We changed out the plastic builder grade door handles throughout our home with metal ones. Although completely tightened, the new handles jiggle a bit and can be pushed in/out may 1/8". They all do what they’re supposed to, so maybe this is just an aesthetic thing but what can I do to remove that play in the handles?
Door handles have a specification/range of door thickness they fit. Assuming you door thickness is within that range, you likely have an installation issue. But since you have this problem with several handles, I expect your doors and thinner than the button of the handle’s range.
That means you likely have to choose a “least bad option”
#1. Get different handles
#2. Live with what you have
#3. Put spacers between the door and handle. Since handles are designed to have the latch mechanism in the middle, it may well be necessary to have spacers on both sides of the door.
For example this handle is designed for doors from 1 3/8" to 1 3/4" inches thick.
https://www.kwikset.com/products/category/knobs?style=Camero…
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Agreed. I would look at #3. Spacers might be the easiest solution. Some sort of rubber o-ring.
I should really have added more detail…
This isn’t a matter of tightening screws. There are only two screws for the interior of the outside door lock. When those two screws are removed, the following parts come out as a pre-assembled interior portion of the unit: handle, button, inside rose. Nothing protrudes past the rose.
Example: “illustrated cylindrical lock” at https://dengarden.com/home-improvement/How-to-Change-Your-Lo…
If I hold the rose, the handle itself will wobble and move just as if the entire lock was assembled. So the problem is really there, in the handle/rose interface. But there doesn’t appear to be anything inside the rose to tighten; nothing inside the rose moves except the rotational spring which returns the spring to the detente position. I tried to see if the locking button would unscrew, but it appears not so I’m kinda puzzled. Maybe this is a mfr question?
Maybe this is a mfr question?
Yeah, a call to customer support might be good. Especially if the handles are new, and presumably under warranty.
I installed three Schlage exterior hand sets (one lever, two knob) earlier this year. I just checked them out. All have a good bit of play to them, a sort of looseness. I can’t say I’ve ever noticed it before. Fortunately it doesn’t bother me. (Or at least it never has. Maybe now that I’ve noticed that will change?)
It does make me remember encountering a few handles that felt totally solid, like they were on ball bearings and without play. None of those were on private homes, but rather in public or commercial spaces where none of the hardware was ordinary.