Mortice Lock Installation

What is a mortice lock?

A mortice lock is a lock which has levers inside. These are pushed into the correct positions with the correct key allowing the bolt stump to pass through the locks gateway. This in turn pulled the bolt through the gateway allowing the door to open. Mortice locks are fitting inside of the doors (usually wooden doors) and are fitting by removing a pocket of the material which the mortice lock then fits into.

There are different levels of security when it comes to mortice locks. 5 Lever mortice locks are the type which most insurance companies require to be fitted on the external doors of a property in order to comply with british standards. These usually have a hardened plate on the outside of the lock to help resist again drilling attacks. They also have a curtain which helps to protect against picking entry attempts.

Criminals will often try to open a mortice lock, not by picking it, but by brute force. Often they will kick the door and hope to brake the bolt of the lock. Good quality mortice locks contained harded steel rods inside which are incredibly hard to break.

Euro Cylinder Mortice Lock Fitting

A euro cylinder mortice lock is a mortice lock which contains a cylinder lock hole as opposed to a regular shaped keyhole. These are mostly used on commercial buildings as the cylinder lock allows for these type of locks to work with a master keyed system.

These are installed in the same way as a regular mortice lock however usually come with escutcheons too. These are essentially decorative cover plates which go around the cylinder lock and hide the hole which was cut out to allow the lock to go into it.

As with a regular mortice lock, when the user turns the key, this pushes the bolts out of the mortice lock case and throws the bolt across into the keep. These locks also have a striker plate which the latch goes into.

What’s the different between a mortice deadlock and a mortice sashlock?

Basically a mortice sash lock is a mortice lock which has a hole for a handle spindle to go through. This allows the user to turn a handle which pulls in the latch prior to turning the key to throw the bolt. This is the more commonly used type. The mortice dead lock is  lock which has no handle hole and only had a bolt and key.

A mortice dead lock is not usually used as a main door lock as they have no handle used with them. They are usually used as a secondary lock to add an extra layer of security to the top of bottom of the door.

Why do some people call mortice locks chubb locks?

This is a common mistake. A long time ago the chubb company made so many mortice locks that people began to associate them with the mortice lock. People then started referring to these locks as ‘chubb locks’. In reality, many companies made these kind of locks not just chubb. Chubb make particularly high level security locks such as the chubb 3G110.

What is a BS 3621 compliant mortice Lock?

This is a mortice lock which complies with BS 3621 standards which is a british standard. This means that the lock has anti pick and drill protecting technology. This has a hardened plate to protect against drilling. You can tell that your lock complies with this due to the kitemark symbol on the faceplate of the lock.

These kind of locks basically means that the mortice lock is a higher lever of security then standard mortice locks and may have anti pick technology within such as false levers and traps. Often these locks also have a curtain which protects the lock against picking.

These locks also have 20mm bolt throws which often have hardened steel rods inside to protect against cutting. Often fitting these type of locks can help to reduce your insurance policy to make your home insurance cheaper. Infact we just fitted one of these yesterday in the Morley LS27 area of Leeds.

Mortice locks such as bathroom mortice locks are of low security and not designed to be very secure. Although these locks are classed as mortice locks (as they are fitted into a pocket cut out of the door) they are mainly just fitted for privacy reasons as opposed to security. A common brand of bathroom mortice lock we usually install is the TSS mortice lock. A couple of other british standards are BS 8621 & BS 10621.

What is a tubular mortice latch?

This is not a lock as such however is more of a latch. This is a latch which is tubular in shape and is fitted to many internal wooden doors. These ensure that the door clicks shut once the door is closed for convenience
. Just like with deadlock and sashlock mortice locks these also have faceplates, forend and backsets.

We also fit mortice locks in rebates which are doors which rebates in them. These require a special rebate plate to allow the mortice lock to fit correctly.

What sizes do mortice locks come in?

Primarily there are 2 main sizes of mortice locks. The smallest is 2.5inch and the largest is 3 inch. These size is known as the backset of the lock. Common types of locks which we install are legge and asec due to their exceptional quality. We fit locks almost weekly in the Leeds area. We now also cut spare mortice lock keys if you need extra.

Mortice Lock Replacement

Perhaps your existing mortice lock is working fine however you need your locks changing for security reasons. Perhaps you have lost the key to your existing mortice lock and need the locks changing for security reasons. We can swap your old mortice lock with a nice new ERA lock and provide you with a new set of keys also.

We can fit a range of colours of mortice locks to suit your lock furniture such as brass, chrome and nickle.

What is a DIN lock?

A DIN lock is a type of mortice lock however is often used for internal doors on commercial buildings or timber doors on apartment doors.  These locks have special fire safety features which make them suitable for installing in fire doors. These generally have a longer faceplate than regular mortice locks and are usually used in commercial properties such as offices and flats.

What are 2 and 3 lever locks?

These are low security mortice locks which only contain 2 or 3 levers. These are not to be used on external doors as they do not comply with british kitemark symbols. Due to the low amount of levers inside these locks they are quite easy to pick and are to be used as high security locks on external doors, these are mainly just used for privacy on internal room doors such as bedrooms etc.

As a bedroom locksmith we often install these locks either for children’s bedrooms or on your tenants internal doors for their privacy. We recently fitted 30 3 lever mortice locks on the internal doors on a large block of flats in morley leeds. These are less secure than 5 lever mortice locks however are considerably cheaper.