Broken door latch U-240
Judy takes the dog for a walk before I get up. When she got back, I heard a thump, a moan and a cry. Up I got, she was fine, had fallen on the steps closing the door and landed on the dog ,who was fine, ("cushioned") her. Asked what happened, as she landed backwards after trying to shut the door. She handed me THE INSIDE LATCH that had pulled free! We were trapped inside, all my tools outside & I thought I might me able to free the door from the outside. I had to, no way to get at the inside mechanism without the door open. Made a little riser out of pillows and out the window I went, scared! Not knowing what the innards of the latch were like, I took a chance and poked around inside with a flat head, somehow freeing the latch back into open position. With the door open, I could take the inside latch apart. The connection had been "swedged" and broken (cheap way to build it). I drilled a hole, borrowed a tap and got a stainless machine screw to hold it all together. Sprayed-down with lube, re-assembled the guts. worked fine. Used loc-tite on all the exterior screws. I don't know if the outside edge white brace on the inside of the door is factory or Brett. When we move north, I'll check the big boxes for some sort of a handle where the the broken screen door latch is. The worst part? First, being trapped, then getting out the window! Should have take some pics of the latch job, sorry. I wonder if that latch is even available anymore?
Topic: Broken door latch U-240