Mortise Vs Cylinder Lock On Exterior Doors

The installation of a mortise door lock requires a mortise cut within the door.

Mortise vs cylinder lock on exterior doors.

This means that you will need a key in order to lock unlock the door from the inside. All doors have some sort of latching mechanism to hold the door tight against the weather strip for a good seal and a lock to provide security. Locks come in a variety of styles options and finishes but generally fall into three categories. Professionals often use a mortising jig to make this precise cut.

A special cut in the door allows a longer and thicker mortise to slide into the pocket in the door itself providing superior protection. The minimum door width is 45mm or 1 75 inches. You will find that there are two schools of thought as to which lock type is better. The most popular types of tubular style locks are single cylinder and double cylinder.

If a mortise lock is installed on a hollow metal door both pieces of hardware are going to hold up fine because they re both very sturdy. Even though these looked almost identical from the outside you can now see significant differences. All deadbolts have a key on the exterior side for security. To use a mortise lock your door must be thick enough to accommodate it.

Many people will argue this point but typically they overlook a very important component the door itself. The mortise cylinder has the threaded body which holds it in place with a set screw whereas the rim cylinder has the two mounting bolts which connects to a thin metal plate on the back of the door. Two holes are drilled in the door one through the face of the door for the lock chassis and the other through the strike edge of the door for the latchbolt. Some interior doors might be equipped with a warded mortise lock and the exterior doors with a pin tumbler operated mortise lock.

Cylindrical mortise and multi point. Mortise locks are available as a lockset and as an auxiliary mortise deadbolt lock. Drilling or cutting into the door is therefore more complex than a prepped cylindrical lock. Euro cylinder lock type of front door lock back door lock sometimes internal doors.

A mortise lock is sturdier than a cylindrical lock. From the late 19 th to the mid 20th century mortise locks were the preferred lockset installed into most interior and exterior doors. If you want to improve your door security just know that this type of lock offers far better protection against intruders than the common cylinder locks. A double cylinder lock also has a key on the inside which is required to operate the deadbolt.