Loose sliding door handle

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xpd

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#310741 18-Nov-2023 12:48

Door handle on a sliding door has come loose, and while the screws are holding onto the handle itself, they wont hold onto the door anymore, so when you pull the handle, the thing comes off in your hand.

Any ideas on how to get this cursed thing to stay attached without replacing it all ? :D Its been like this for years and we've just put up with it.

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#3160822 18-Nov-2023 12:54

Hard to tell from the picture, Is the frame it's screwing into wood? Thicker screws would probably help. Worst case a couple of dots of liquid nails will keep it on.

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tweake

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#3160823 18-Nov-2023 12:58

got a better pic?

it kinda looks like someone's used wood screws. you need to use machine screws, prefer fine threaded. ebit: try bolt instead of screw. you want a fine pitch thread.

you might get away with drill the hole out a bit in the handle, and use some self tapping machine screws. or tap the old hole in the frame and normal machine screws.

if its really thin or beaten up, if there is room you could use rivnuts.

pih

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#3160826 18-Nov-2023 13:09

Cheapest solution (if you have or can borrow a rivet gun) might be to get some large blind/pop rivets and rivet it back to the (looks aluminium to me) door frame. Get aluminium rivets that are just less than the diameter of the existing holes (eg. 4.8mm for a 5mm hole) and long enough to go through the thickness of the handle mount plus the door material plus another 5-8mm on the other side. Worst case if the current screws/bolts are too fat (the holes left are more than about 5.5mm) you might need to drill some fresh holes and mount the handle slightly higher or lower.

k1w1k1d

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#3160838 18-Nov-2023 14:01

Hard to see on photo, but being a sliding door, I would assume it is aluminium?

Pop rivets would be my absolute last option, unless wanting a quick and dirty option when selling.

Aluminium joinery usually has coarse thread screws to hold handles etc on.

Can you post a photo of the screws?

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#3160841 18-Nov-2023 14:13

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xpd

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#3160844 18-Nov-2023 14:18

For some reason phone is refusing to play ball today.....

They're not wood screws.

Thinking strong glue of some sort might tie it over......

Holes on frame of the door have been drilled multiple times before we moved in, so hasnt helped.

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#3160845 18-Nov-2023 14:18

What's on the outside?

Maybe a gutter bolt or similar all way through door.

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pih

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#3160853 18-Nov-2023 15:09

k1w1k1d:

Pop rivets would be my absolute last option

Why? No offence to the OP, but the handle/door are not exactly brand new, and he probably wants somethin he can set and forget for a long time. He could use larger machine screws but they're likely to work themselves loose again unless done well. He could bolt it all the way through but that means more expensive fasteners, and the handle on the other side would need to agree.

Pop rivets are perfect: strong, quick and easy to fit, unlikely to weaken much over time, cheap, and not even that permanent as they could be easily drilled out if the OP wants to upgrade the handle at a later time.

k1w1k1d

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#3160869 18-Nov-2023 16:34

Could user countersunk nuts and bolts from the other side of the door if there is a handle on the outside that would cover the heads.

Rivnuts.

Slide a couple of pieces of 5mm thick flat steel in through the centre hole that have threaded holes for machine screws.

Pop rivets are likely to work loose with the continual sideways flexing every time the door is opened or closed. They will then spin when you try to drill them out.

tweake

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#3160958 18-Nov-2023 18:51

pih:

Why? No offence to the OP, but the handle/door are not exactly brand new, and he probably wants somethin he can set and forget for a long time. He could use larger machine screws but they're likely to work themselves loose again unless done well. He could bolt it all the way through but that means more expensive fasteners, and the handle on the other side would need to agree.

Pop rivets are perfect: strong, quick and easy to fit, unlikely to weaken much over time, cheap, and not even that permanent as they could be easily drilled out if the OP wants to upgrade the handle at a later time.

actually pop rivets are probably a good solution, tho it depends a bit on the handle. easy to install with hand tools. they won't last as long as properly done machine screws but certainly better than glues etc.

andrew75

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#3160992 18-Nov-2023 21:38

Can you get some backing wood or something through the hole and in behind the screws to screw into?

eracode

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#3160997 18-Nov-2023 21:57

Move the handle about 10mm (15mm?) left/right/up/down to avoid the existing screw holes - then drill and screw into fresh aluminium. You can probably do this to avoid the old screw holes showing.

I would not use any type of adhesive - it just won’t last.

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scuwp

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#3161080 19-Nov-2023 09:51

Rental? Get the landlord to fix it properly.

If it's your place and it's just a handle you grab, I would look at moving it up or down slightly and drilling new holes with some proper metal screws.

TBH it really looks like the whole thing is past it's use by date. Where has the lock mechanism gone?

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eracode

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#3163762 25-Nov-2023 21:19

@xpd Interested to know whether you got this sorted.

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xpd

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#3163844 26-Nov-2023 08:27

Well, we had an open home to do, so needed a quickfire solution.... so a decent whack of Liquid Nails on any contact surfaces and all over the screws seemed to have worked - the handle has not budged since ;)

Once I have time to take a better look at it, possibly using @eracode 's solution, will see how it goes.... if I can remove it ;)

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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