Changing A Deadbolt Lock

My daughter made me aware of the problem with her deadbolt lock. It was old and caused a problem every time she tried to use it with the key. I told her I would purchase one and change it in a few minutes.

I did buy one at the hardware store and was surprised at the number of different dead bolts. The salesman was a good one and gave me all the options for my purchase. I asked if there would be any problem installing it and he laughed and said just remove the old and put in the new. What a joke.

My grandson and I removed the old lock and prepared to install the new. It did not fit. When we compared the old and new there was a definite difference. The hole was too small and the whole opening had to be radically changed to accommodate the new bolt.

Adam and I were now working over an hour and were not close to performing our task. We shoved, cut and begged the bolt to work. Finally we thought that everything was OK and prepared to line up those two screws. They would not line up. After what seemed like a dozen tries we were able to get one set but the other would not co-operate.

Well we did get it together in a hour and a half of the most frustrating moments. I now add locksmithing up there with plumbing. If this keeps up I will be back happy just cutting the grass and leaving the technical jobs to the grandchildren.