Did someone try to break in?

[jpc10008]

We came home and found that there was a weird hole punched above the lever of our front door lock, we can't ever remember seeing this before and we are worried someone may have attempted to break in, here are the images of it... http://imgur.com/a/GJFUp

Anybody any idea what may have caused this and if we call a locksmith?

Thanks very much

[billdeserthills]

I'm a locksmith, but I don't service this type of lock, however it is vandalism at the very least

[femurat]

That's a break in attempt. Dunno if they managed to open the door or not.
I suggest you change that lock and door hardware with something more secure.

Out of curiosity, which state do you live in?

Cheers

[Jacob Morgan]

Would you mind explaining how the door is set up? It looks like the lock was repurposed and some parts are not being used? The door is two pieces of wood glued together? Was the hole drilled from the side of the door that was supposed to keep people out?

[jpc10008]

Hi Jacob,

Thanks for your reply. Yes the 3 images you saw were from the outside of the door, the side to keep people out. Im not sure what you meant by repurposed?

We are pretty sure we have never seen this hole before and confused wby anyone would make that hole anyway? Thanks for taking the time to solve this. Be good to know if we require a new lock.

Look forward to hearing from you.

[Squelchtone]

Where in the UK are you?

[TorontoGuy]

Forgive me for asking a beginner question but, if the pictures are of the outside of the door, how do you get in? There doesn't appear to be a keyhole on that side.
The large (decorative?) keyhole at the bottom of the plate doesn't appear to have anything in it since I can see the wood of the door through the hole.
Looking at other pictures of Yale lever latches online; as well as the obvious Yale face plate on the latch makes this look like a standard interior door.
Sure it is possible that somebody drilled the hole to attempt to bypass the latch but it looks like they could have just opened the door directly.
As I said, I'm a beginner and could be completely off base here. Just thinking out loud.

TG

[mseifert]

Forgive me for asking a beginner question but, if the pictures are of the outside of the door, how do you get in? There doesn't appear to be a keyhole on that side.
The large (decorative?) keyhole at the bottom of the plate doesn't appear to have anything in it since I can see the wood of the door through the hole.
Looking at other pictures of Yale lever latches online; as well as the obvious Yale face plate on the latch makes this look like a standard interior door.
Sure it is possible that somebody drilled the hole to attempt to bypass the latch but it looks like they could have just opened the door directly.
As I said, I'm a beginner and could be completely off base here. Just thinking out loud.

TG

I could be wrong .. but in the second picture from the top, it looks like maybe the latch/lock assembly is backwards.. If the door closes to the left in the picture .. The screw head would be outside and the flat part of the latch would hit the strike plate first ..

[TorontoGuy]

When you mentioned the screw heads, it set me thinking. Wouldn't you mount the set with the screws on the inside of the door? A thief could just use a screwdriver to take off the whole plate...a lot quieter than drilling.
Also...there are no screws at all in the bottom two mounting holes...you could probable just pry the thing off the door.

TG

[ltdbjd]

The lever is sitting at a funky angle too.

I can't really tell from the pics, but are those function changing buttons on the edge plate? It looks like the ones on the Baldwin mortise cassette, but farther apart.

[mhole]

Lol, that is a Yale 5 lever sashlock, fitted with lever on plate handles, which screw to the door. You can see wood through the keyhole due to the angle of the photo.

The 'buttons'are anti hacksaw rollers in the deadbolt. The screws are into the wooden door, there is no through bolt, so both sides show visible screws. Removing the handles doesn't allow access to anything critical to security.

That may be a break in attempt, but it's a very inept one, there is nothing up there which would enable opening the door. More likely I'd that the handle has been over-turned, which has broken the rotation stop on the inside. The thin/cheap pot metal casting has failed, leaving a hole where the stop was. I'll bet if you remove the screws and take off the handle there is a small stub of metal loose in there.

[mhole]

Intact, I'm going definitive - the handle is clearly above horizontal in the last picture, which only possible if the stop is damaged. Someone tried to turn the handle the wrong way.

[jpc10008]

We really appreciate all the info guys! If the handle was turned the wrong way how would that cause a hole to be punched through?

The door is the external door to our flat but there is a front door of the building as we live within a communal area. Yes the wood you see through the keyholde is just because of the angle I took the photo at. The lock still works fine but yes the handle does sit a little funny on the external side and also feels a little bit loose but not too bad, when I tried to pull the lever up the wrong way it didnt let me.

Many Thanks

[Silverado]

I understand what mhole is explaining about the rotational stop. There was a bar sticking out of the casting that is the outer plate on the door and that bar would have been cast as a part of the plate. When it broke, the point of stress was where the base of the rotational stop bar meets the outer plate. The handle was turned so far that it pulled on that bar enough to peel the base (which is the outer plate) into the inside of the assembly before it broke off, which caused that hole there.



_____|_____ <-- the bottom line being the outer plate and the vertical line being the rotational stop bar

___/____ <-- handle turns too far, bending the stop bar, pulling the only thing it has to hold onto (The outer plate)

___ ___ <-- After the stopping bar is pulled far enough, it leaves a hole since it was a part of the outer plate and the only point it had to hold onto was in fact the outer plate.

Now you have a hole, and a stop bar floating around in the guts of the mechanism

I hope that helps!

[femurat]

Mhole and Silverado explanations seem reasonable.
There's a bypass for different locks that requires a hole in that position. That's why I said somebody tried to break in.
I stand corrected.

Cheers