Split jamb repair

had similar.. she DID sign on the opening, yes? depends on your billing ticket and what you wrote on their, IMO

realtor called.. needed a repo house rekeyed.. we agreed on time..

got there, and she had said to bring a lock and a drill, as the front knob had been hammered off.. it did have a deadbolt in addition..

got there, looked at it and it had been well hammered down.. door looked funny... PUSHED it open with my foot.. she was AMAZED...IT OPENED

lock was destroyed, as was the jamb, totally gone where the deadbolt had been.. along with inside trim.. split the door, AND stripped the screws out of the hinge side as well.. recommended a carpenter to her, figured she was going to be out

and I did NOT charge her-she is a very much repeat customer.. --Shiva--

Umm, I have found that Don-Jo makes some very interesting extended strike plates you can surface mount that you may be able to use to reinforce the split jamb...

I have seen some split jams on doors people have kicked in in some of the fancier offices that have wooden door jambs in one of the buildings here where i work... That ends up in the entire door frame being replaced at the tenant's or damager's (if it was someone else who can be blamed and billed for it's) costs...

How bad is the frame split ? You might be opening up a can of worms if you go ahead and attempt this repair yourself... See if you can find something to ADD to the frame as it is now that will keep it held together and be as strong as it was before... Using a plunge router and some wood epoxy (the kind of stuff used in restoration projects that then gets painted over) might work out for you...

You are looking at a sorta big project to replace it... You mentioned all the trim, the painting, and ancillairy repairs...

The funny thing about married couples that own property is that they BOTH have a say in things... Do your best to make them both happy, but get them to sign a release form that relieves you of any further laibility once they accept any payment you make towards their repair.. Also be leery of immeidately allowing this guy to choose his OWN contractor to repair this for him, if worse comes to worse pick someone from the phone book, a "non-interested third party" to do the repairs...

Evan the Maintenance Man

This isn't what you want to hear.

Eat the cost and dont look back. The husband is most likely a nut were the wife is a calm person. This is the only reason I can think of that he would call on Sunday night if you dont advertise 24/7. If you dont fix it the way it was it will cost you in the long run. Bad word of mouth. Court time. Just learn from your mistakes.

BTW, drill it next time or get a Kwik-Pull. Never lower your price. The lowering of your price opens the door to nutty husbands having an excuse to come after you because their wife locked the keys in the house in their distorted minds. The door was most likely already split by the husband trying to kick the door in the night before. Get insurance.

Locksmiths and Linux nuts (or trolls) need to check what groups they are posting to when replying. Some troublemaker may have set up any reply for cross posting to several other groups - goodness knows why feminists and linux users would be interested in broken keys or Medeco locks.

The way I see it, you had already talked to the customer (wife) and she cleared you of responsibility on the busted jam. That would stand in court (unless she denies this on the stand). You've got a sticky situation. Your personal choice: eat it or fight it. Both cost the same.

That's funny. I'm a Realtor and specialize in foreclosures (which is how and why I came into locksmithing). I was working a lock just today that had a split jam (see them alot on foreclosures). I didn't split it though; it was like that already. I drilled the lock. Some POS handset made for internal doors. I just got some REALLY long screws and mounted the damn thing back on going all the way to the stud past the jam. It held solid.

The first thing that went through my mind was when he mentioned "have someone do it and send you the bill" that he was going to take royal advantage and have the whole door replaced.

As for the damage, the half inch thick trim wood was split (about a foot up and down) and the decorative molding was pushed off. But the molding wasn't broken in half.

He mentions not "wanting to look at that", so cosmetic is more important than function. The old strike was in with the Kwikset standard screws, and I put in three inch chromated ones. So, he's got a LOT more strength now.

Worse, it seems that he's not going to be there in person when I go back, and so I'm not totally sure what he wants. just "fix it".

I wonder about the split door. Ah, well. From what I could see from the edge of the door, it wasn't right when I got there. And it very likely was catching the bolt on the strike. Might not have worked right before.

