Project 25: Changing Out the Door Knobs

My very first project in our new house last July was changing the door knobs on the front and back doors. I was new to DIY and that project took entirely too long. (If you want to read about it, and learn how I temporarily locked myself inside my new house click here.)

I've come a long way since then and it's a good thing, because this past weekend I changed out 15 door knobs... yes, that' right 15. Can you believe our house has that many interior doors? 

Why did I change our door knobs? Well two reasons. First, our knobs didn't match. I'm not saying they didn't match my vision for the house (which is true), I'm actually saying they didn't match each-other. Over this house's life there must have been different reasons that required the knobs to be replaced, and the previous owners seemed to use a new type of knob every time. Seriously, look at all these different door knobs we had in the same house:

 

 

 

 

The second reason has to do with our adoption certification. To foster or adopt one of the requirements is that any knob in your house with a lock has to be able to be opened from the outside. Aka, you can't have a room in which a child could get locked in and you not be able to open. Additionally, any room that serves as a child's bedroom actually must have a lock (which is able to be opened from the outside). Having actual keys for the doors would be really annoying. So the other solution is to use knobs that have an emergency 'key'. Here are the new knobs we got for bedrooms and bathrooms:

And here is the 'key' that fits in the front in case we need to get in.

Now we just have to decide where to keep these keys. I don't want the kids getting them and unlocking the door on each other while in the bathroom, but I'll need to be able to access them anywhere in the house so kiddos can't lock me out. One idea is to use sticky tack and tack them to the top of the door frame of each room. Easy access but kids cant reach/see it.

We used the matching non locking knobs for our closets and hall way doors:

Total we ended up buying seven non-locking and eight locking knobs.

So, how do you change out a door knob? Well, I'm going to give you a very brief overview because each knob is a little different. But you'll get the gist of it.

Door knobs are basically four parts: two knobs, locking mechanism and strike plate. In a nutshell, you're going to first remove all four pieces and then install the four new pieces. So, step by step:

Step 1) Remove old knobs

My old door knobs each had two screws on the knob plate. Just use a screw driver to take them out.

After you get the screws out you just pull out the knobs on either side.

Step 2) Remove locking mechanism

This step is easier because you can use the power drill.

Step 3) Remove the old strike plate.

Again, you can use the power drill. (It is of note that you may not need to replace the strike plate if you're installing knobs the same color as the old knobs. I'm replacing them because I'm going from bronze to silver and I want them to match.)

Step 4) Install new locking mechanism

Make sure it is as level as possible. 

Step 5) Put on the new door knobs

This step takes the longest. The first door knob you put on is the one with the actual lock on it. It has three parts sticking out.

These three parts fit into the three holes in the locking mechanism. 

The second door knob has two screw holes. When you put the second door knob on you have to line these up with the outer parts of the first door knob. 

Then the screws should fit right through the hole and into the screw casing on the other knob. Tighten these up and you're good to go.

 

Step 6) Replace the strike plate

This is easy, just screw in the new plate. 

Like I said before, this is the very basics because different knobs have slightly different directions, but it's all still basically four pieces in, four pieces out.

And that's it! Now our knobs match and are kid-proof.

Project cost: Knobs vary in price. We went for one of the cheaper options. They were each about $11. Home Depot gives you a dollar off if you purchase more than six at a time, so we got them for about $10 each, making our total $150 (those sure add up!).

Time: The first knob took me about 25 minutes to install...but by the last one I had it down to an 8 minute process. What can I say? I'm a pro now. Total this was a couple hours worth of work, but I broke it up over a day.

Difficulty: Honestly, I'd say easy - assuming your old and new knobs are similar like mine were. If you can use a screwdriver and fit a puzzle together, you can do this project.