I have heard this complaint dozen’s of times over the last three decades. Many times I have tried to help the customer over the phone. The conversation goes something like this:

Me: Put the key in the door and while you are turning the key push-in on the door really hard.

Customer: I’m turning the key and pushing but I am afraid the key is going to break if I turn any harder.

Me: You don’t have to turn the key with so much torque, just put normal turning pressure on the key and push-in on the door at the same time.

Customer: I’m turning and pushing but nothing is happening, can’t you just come out here and get me in?

When I arrive, I insert their key into the lock, put turning pressure on the key and give the door a couple of bumps with my knee, pushing the door in while turning the key at the same time. The door opens in seconds and the customer is amazed and confused, wondering why it didn’t work for them.

This scenario is very common with residential and commercial wood, metal and fiberglass doors. There are a variety of reasons that will jam-up the latch, loose hinge screws, stone stuck in the threshold, or the door was slammed harder than usual.

Most often, the dead-latch button, which is part of the door latch (see photo 5) falls into the strike plate hole when the door is slammed shut by the wind or somebody.

The photographs below explain this very common problem more clearly.

Jeff