Replacing An(other) Old Schlage Interconnected Lock

Some years ago I posted about replacing an old Schlage interconnected lock because the customer wanted a keypad on the door. I used a security wrap to cover the old door prep.

Today I did another one. In this case, the customer hated that the doorknob would just spin continuously when locked. This is a feature that confuses a lot of people. Over the years I’ve gotten a dozen or so calls about “broken” doorknobs that were simply Schlage’s G-Series interconnected locks working as intended. Two of these calls came from successive new owners of the same apartment, separated by about three years.

This time I replaced the old lock using push plates and a Don Jo CV2414 filler plate. This filler plate only comes in silver and my hardware was bronze, so I had to spraypaint it and then hit it with a layer of polyurethane for longevity. The filler plate is made to replace a different kind of lock and is 1/8″ too wide for the application. I used a razor blade and a chisel to carefully widen the mortise by 1/16″ on either side. I also had to make the mortise a little deeper in order for the plate to sit flush in the door. I used an ANSI strike to replace the old latchplate. It fit but left just a bit more play in the closed door than I’d have wanted. The locks I installed had a pretty traditional footprint and I used push plates that had lots of real estate above and below them in case the owners might someday want to install a keypad and handleset. If they do, the new hardware will hopefully sit neatly atop the push plates without overlapping the edges.

This project turned out nicely but it was custom work that required a lot of time and focus. I’m not sure I’d do it again.