Which smart entry lock to use?

[eloise89]

Thinking of replacing this broken manual door lock with a smart one. Happy to fill the current cavities to open up more options. Looking at the Philips EasyKey Bluetooth Mortise Handle Lock Black and Lockly Satin Nickel Secure Plus Smart Lock Latch with Smart Keypad Bluetooth and 3d fingerprint. Question is which option is better and less tools involved. The Philips one requires quite a bit of drilling as it uses triple bolts. I do have a security screen door so triple bolt might be a tad over kill. Keen to know the community thoughts on this.

[JacobZ]

Hi @eloise89,

Thank you for your question.

The Philips EasyKey Bluetooth Mortise Handle Lock would require a fairly specialised piece of machinery called a mortiser to cut a hole in the face of the door for the lock body to slot into. They are expensive, and unless you were doing regular door installations or worked as a locksmith, it would not be worth the effort. If you'd like this lock, I would suggest contacting a carpenter or locksmith for their assistance installing it.

Of the two options you have chosen, the Lockly Satin Nickel Secure Plus Smart Lock Latch with Smart Keypad Bluetooth and 3D Fingerprint would be much easier to install yourself.

You'll want to measure and confirm your door is between 35mm - 50mm thick, the hole through the door is 54mm, the backset, which is the distance from the face of the door to the centre of the hole through the door, is between 60mm to 70mm and that the hole for the latch is 25mm in diameter.

If this is the case, then you would just need to fill the bottom two holes in the door and install the new lock.

If it is not the case, then you may need to adjust the holes in the door. If this is the case, please let me know so I can assist further. 

Let me know what you think and if you have further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Jacob

[eloise89]

Thank you @JacobZ for the tips!

Yes the measurements of the main cavity does all fall into the range. I will go ahead and get this lockly lock. Do you have any tips on filling the hole in the solid wood door? I can find a post on filling hollow internal door, do I follow that?

Thanks so much for helping!

[JacobZ]

Hi @eloise89,

Like in Mitchell's guide about How to repair a hole in an internal door, I would use Builder's Bog to fill the hole, but you won't be able to slip timbers through the hole to act as a backing.

My suggestion, since this is not possible, is to grab some Paslode 50 x 2.8mm 100g Bullet Head Nails and drive them into the inside walls of the hole and bend the head so that it sits inside the hole below the face of the door. These nails are going to give the builder's bog something to grab onto so it can't be pushed straight out of the hole.

Once the nails are in place, mix up some builder's bog and fill the hole. Once it is dry, you can follow the steps in How to repair a hole in an internal door to finish the repair.

It is not a perfect solution, but it will work.

Let me know what you think and if you have further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Jacob