Double doors - how to top latch when they are extra tall

nicenurse · Mar 27, 2013 9:17 pm

Hi,
we have double timber and glass doors in the passageway, and we need to be able to top latch one so that the other will close into it (sorry Im not up with the proper terminology, but hope you get what I mean), my problem is that the doors are tall and it would require standing on a chair to latch every time we want to shut the doors. I seem to remember that some hospital doors where I once worked had a 1 1/2 door and the smaller door had a latch at the top to secure it but the lever to operate it was located on the edge of the door a bit lower down, ie within reach. Would anyone know of this device and if so can you advise me where I could purchase one, as my builder is suggesting that we might want a floor latch instead, but it involves drilling into the floor tiles, and I think it might look a bit weird when the doors are open.

Any thoughts, suggestions or experiences gladly welcomed.
Thanks in advance.

nicenurse · Mar 28, 2013 8:35 am

Sorry, on further investigation I believe what I am chasing is called a flush bolt, but Im wondering if its possible to get one which would be low enough to operate on the edge of a taller than normal door without needing a chair to stand on.
Thanks.

becc · Mar 28, 2013 8:46 am

Ok, not up with terminology either. We have passageway doors like this. Our builder has screwed in small "plates" on the top surround of doorway. These have an indent. Then on the doors themselves, there are matching plates attached to doors. These have bumps. These fit together so that when doors are closed the doors are fixed tight. Hope that makes sense. No latches! Phew.