Sprung or unsprung door knobs

platypus

platypus

platypus

Caporegime
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An exciting question I know!

But basically this - we're replacing the handles on 9 interior doors so whilst not only being hellishly [read unnecessary] expensive to do, I'm now having to consider heavy duty latches.

As I understand it knobs require heavier/deeper latches anyway, so I have resigned myself to replacing those already. The question though is do I rely on the spring in the latch or the door knob?
 
Sprung definitely
As you said NEED deep throw latches
You generally need strong hands/wrists to use comfortably(old people have a difficult time with knobs :eek::D)

My personal opinion,don`t do it stick to a nice,proper handle:)
 
Sprung knobs sll the way relying on the latch usually results in rubbish performance. I'd always go knob over handle in a period property as they are much more authentic.
 
if the latch is heavily sprung does that mean it is hard to push the door gently too, and have it close ?
the place I am in now (handles fwiw) has latches like this, that will not receed easily .. it's annoying. .
maybe they are just poor quality.
 
I guess I'll find out, we ordered one for sampling.

Then I just need to drill out the existing latches, deepen the recess for these longer latches, and replace them on 14 doors...
 
Old thread bump! We're having a nightmare here :o After spending ages looking for black door knobs we liked (price appropriate) to go with our white shaker style internal doors.. We got them with latches, then realised the latches need to be much deeper (no-one told us!) otherwise the knob would be so close to the end of the door you'd crack your knuckle on the frame every time you grabbed it. Fast forward to having returned £100s worth of latches, finding deeper ones, spending ages finding appropriate black bathroom latches that were deep enough... phew.

But, the builder has just fitted the first one and honest to God you cannot even open them. Even the builder struggled. I'd seriously worry that you might end up stuck in a room if you were in the house on your own. It's mad. We have these; https://tradefit.uk/collections/doo...inged-mortice-turned-door-knob-set-matt-black

They are beautiful but now we don't know what to do. Should we (a) find something similar that is unsprung or (b) start looking at door handles which will be easier to open?

Are unsprung door knobs really that bad? Besides the bathroom doors most won't even be closed much at all as they're just internal doors. The builder wasn't keen on fitting them but I think that's just because it'll take him longer. It's a proper Edwardian house so we always wanted the door knobs to fit the period/style. Swapping to handles feels like it'd all be wrong to me.
 
You MAY be able to take One spring out of a knob
Personally i think knobs are a real pain to find easy to use ones
Best i ever used for ease of use were ones in a sort of kit.special knobs and special latches but they looked cheep
 
Yeah the builder was on about taking a spring out but then it’d leave a space and probably rattle..
 
ANDARIAL said:

Altro Bala Hotel Door Knobset - Passage - Matt Black | IronmongeryDirect | Same Day Despatch

Altro Bala Hotel Door Knobset - Passage - Matt Black available at great trade prices with easy and free returns. Order Door Knobs before 8pm for same day despatch.
www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk
Something like these...maybe.used something similar in the past
Click to expand...
What makes it a hotel door knob? :p

It is sprung so I'm just paranoid it'll be just as stiff. Reading online it does seem that you have to be careful with sprung door knobs and they are often very stiff :confused:
 
reviews of that knobset seem favourable .The type of latch that is separate to the knobs will always be a stronger spring to compensate for people who get unsprung knobs :) and when there are springs in the knobs as well as the latches it makes it very hard to turn
You could get 1 set and if no good return??
 
Yeah might want to try that. I mean though, are unsprung door knobs that bad? They were the norm back in the day, surely?
 
problem i found with unsprung door knobs was unless the latch spring was uber strong the latch used to not catch,i.e. stay inside the latch body after you turned the knob
 
Hmm we’re going round in circles here. Got these delivered today on a whim (free returns) but they feel so cheap and plasticky -Probrico 5 X Passage Keyless Door Lock Set Cove Stainless Steel Interior Door Knob for Storeroom Round Black https://amzn.eu/d/0khIPQY

I’m guessing if we can find some better ones that come as a whole that’ll do it, but they’re impossible to find (not sure about the ones suggested above)

Might have to go for handles, ugh..

Or are you actually allowed roller latch things on fire doors? Where the knob doesn’t actually do anything? Carpenter didn’t seem keen.
 
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