How to Fit a Door Handle
Whether you’ve got a broken door handle or are just planning a refresh, it is more than possible to fit a new door handle yourself. To make it even easier, most door handles even come with a fitting and measurement guide for you to follow.
By reading this guide, you can learn all there is to know about installing a door handle.
Part 1: Measuring and Drilling the Door
If you’re starting from scratch, you’ll first need to measure and drill the required holes in the door. If you’re simply replacing a door handle with another of the exact same size and arrangement, you can usually skip this bit!
Step 1: Measuring the Door
The first step is to measure the height from the floor to the best placement on your door. If the door already has a handle that you’re just replacing, you can skip this step because you’ll be able to use the existing holes.
If you have a new door, you’ll need to measure up from the floor to the ideal fixing point. The most common placement for door handles is 100cm (or 41 inches) from the floor, but you can always measure the other handles around your home and use that measurement instead.
Once you have the point, mark it with a pencil.
Step 2: Using the Template
Again, if you are working with a door that doesn’t already have a handle or are installing a new type of handle, you’ll need to fix the handle’s installation template to the door. Simply use masking tape and make markings where you’ll need to drill holes.
All handles are different, so make sure you check the instructions so you know what to do and won’t run into any problems.
Step 3: Get Ready to Drill
Before you start drilling, you need to make sure the door is fixed in position. If the door can move freely, it makes it more likely that you could damage something or slip, resulting in uneven holes.
Ideally, you want to use a door wedge to hold the door as stably as possible.
Step 4: Pilot Holes
Using a 2mm drill bit, drill preliminary, or pilot, holes in the door’s front, back and side using the template. This gives you a chance to make sure you’re 100% happy with the placement before you drill the larger holes! It’ll also make it a lot easier to insert the screws when you get that far.
Make sure that you keep the drill level with the floor to keep the holes as tidy as possible.
Step 5: Drilling the Larger Holes
Using the template as a guide to pick the right drill bits, make the pilot holes larger (where necessary!). Be careful – making sure that you don’t go all the way through the door.
Step 6: Drill the Spindle Holes
Using a spade drill bit (typically a 25mm!), drill the spindle holes. Make sure you follow the template that came with the handle. Keep the drill parallel to the floor, and drill both sides of the door separately to keep the hole tidy.
Step 7: Drill the Side of the Door
This step is trickier because the side of the door has a much smaller surface area, so it’s easier to make a mistake.
Before you start, double check that the door is securely wedged in place.
Using the same 25mm spade drill bit, drill the hole as per the instructions into the side of the door.
Part 2: Setting the Door Handle
Step 1: Tracing the Face Plate
Set the latch into the side of the door and use this to draw marks as to where it will be located. Make sure the marks are easy for you to find and are accurate. If you make a mistake, make sure you erase it because it’ll save you a lot of work later on!
Step 2: Chisel the Outline
With the chisel at a 45 degree angle, start chiselling in a downwards direction, working to the depth specified in the instructions.
Reset the latch, and make sure it sits flush into the door. If it doesn’t sit flush, take more out of the chiselled space until the latch does sit flush.
All latches sit differently and have different depths of faceplate, so make sure you follow the instructions carefully.
Step 3: Screwing the Faceplate
Once you’re satisfied with the fit, screw the faceplate into the door using the pilot holes that you made earlier. Make sure the latch sits neatly within the area you chiselled out.
If you use a drill, drill in the screws carefully to make sure you don’t slip.
Step 4: Spindle
Place the door handles into the spindle holes, and make sure that the two line up properly. Make sure both handles fit into the spindle.
Once you’re satisfied with the fit, screw the handles into the door individually.
Once you’ve attached the first handle, turn it to make sure they seem to be properly connected to the spindle. Test again once both are installed.
If they don’t turn once both are installed, unscrew them and double check they are fitting into the spindle properly.
Step 4: Strike Plate
Align the strike plate with the latch faceplate, and use this to drill pilot holes into the door frame where the strike plate will sit.
Depending on your unique plate, you may need to chisel a section out of the door to ensure it sits correctly, but double check your instructions for this!
Once you’re happy with the positioning and fit, push the door shut, checking that nothing is out of alignment. If the door is too tight and won’t shut, double check the placement of the face and strike plates.
Congratulations, you’ve installed a door handle!
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