Repair patio door security lock

electrofelix

Had to drill out a patio door security bolt because we lost the keys and tried replacing it however the screw holes have been widened by the drill bit spinning the previous screws around.

As the replacement lock can't take screws wide enough to bite tightly in the old holes, is there any rawlplug that is suitable in this case?

Presume it needs to be metal and would have to act similar to a plaster board rawlplug, but haven't seen any

massy086

electrofelix wrote: »

Had to drill out a patio door security bolt because we lost the keys and tried replacing it however the screw holes have been widened by the drill bit spinning the previous screws around.

As the replacement lock can't take screws wide enough to bite tightly in the old holes, is there any rawlplug that is suitable in this case?

Presume it needs to be metal and would have to act similar to a plaster board rawlplug, but haven't seen any

Maybe try pop rivets

electrofelix

Thanks, had no idea about them, looks like they would do the job provided I can find a washer to sit against the front of the rivet as the fastener won't fit in flush to the security bolt, but that seems like a much smaller task.

Cerco

I would try longer screws. Drill through into the masonry using a long masonry bit and tap in some rawlplugs into the masonry.

electrofelix

Cerco wrote: »

I would try longer screws. Drill through into the masonry using a long masonry bit and tap in some rawlplugs into the masonry.

The holes are into the section containing a window, rather than the wall, sorry if that wasn't clear in the photo

electrofelix

Back again, got some blind rivets and a hand held blind rivet tool, but discovered that the mandrels are too short because of how they sit into the lock when trying to fix it to the door.

Lock is something like https://www.ie.screwfix.com/era-100-12-patio-push-lock-white.html?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=Shopping&gclid=CjwKCAjw8e7mBRBsEiwAPVxxiKnD1lgYG2PlcGMQg137VghxD2NOA0wjNTOPgXDVb_gQ0DNBAXndRhoCrCUQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

The tip of the tool head can't fit down into the holes to sit flush with the flange of the blind rivet, and using some m4 nuts + washers to create a flush connection results in the tool failing to be able to grip the mandrel as it is not long enough with the additional spaces between.

Any thoughts? Is there something that could be screwed into the holes that would accept a screw going in afterwards? Or anyone know where I could find a blind rivet with a longer mandrel, don't seem to be too easy to locate via google.

Looking for a 4mm diameter 10mm body length with a mandrel sticking out longer than 30mm from the body (length of current mandrel that the tool can't grip).

cheif kaiser

You could use Rivet Nuts and bolt the lock on.

Tokyo

electrofelix wrote: »

The tip of the tool head can't fit down into the holes to sit flush with the flange of the blind rivet.

Find a couple of small nuts, or a collar, that will fit down the hole in the lock. Put them on the rivet to sit between the head of the rivet and the rivet gun.

dodzy

Relocate new lock to top of patio door and patch those holes with white caps.

electrofelix

cheif kaiser wrote: »

You could use Rivet Nuts and bolt the lock on.

Is that possible where you don't have access to the reverse side? Is there a particular type of blind rivet nut for this?

mike_ie wrote: »

Find a couple of small nuts, or a collar, that will fit down the hole in the lock. Put them on the rivet to sit between the head of the rivet and the rivet gun.

Think you might have missed that I've already tried that and the problem is the mandrel is too short to be gripped by the rivet tool. If I could locate rivets of the same size with longer mandrels this would definitely work based on my initial attempt.

dodzy wrote: »

Relocate new lock to top of patio door and patch those holes with white caps.

Hopeful that won't be needed, as it makes it much less likely that it will be locked on a regular basis due to being out of reach of many people, but it's definitely a good fallback option, thanks.

electrofelix

cheif kaiser wrote: »

You could use Rivet Nuts and bolt the lock on.

And it turns out a quick google search indicates that, yes blind rivet nuts are a thing, thanks this is likely to be the perfect solution here.

Off to Caulfield next week so to see what they have

Cerco

Will the collar of the rivet nut cause a problem since the lock will be pushed back by the thickness of the collar?
Depending on the size of the bolt hole , it may cause the bolt miss the hole.
Have never used rivet nuts so I might be wrong.

cheif kaiser

Cerco wrote: »

Will the collar of the rivet nut cause a problem since the lock will be pushed back by the thickness of the collar?
Depending on the size of the bolt hole , it may cause the bolt miss the hole.
Have never used rivet nuts so I might be wrong.

I used them a few times without any issue. Used them on a hollow, metal gate post to attach a gate spring and worked perfectly. Collar is fairly flat once compressed so can't see them causing an issue in this case.

electrofelix

Cerco wrote: »

Will the collar of the rivet nut cause a problem since the lock will be pushed back by the thickness of the collar?
Depending on the size of the bolt hole , it may cause the bolt miss the hole.
Have never used rivet nuts so I might be wrong.

It did slightly, but as I already needed a slim piece of metal between the lock and the patio frame I could simply drill a larger hold through the metal plate to fit over the collar

In this case it was important as otherwise I could see the lock rock slightly if you pulled on the door with the bolt in place which would probably make it easier to force.

electrofelix

cheif kaiser wrote: »

You could use Rivet Nuts and bolt the lock on.

Many, many thanks for this pointer, it may have taken me a while to pick up the tool, the rivet nuts worked perfectly for this.

I nearly botched the job in trying to use short plaster board metal rawplugs (as they would spread out behind the metal) as I nearly drilled the hole too large for M4 rivet nuts. The next size up used a bolt with a head too large to fit into the lock body to hold it properly.

Important lesson, go get the right tool, it'll definitely be cheaper in the long run (picked up a sealey rivet nut insert tool for €30).

cheif kaiser

electrofelix wrote: »

Many, many thanks for this pointer, it may have taken me a while to pick up the tool, the rivet nuts worked perfectly for this.

I nearly botched the job in trying to use short plaster board metal rawplugs (as they would spread out behind the metal) as I nearly drilled the hole too large for M4 rivet nuts. The next size up used a bolt with a head too large to fit into the lock body to hold it properly.

Important lesson, go get the right tool, it'll definitely be cheaper in the long run (picked up a sealey rivet nut insert tool for €30).

Glad they worked out for you Now that you have the kit, I'm sure you'll find many more uses for them, as I did!