Fitting door escutcheons
Draught excluding isn’t confined to the edges of doors and windows, in fact two other places where draughts can be a problem are in the middle of a door – the letter box and the keyhole. Letter boxes have purpose made draught excluders that are simple to fit in place, and keyholes can be draught-proofed by fitting door escutcheons following the very simple procedure shown below. Brass escutcheons are shown here, but you can buy other finishes to match your existing door furniture.
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1. Escutcheons are usually sold in pairs, one with a coverplate for the inside of the door and one without a coverplate to go on the outside. |
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2. Insert the key through the escutcheon into the lock and make sure that the channel in the lock cylinder lines up precisely with the escutcheon. |
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3. When the escutcheon is in position, take out the key, and use a bradawl to mark the fixing holes. |
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4. Using the screws provided, screw the escutcheon in place. Check that the coverplate moves smoothly. |
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5. Fit the plain escutcheon to the outside of the door using the same technique, again, ensuring that the escutcheon lines up with the internal key channel. |
The escutcheon with the cover is made to go on the outside of the door, you diy experts are all the same, thinking you know everything!
Put the one without the cover on the outside and you will get water lying within the opening for the keyhole whenever you get driving rain – this in turn wil lead to rot.
Hi Barry,
Thanks for your comment, and trust me, I certainly don’t claim to know everything!
I think you make a good point and it’s an argument that I’ve gone round in circles with, on many occasions, with myself, architectural ironmongery suppliers, site chippies, and DIY enthusiasts alike. In all cases, some say ‘inside’ is best and others say ‘outside’ is best, for the one with cover. One argument for the way I’ve shown it is that it provides greater privacy, but yes, your point about damp is clearly a valid one.
So, I guess it’s just one of those preference things…..
Cheers,
Julian