinge and the bottom one away from the hinge. Adjust the center hinge halfway between the top and bottom hinges. If you can’t realign the door with the frame then it will have to be “toe and heel” which involves re-packing the panels within the frame to alter the shape of the door.
The handles are stiff to operate.
If your UPVC door handles are stiff when lifted or pushed down, then the multi-point locking mechanism is not aligning properly with the frame brackets. Guards are the metal parts of the frame on which the hooks, rollers, latches of the multipoint lock are located when the door is closed. If the door is square in the frame (see above) and the handles are still stiff, the multi-point lock is likely very worn and will break very soon. It would be advisable to have it checked by a locksmith before it fails and you can’t open the UPVC door because the lock has broken.
Handles go up but key can’t be turned
If the key on your UPVC does not turn fully to lock the door after lifting the handles, either the locking points do not move fully into the frame brackets or the cylinder is damaged. If the door is flush with the frame (see above), call a locksmith to look at the lock.
The door is unlocked but the handles do not go down
This happens when the multi-point locking mechanism breaks, usually after the handles have been stiff or difficult to operate for a while. If this happens to you, don’t be tempted to try to open the door yourself, as you can do a lot of extra damage doing so. The best approach is to call a locksmith who will be able to open your UPVC door without damaging it. They will then be able to replace the broken parts of the multi-point locking mechanism and realign the door to prevent the same thing from happening again.
UPVC door can be closed but does not stay closed
If your UPVC door swings open after closing, then the latch does not engage the tower. This can usually be fixed by moving the latch bolt towards the door. there are usually two screws that need to be loosened to allow adjustment to be made.
UPVC door handles are loose or loose
This is usually caused by wear on the handles or the locking mechanism. If the handles are loose on their back plates, they will need to be replaced. If the handles are flexible, thrill the handles and look inside. If they have small cassettes with springs inside, replace these spring cassettes and your handles should be no looser. If your handles do not have spring cassettes, then the spring in the locking mechanism has worn out and will need to be replaced or, if possible, you can fit handles with springs.
The key only works on one side or the key will not come out of the lock
If the key only works from one side of the UPVC door, the cylinder will need to be replaced. Similarly, if the key cannot be removed from the lock, you will need to replace the cylinder. Call a local locksmith and ask for advice on replacement cylinders as there are a wide variety of different types available.