Like you say, go fix it and learn and go on.

I deleted the one that was major cross posted.

They may cost the same, but the "fight it" will take more of your time, cause you more grief, has a risk of a judgement against you (i.e. paying the carpenter anyhow) and will get you more bad publicity.

I suggest that you get a carpenter you know to do this one - and just swallow hard and pay him. (There's a good chance he can do a good repair rather than replacing the door frame - and ask him to see if he can tell if your "push" split the jamb, or if it appears to have been already split. If it appears to have been split already, that's a very good argument for a good mending of the split - e.g. glue/screws/paint - rather than replacing the frame.)

The first part is good advice but just because the husband wants his broken property fixed like it was doesn't make him a nut.

The bottom line here is there was no reason to think forcing it would do anything other than exactly what it did. He needs to fix it as good as what it waws before.

He broke it. He needs to fix it. What did he think trying to force it was going to accomplish?

Well I dont know about that. I know it doesn't make him a nut for sure but from the discription given I wouldn't say for sure he wasn't.

When is the last time you split a jam picking a lock? Never I'm sure. I've never done it either. I just can't see how it could have happened minus a pre existing condition. Sounds like the husband should have at least waited til Monday morning to call and complain.

I expect from other advice you've been offered, others will disagree with this, but IMO you've been set up. You were hired to open the lock (?) which was installed incorrectly by her son. I think that logic should be explained to the customer. Then offer to hire a carpenter (of your choosing and as YOUR subcontractor, and split the bill for repair with the customer. (Did the son start the split by using screws to large for the wood?)

Just my point of view from the information given. If all you wanted was sympathy, you got it with an education!

Setup? How? How did the customer know he would try to FORCE it open? The customer thought they had hired a professional. What did he think would happen when he tried to FORCE it open, knowing the bolt was not withdrawn? He should pay for the entire cost of repair and trying to weasel out only makes him look dishonest. There should be little sympathy in this trade for those who butcher it and then try to avoid taking responsibility.

The customer called a professional or someone who led them to believe he is one. The professional by his own admission forced open the door when he obviously knew that the bolt was not withdrawn, breaking the jam. The people are certainly entitled to get that fixed by the so called professional. I don't care who put the lock on etc those are just excuses.

Right because it won't happen unless you try to force open the door.

Well he wrote: I gave the door a good push, and it moved, so

I know you've seen doors that have been kicked in or slammed open with somebody's shoulder. What happens? The jam/door frame breaks.

There's no evidence that there was anything wrong with it before and even if there was it wouldn't have broken had he not forced it. He should fix it instead of trying to figure out a way to weasel out.

I see your point. My concern (from experience) is that the split had been started by an improperly installed lock (by the son). If to large a screw was used without an appropriate pilot hole the jamb could have been split in the installation process. All conjecture on my part. I wasn't there but the possibility should be raised. Now the customer wants him to fix something they may have caused/started, fully at his expense.

OTOH, you're right, regardless of the root cause - forcing the door without retracting the latch can only result in damage regardless of when/where it started.

You're right it could have. The problem with using this as a defense for what stormin did is that his fate was still in his own hands. If there was indeed a split started already nothing would have happened had he not forced on the door. It's pretty clear from his description that it only gave after he forced it while KNOWING that the bolt was not withdrawn. In that situation if I could not get the bolt to withdraw all the way by whatever means I would look for another way in and/or inform the customer that the door could not be opened without damage and have them sign a waiver if they wanted to proceed.

All conjecture on my part. I wasn't there but the

That's my only point here. I have never busted somebody's door jam but I have had window glass on a vehicle break. Not recently, knock on wood. I paid to replace the glass instead of trying to find an excuse for why it broke, i.e. it was too hot, it was too cold etc. Temperature might well have been a contributing factor but the bottom line is it broke because I broke it. I just don't have any sympathy or tolerance for people in any trade who come along and make something worse and then try to avoid taking responsability for it.