uPVC, aluminium and sliding doors in Dénia that no longer lock

Terrace sliders, uPVC front doors and aluminium frames go wrong in their own ways: a hook that no longer catches, a handle you have to lift with both hands, a door that has sunk a few millimetres and now fights you.

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Adjust first, replace last
Parts for older doors sourced
By appointment

Sliders and uPVC around Dénia

Beach flats

Along the three kilometres of sand at Les Marines, a sliding door onto the terrace is the rule. It is often the second way into the flat, and the first one to stop locking.

Villas

Houses in Les Rotes and on the Montgó slopes carry aluminium and uPVC doors on every side, many of them used only a few weeks a year.

Shopfronts and offices

Aluminium doors in the centre take hundreds of openings a day. For premises, see also commercial lock work.

The faults that come up most

The slider will not latch

Rollers worn, door dropped, hook and keep out of line.

The handle must be lifted hard

The door has sagged on its hinges and the bolts miss their keeps.

The handle has gone floppy

The gearbox inside the door has broken, usually after months of forcing.

The key turns and nothing moves

A broken cam or gearbox between the cylinder and the bolts.

Adjust, repair, and only then replace

Adjust

Hinges, rollers and keeps set back so the door meets its frame properly.
Repair

A new gearbox, hook or cylinder where one has failed.
Replace

The whole mechanism, only when the parts are gone or it is worn right through.

A door that locks with an ordinary key and no multipoint belongs on the lock change page instead.

Sand, and doors nobody opens

Two things are hard on these doors in Dénia. Fine sand, carried into terrace tracks from the beaches of Les Marines, wears rollers and clogs keeps. And a great many homes here are second homes, so a door can go months without moving and then be expected to work first time.

Brushing and vacuuming the track, and opening every door once whenever you are in the house, prevents a good share of these call-outs. In a holiday let, it is worth adding to the changeover list: more on rental changeovers.

A photo of the edge of the door, with the bolts visible, and a short video of the handle being moved tell us most of what we need. Send them through WhatsApp.

Sliders, uPVC and aluminium: common questions

The terrace door slides fine but will not lock. What has gone?

Usually the hook and its keep no longer meet, because the door has dropped on worn rollers or the keep has moved. That is an adjustment or a small part, not a new door.

Why do I have to heave the handle up before the key will turn?

The door has sagged, so the bolts along the edge no longer line up with the frame and the mechanism is doing the lifting. Carry on forcing it and the gearbox inside breaks. Realigning the door usually cures it.

Can parts still be found for an old aluminium door?

Often, because many mechanisms follow standard sizes. When the exact part no longer exists, a compatible one is fitted, and the door does not need replacing to take it.

Is it worth putting a better cylinder in a uPVC door?

Yes, on an outside door. Many were fitted with a basic cylinder that can be attacked easily. Changing it to an anti-snap one is quick and the rest of the mechanism stays.

The slider will not lock and it is late. Can it wait?

If the house can still be secured another way for the night, book it for a working day, which costs less. If the property cannot be locked at all, ring the emergency line.

Send a video of the handle

Ten seconds of the handle and the key being worked, and the edge of the door. That usually shows what has failed.