I s'pose it's a good thing I don't have kids 'cause I see nothing but positives to locking small children in the bathroom...unless it's your only bathroom.

Sorry, I know that's not much help.... ;-)

Lorree

For heaven's sakes - what if one of the kids fell in the tub and you were stuck outside fussing with things? Either disable the lock entirely, or get it changed to a new set that's high up on the door so they cannot lock it under any circumstances. There's a place for 'authentic', but that's not it.

spose it IS a good thing lorree does not have children - what an odd comment regardless of whether you have children or not...

I would agree that there must be a way to disable the lock -Perhaps taking the set apart if you are handy to see how to disable, otherwise I'd contact a locksmith

Lorree,

Some people have no sense of humor. I didn't miss your wink. ;-)

steve_in and kec01, I'm glad you saw the intended humor in my comment. I was hoping I wasn't the only one who could see the funny side of such an occurrence.

On further thought, if this is the original bathroom door, this can't be the only time something like this has happened. Maybe take a close look at the lock -- there might already be some sort of "safety" switch/toggle/lever that disables the locking mechanism.

Lorree

Lorree... I do have kids-- and I thought what you said was hilarious.

Our downstairs bathroom is the opposite. It locks from the OUTSIDE LOL We have NO clue why the lock would be on the outside. It was a pantry before being made into a bathroom many years ago. The lock is original to the door and frame. There is no way to turn it around. Believe me, we have tried. We could have a new custom door made but it hasn't been that important to us.

The kids USED to think it was really funny to lock me in the bathroom while I was showering. They just happened to do it on a day when my humor was running a little low and ended up with a week of no TV for it so it hasn't happened to me again!

When we replaced our missing bedroom doors, we went through similar contortions, because we wanted something that looked authentic--but we knew that we needed to get into the bathroom if someone locked themselves in there. Keys were out because we lose things easily.

What we ended up with was an old-style mortise lock in our doors. On the interior, it's a thumb-turn lock, on the exterior, there is a keyhole.

However... it's not really a keyhole, because there is no key. If someone gets locked in the bathroom, the people on the other side can reach a flat-head screwdriver through the "keyhole" and turn the lock on the other side to open.

The set looks old, but we bought it at a local hardware store two years ago for $13.00. It fits our vintage glass doorknobs. I was in the lock section at Lowe's awhile back and I noticed they carried all the parts. Might be something to consider.

Thanks for the input...re Lorree's comment--being able to lock kids IN to a room is very different from them locking me OUT--I like to keep the "who's in charge" balance in my favor!
My first thought was to switch the door with another one, but all the original doors left in the house are different sizes (ranging from 18" wide to not quite 30" wide--I guess standardization came in later!) I will try to take the lock apart today and see if we can disable it somehow. What I would really like to do is to turn this lock (which operates from only one side--the inside) into the type of lock that is on all the other doors in the house--opening with a key from either side. Does anyone know if this is possible?
The kids never close the door when using the toilet or bath (even the 7 year old) so the most dangerous situation would be my reaction if they try to lock themselves in so I can't get to them! (Maybe iasheff's kids could talk to them!)
I know that the family who lived in our house in the 50's-60's had 4 kids--I'm thinking that this must have happened at least once before. In the meantime, the bathroom window is staying unlocked (and I will be dieting so I can fit through it!)

I would get one of those door guards that keeps the door from closing (designed to protect against kds getting their fingers caught in a closing door). You can put it high enough on the door so the kids can't reach it, but accessible to adults who could easily remove it and then put it back when they are done.

Signed, mom to twins

Here is a link that might be useful: door guard

Im no expert but if the lock inside the bathroom is a removable key I would think that you could open a hole from the other side to place the key through (the old skelton type keys) if on the other hand it is more like a twist knob that is not removable you prob. can't unlock from the outside. If that's the case by removing face plate the twist knob will come with it and you may be able to deactivate it by removing the typical little bar that goes into the locking mechanism. At that point I would go for a "Hook & Eye" up where the kids cant reach.
Hope this helps
Paul

Are you sure there are bno holes or openings in the outside lock?
Even old bathroom hardware usually has a way to unlock it from outside.
It may be just a small hole in the knob or trim for a piece of wire to trip the lock.

