Husband has built a shed extension and is at the point of fitting the door. He’s bought a composite thing that has come glazed, hinged and already in its frame, so as one unit ready to fit. The internals of the lock mechanism are already in, and it’s just the barrel and door furniture that needs fitting. So far so good *except* we discovered yesterday you can’t open the door. It’s as if it’s locked, so you can’t get to the point in the instructions where it tells you to site the whole thing, take the door off its hinges, fit the barrel, etc.

We’ve tried placing the handles, barrel and spindle temporarily, but nothing’s working. Nothing in the instructions implies this is how it will be supplied, so we’re at a bit of a loss. We’ll get in touch with the supplier in the morning, but if any knowledgeable soul has any advice in the meantime, that’d be great.

We’ve tried placing the handles, barrel and spindle temporarily, but nothing’s working.

That’s weird. With the barrel in place the key should unlock the door. Have you tried lifting the handle upwards whilst turning the key?

Im wondering if there is something like a pin going through the frame into the door to stop it flapping open,while being transported and prior to fitting it you remove this pin.

Just a thought.

I would assume that locked with the barrel out would guarantee that the door doesn’t swing open. But there might be something jamming it if the frame has become distorted.

I would gently try to prise the frame away from the door with a thin bolster to see if there was anything fouling it.

We’ve tried a thin blade between door and frame and there are several points of resistance, so presumably all part of the locking mechanism, rather than a single transit pin or something. He’s going to fit the barrel, etc. now to see if that does the trick.

It’s a great idea to have it locked in transit, but not if there’s no reference to it in the instructions 🙄

Fit the handles, square bar thing and lock, the lock will hopefully release the latch mechanism, the handles can then release the locking points. Good luck 🙂

We’ve tried a thin blade between door and frame and there are several points of resistance

If the barrel is designed to have a bolt fitted through the locking edge of the door it might not be perfectly lined up.

I would persevere wiggling the barrel about with the key and the handles pulled up. Try sliding the barrel slightly a millimetre or two either way whilst turning the key.

Sounds like multi-point locking, hooks come out of the door and engage in the frame. I’m guessing the barrel is a Euro cylinder – when fully installed it will be secured by a screw from the door edge, which you can’t get at, but it should work without that. Turn the key and push the handle down to release the hooks.

As Greybeard said.

If it’s locked and the lock isn’t fitted, you’re not going to ‘gently price it open’.

Assuming a Eurocylinder, you’ll need to push the lock into the hole and turn the key 360′ to unlock it (Put the key in first!) You should then be able to open the door to access the edge so you can install the Eurocylinder retaining bolt.

Also, stock Eurocylinders are generally pretty crap. I’d suggest replacing them with higher security ones if they’re protecting anything you care about.

you’re not going to ‘gently price it open’.

Do you know what a door set is?