What "lock prep" means

Lock prep means we cut the openings your door handle needs before the door ships. When it arrives, you set the handle in place and tighten a couple of screws. That is the whole job: no drilling, no templates, no special tools.

Choose Yes and we cut two openings in the door:

• A round 2-1/8" hole through the face of the door. This is the hole the handle mounts through.
• A 1" hole into the edge of the door for the latch (the small spring-loaded bolt that sticks out of the door's edge and keeps the door closed).

Here is what that looks like on a finished door:

On the left, the round hole through the door's face, where the handle mounts. On the right, the door's edge: the small round hole the latch slides into, set in a shallow recess so the latch's metal plate sits flush with the edge.

The holes are drilled at the standard spacing that nearly every handle sold in Canada is made for (called a 2-3/8" backset: the distance from the edge of the door to the centre of the face hole). Almost any handle you can buy will fit.

The picture above shows the frame side of lock prep: the latch slot (installers call it the strike): a small recess cut into the jamb (the frame board the door closes against). The latch clicks into this slot and holds the door shut. Ordering a Complete Door Frame Set? This pocket comes already cut, lined up with your door.

Standard or Custom handle height?

Standard puts the handle at the height used in almost every home: the centre of the handle sits about 36" up from the floor. The Complete Door Frame Set uses this height. If you are unsure, Standard is the safe pick.

Custom (available on the Door Prep path) is for matching the other doors in your home exactly. To get your number: on an existing door, measure from the top of the door straight down to the centre of the handle. On a standard 80" door that is usually about 44". Measure from the top, not up from the floor: door bottoms often get trimmed to fit, so the top edge is the reliable reference.

Choosing No?

Pick No if you want the door left solid, with no handle openings. For example: you have your own doorknob drill kit and prefer to do it yourself, or you're using a dummy knob (a fixed handle that doesn't turn or latch, common on closets and pantries). A dummy knob simply screws onto the face of the door, so it needs no holes at all.