Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 11, 2011 6:48 pm Levers for internal doors are included as standard with our builder, we love the look of them. But, after visiting friends with lever handles and realising our toddler can easily open them, we realise we wont be able to keep him out of any of the rooms. Anyone with kids will know this is absolutely vital! So with a heavy heart, I gave in to DH and "downgraded" our lovely levers to standard round knobs When I took DS to childcare today for his orientation, I noticed they have levers on the internal doors all through the centre, they have simply been installed upside-down, eg. you have to push them up rather than pull down to open. Has anyone else done this? Does everyone think it's a stupid idea and will be a total PITA?? Jess Re: Installing levers upside-down to toddler proof? 2Oct 12, 2011 8:19 am With 4 kids I think it's a GREAT idea ! If you go with the round knobs there are little plastic things you can buy to put over the handles to stop them entering. Let me tell you it only works for a while. My little rascals worked out pretty quick how to use them and now it,s sitting in the junk room un used. Re: Installing levers upside-down to toddler proof? 3Oct 12, 2011 8:36 am My Brother did this in his old place, but they were installed at "12 O'clock", not "9 O'clock" as I think you are suggesting. I'm unsure if it was successful, or not!! I do like the sound of the "9 O'clock", though so you pull the handle up rather than push it down in the normal "3 O'clock" position! It's not only Toddlers that can open the lever handles. We can't 'lock' our cat in the laundry at all, as she just jumps up and opens the door.... Henley - Wilshire Mk 3 ... I love my house!! Site start: 4th Feb 09 Handover: 10th Sep 09 Blog: http://stormygirlscastle.blogspot.com/ Build Thread: viewtopic.php?t=7166 Re: Installing levers upside-down to toddler proof? 4Oct 12, 2011 9:06 am one of my friends did this lever position and 12 o'clock thing. They have quite tricky doors anyway. But they are on a property and have lots of open dams/ponds near there house. Many people just install their handles higher up than usual. Or just go for round handles for now and change them when the kids are older. Kids will eventually learn to turn the handle the opposite way. Re: Installing levers upside-down to toddler proof? 5Oct 12, 2011 10:02 am Thank you all for your replies, I think we will go ahead with it. I will just have to make sure that the ones they supply are fixed in one direction. If it doesn't work I will never hear the end of it from DH. He says "a lot of stuffing around for some fancy handles!" Stormy It's not only Toddlers that can open the lever handles. We can't 'lock' our cat in the laundry at all, as she just jumps up and opens the door.... kexkez one of my friends did this lever position and 12 o'clock thing. They have quite tricky doors anyway. But they are on a property and have lots of open dams/ponds near there house. Many people just install their handles higher up than usual. Or just go for round handles for now and change them when the kids are older. Kids will eventually learn to turn the handle the opposite way. We are on 2.5 acres, unfenced. Our rear neighbours have a dam which is also unfenced. We will probably fence off a house yard for peace of mind. I hadn't considered the idea of "12 0'clock", but I guess that's always an option too. I know he will work them out eventually, just hoping to buy us some time until he is a bit more responsive to "NO!" Re: Installing levers upside-down to toddler proof? 6Oct 12, 2011 11:53 am What about raising the height of the handle? We are getting ours at around 1200mm of the ground to negate the same issue. The front door handle is at the same height with a deadbolt around 400mm above it. Only one it didn't cover was the 2 sliding doors we have that have patio bolts at the tops of them. PITA but it will keep the kids in and un wanted's out. Have look at your house plans and you will probably find that brick articulation joint has been missed. Maximum allowable spacing is 6M or 5.5M for a wall with window… 17 20513 Hi We have a road close to our place and only an old flimsy wooden fence between us and the Neighbour closest to the road. Any ideas on a sound proof modular fence. Like… 0 7447 Hi all Am new to this forum. I want to get some ideas/info about how to manage an 80 year old factory restoration to convert to a residence. The factory floor is concrete… 0 6330 |