Hey everyone,
We got a bit distracted from attacking this project, but did attempt to solve it today. Brickeyee, I was as surprised as you that there is NO WAY to get to the lock from the outside. I had never checked it before the incident, but I had assumed there was some system to open it. So, today we drilled the keyhole all the way through the door, cut a slot in the end of the spindle that unlocks it, so we can reach a screwdriver through from the outside and turn it--Thanks, Jane! (The other option was a suggestion from someone at house of antique hardware online. He suggested trimming the spindle and getting one to use on the outside of the door as well, so both could fit in the hole at once. ) We decided to work with what we had as a start.
It works okay but not great...the hole does not line up exactly with the keyhole in the plate, so its hard to get the screwdriver in the correct place without unscrewing and removing the backplate, but it can be done. I'm hoping that it never needs to be done ( apparently, it's been 68 years and it hasn't been an issue, so we're hoping that trend continues) I did want the kids to know that there IS a way to get in from outside, so locking oneself in the bathroom is not a good plan to get away from someone. (That scenario seemed much more likely than any type of emergency unlocking scenario) So, we're safe for now. Thanks for the suggestions, and if you have any old locks that you assume you can unlock from either side--check them BEFORE some 4 year olds lock themselves in somewhere!

Hello all,

I just ran across this forum as someone had posted a picture of one of our mortise locks in another thread, and my website tracking caught it.

We are a locksmith company in Jackson, MS and I have specialized in these old locks for many years, as there are many neighborhoods around that have similar locks to what you have described. We are kind of known around town as the "go to" people for stuff like this as we have a huge inventory of older locks and parts, and work on them at peoples homes usually once or twice a day.

I have had MANY instances of children getting locked in bathrooms by some of these old locks, and I would like to thank you for pointing out to everyone to check all your doors before something like this happens.

On a couple of these emergency jobs there was massive work to be done (as quickly as possible obviously) to get into room. You can always kick in the door as a last resort (major emergency, ie-child locked in and choking or something), but in some of these older bathrooms there is not much room for the child to move to, and you also have the child's age and comprehension factor come into play.

One particularly nasty case involved about 45 minutes of drilling with a constantly screaming/crying child, and it was very stressful for everyone involved. The child was about 3, and just fine, but did not understand what was going on and wanted mommy. :-) We were able to monitor him through the keyhole...

While it seems you have solved your problem for the most part, it doesn't sound like the most ideal solution. Have you considered bringing in a local locksmith to check things out and offer alternative solutions? If you don't have anyone locally, and/or prefer to DIY you could take a picture of the lock and email it to us and I could possibly offer another solution or advice.

Only if you are interested...I would be glad to offer whatever advice I can, but really need to see the exact lock you have.

Thanks! Jason Meeks

oh-email is selockandkey@gmail.com if you decide to do that.

What a good idea - because what if one day there is an emergency and no one can find the screwdriver (or fit through the window)?

Had to reply because we have problems with our door knobs all the time. My youngest is terrified to be in room alone because we live in a large 1900 home and she went to open her door and the 100 year+ knob fell off and she screamed and yelled for a good few minutes before we heard her. She now hates to go in a room with out the door open.

Ouyr tween Daughter gets mad when she can't get into her closet.

One time we were on a field trip to city hall and one of the children went potty. I noticed him go and after a few minutes went to check, he was stuck. I interupted the mayor's speech to the kids and cut to 45 minutes later the door being opened and a very annoyed 7 year old walks out.

While there are lots of charming features one has to consider function sometimes. WE have not replaced the door knobs but if we had to I would be sure to get them to some one who wants to restore their home. That does take the sting out of it a little. We did that with the old push button light switches. They went for about $800 all together to a guy who was try to saty historicly accurate. I just didn't trust their saftey wiht the kids.

What would the saftey issue be with push button light swtiches? :confused:

If I may:

The knobs come off for one of several reasons.

