Changing door handle to a knob. What do I need?

[gluenotsoup]

We currently have standard push down lever door handles, I want to change them to a reeded door knob. I’m fed up of catching my clothes on them and banging my arms. They are the usual type that comes back up on their own, with a little wedge ish shaped locking bit. Sorry it’s not very technical😬.
So… what do I need to buy? I like the chrome or nickel reeded round knobs, but sprung ? Unsprung? Rim lock or mortice? Do I have to buy latch kits? Do I have to get a particular size, some say 3 or 4 inch something but I don’t know what it means really.
All help appreciated 😊

A knob needs to be positioned further away from the door edge so that when the door is closed there is a big enough gap between the knob and the doorframe for your hand to twist the knob without scraping your skin.
so you’ll need to remove the old handles and fill the hole before you position the new knobs.

Are your doors hollow? Panelled? M&T? How old?

I have horizontal mortice sashlocks and latches, but they are not common in homes less than a hundred years old.

You may be able to fit tubular latches. Three inch is the minimum for knobs but four inches is better.

Oval knobs are better than round because you can turn them even when your hands are wet, greasy or athritic.

These yellow-cased latches are very good. You can get bathroom bolts to match (though I prefer the sashlocks)

www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/search/filter/ironmongery_brand%3E%7Baltro%7D?query=tubular%20latch

Cheaper ones are available but nowhere near as good.

These. About 6 years old, oak veneer.

If it's internal, the most practical and cheapest to fit I find is a simple ball catch latch with fixed door knobs. So no twisting and knows coming off the spring. Just a gentle push and - vola.

You would usually want the rose of the knob or handle to be in the middle of the stile (the vertical timber forming the side of the door), for symmetrical elegance. Yours are not wide enough

It is also possible to fit it in the horizontal rail, depending how the doors are made. Because the hole for the latch will weaken the tenon or dowels holding the door together.

Some doors, particularly modern fire doors, which are usually 44mm thick, are made of solid chipboard, moulded to shape and veneered, and these have no dowels or tenons, so can be drilled or morticed. These doors are flatteringly described as "engineered timber" which can also mean scraps of wood glued together.

The tubular latches I linked are fitted into a fairly small hole drilled in the edge of the door, so can usually be fitted.

To conceal the holes for the original handles, on veneered doors, you can use finger plates, often brass, but can be chrome, stainless, painted or ceramic. Painted doors can easily be filled and painted to hide holes

BTW you can fit knobs on the inside of your doors and you will not bang your knuckles, because that side is not recessed into the wall

Ok, thanks for the help🙂. The handles are in the centre of the vertical stile, the photos are perhaps showing a funny angle. They are the doors I’ve got, I like them so won’t be changing them.
What do you mean by knobs on the inside of the door? I will be fitting them in pairs if that’s what you mean?
I still don’t know which knobs I should be looking at though? Help..😂

It needs to be a knob I turn to open by the way, not a ball catch. I have to make sure they are not going to open with a push, one of the reasons I have to change them is to keep someone safe.

I went into B,&Q, collared an older worker and made him pick out all the bits I needed. Otherwise it would have been a right complicated faff. Get someone experienced to help. Hardware shops are good.

www.suffolklatchcompany.com/products/beehive-door-knobs-solid-brass?variant=33022381228116

i like these or similar, the info says unsprung

Thanks- I need someone to say “ get these… “🙂

If you put a knob in the centre, you'll bang your knuckles on the frame on the deep side.
The other side is less of an issue as the frame is shallower.

Won’t you just swap the handle, the mechanism will be the same? (Move it if you need, of course.)
Unscrew the current handles and you’ll see a metal thing sticking out. You just need to slide a knob on to it.

I think it's a bigger job than you think, to be honest. It's not as straightforward as it should be!

If they need to twist to open, then you'll need to change where they go. if you put the knob in where the current handle it will be too close to the door frame. If you move it back it will bit the recessed panel. You're probably better off moving it to the section of wood below, but this means you'll have a filled hole in the door.

This won't work as the knob will then be too close to the door frame. It needs to be moved somewhere else. It will actually be a bigger job than it looks.

Are there better lever types you could get? May be easier.

The spring ball type need quite a good shove, pull to work, so would keep a toddler safe or a less strong older person, for example.

Perhaps you could combine a spring ball with a second latch, up high? Or indeed fit the current handles up high?

I have a young teen with severe learning disabilities who has worked out she can open the door by pushing down on the handle or shoving the door open, so it needs to be a turn because she can’t manage that. I also have a younger child who needs to be able to open it herself

Ideally I want to just swap the handles over as filling holes on a lacquered door will look rubbish. I wanted knobs originally and was talked out of it by the joiner, and have regretted it ever since ☹️

I have 9 doors to do too, for context of price and other suggestions 😬

Yes, move it, like I said, but you don’t need a whole new latch etc.

What were his reasons for talking you out of it? Perhaps this style of door doesn't work well with a knob, as it will likely need to go lower than the handle. Or was it just his personal preference?

Actually, I was thinking the latch bit had leeway in it, but it doesn’t, so, yes, annoyingly you need a new one. This is the bit I was talking about.

www.screwfix.com/p/nickel-plated-tubular-latch-67mm-case-45mm-backset/38380?tc=FB9&ds_kid=92700048793315984&ds_rl=1244072&gclid=Cj0KCQiAn4SeBhCwARIsANeF9DIu9WJW9GbL28RSrDDVH7vXcptHNajsQ0mKThm-62Ca4diiFeEB0MwaAq94EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

OP, what you want is very much the standard option though. You might be best doing it in person. You just need knobs with a spindle, and the latch which is the right length for the spindle to edge of the door. It’s very much a standard latch.

If you move the knob but not the latch

Then the spindle of the knob will no longer engage with the follower (hole) in the latch.

Here are a few knobs to look at

www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/search?query=doorknobs