#1-The set screws are simply loose, however this usually doesn't cause the knob to "fall" off, it will simply turn in your hand and not open the latch. If you kept turning in one direction it would come off all the way.
If this is your symptom look around the "shoulder" of the knob/lever for some recessed flat head or allen head (baldwin)screws. Unscrew the knob just enough to see how the square bar is oriented. Those screws need to tighten down on the flat surface of that bar (preferably facing down, although that is not possible sometimes), so once you see that orientation and know where the screws need to be tightened down at (ie-Baldwin brand would be tightened down at the 4:30(ish) and 7:30(ish) position) you screw the knob up until its tight against the plate, then back it off about a turn. If it is too tight against the rosette/interior trim plate, the latch will not spring back out on its on, and you will have to physically turn the knob so the latch will come out. Sometimes there is not a happy medium between too tight and too loose. There are mylar and brass washers available to take out the slack.

#2- Now if those screws are tight and it still doesn't stay on, your looking at spindle (that square bar that goes into the knob) wear or wear inside the knob itself.

The screws threads inside the knob do wear out and no amount of set screw tightening will make it hold. At that point you can a new knob, from several places. The cheapest knob sets are only around $5-10 from many home stores/hardware stores/locksmith companies. They look like the old style glass knobs, but are obviously low quality. I have never been real thrilled with them, but it is the most affordable solution. I prefer the real glass antique stuff, and I am not alone. We get calls from all over the country (via our ebay store and website) looking for antique glass knobs.

If you unscrew the knob and that square shaft is rounded where the screws tighten down at, then you have a couple of options. Replace that spindle (they are also available, but there are many different variations) or if it seems long enough you can loosen the screws on the other side and screw /unscrew it several threads and re-tighten, then the other side can be tightened down at a different spot on that bar. Washers may be needed as well.

If the inside threads of the knob is worn out you are going to need a new knob. If its your front door lock and it has the thumb trim on the outside (antique) you can most likely use those same "cheap" knobs (again, I only suggest these as they are the easiest to find) and just use one of the knobs. The only trouble you would run into is if the shoulder of the replacement knob does not seat in the recess of the interior trim.

The spindles on front door locks (with a thumbtrim on the outside) are different than the ones on bathrooms, interior rooms. It is a half spindle and works differently than the other doors with just knobs/levers on each side. They are hard to find/replace sometimes, and I suggest contacting the closest trusted locksmith company for service. Ask your family/friends/neighbors for locksmith reference, NEVER rely on phone book ads. There are too many "scammer" companies listing ads nowadays, and they are guilty of shoddy work and overcharging customers. Make sure and only deal with someone who has done satisfactory work for one of your colleagues.

I am new here, so I don't know how the forum works as far as posting pics, but I can get some links up later of the positions of those screws, etc. We do plenty of photography work in relation to our industry.

Gotta run to a christmas party now though! I will post them tommorrow assuming its calm enough ;-)

I had read this and filed it away in my brain, and then yesterday my son closed his bedroom door and somehow the door locked-- and lo and behold, there was NO way to open it from outside! There was no little hole or keyhole or anything. Luckily I added some "secret passageways" which are basically just rectangular openings between the studs in the walls between the children's closets, and we could get into the room that way. But I am off to buy some new doorknobs!!!

We have several doors in our home with push botton locks, and no opening on the other side. One of these in in the bedroom shared by my two sons (ages 4 and 6). They are old enough now to realize that they can lock me out. So I simply stuffed duck tape in the "catch hole" (not sure what that is called). Now the door won't click shut, and so the lock won't work. I simply told them the door is broken. One of these days the 6 year old will notice the tape and remove it, but until then... This could be made more durable by using some kind of putty I suppose.

If this were the bathroom, I would do the same thing, but then I'd probably attach a little surface mount lock high up on the inside, so that adults could lock the door if they wanted to. Nothing like being a guest in a home with young children, going to the bathroom, and finding that the door doesn't lock!

:-)

Francy

Technical term for catch hole=Strike Plate

:-)