Posted by DDH Staff on 8/11/2010 to Tips
Having problems removing your old door knob to replace your knob or re-paint your door? You probably have a concealed screw mounted door knob. Door knobs require mounting screws on one side of the door to hold the inside and the outside halves together. Generally the manufacturers will put the screws on the inside half of the knobset because it is usually seen less than the outside half - for example if you walk down a hallway you will see the outside half of all of your door knobs, but you won't see the inside half unless you are inside the room or closet. Another reason the mounting screws are on the inside half is so that when you are using a locking function knob it is more secure. If you had a locking doorknob with mounting screws on the outside, someone could easily remove the screws from the outside and take apart the knobset for entry. In this article i'll show you how to remove your door knob in just a few simple steps. It's quite easy to do, though maybe a little confusing for the first timer without a little help. First, on the inside of the doorknob, find the little tab on the shaft part of the knob. Some brands have more of a circular button, some have a rectangular tab like this one shown. Either way, it's just a small piece of metal sticking out (or sometimes flush with the surface). Once you find the tab, depress it with a flat screwdriver, paper clip or something small enough to fit in the hole. Once the button is depressed you will be able to slide the doorknob off of the base mounting assembly as shown. Once you have removed the knob, you will be able to remove the rosette (backplate). Don't try and remove the rosette beforehand because it won't come off with the knob in place. To remove the rosette, find a little slot along the edge of the rosette(backplate) somewhere. They are generally positioned to be on the bottom of the rosette so they are not visible, this one worked out well for photos since it is right on the side. To remove the rosette, all you have to do is gently pry with a flat screwdriver between the little slot and edge of the rosette as shown. Be careful not to scratch up your door or hardware. When you pry on the rosette it should pop off the base plate. The rosettes are held in place with a little ridge on the inside of the rosette that keeps it snug on the base plate. Some brands may not have a slot and will instead twist off the base plate. If your door has been painted you may have to use a little more force than usual to remove the rosette as it may be stuck to the door. Once you have removed the rosette, you can now remove the base plate that holds the two sides of the knobset together. Usually you can just loosen the two screws as shown in the image and twist the base plate a bit to remove. The outside half of the knobset is completely assembled so you only have to do this on the inside half. To reassemble, follow the same steps in reverse. Most of the major brand locks like Schlage, Kwikset, Weslock and Weiser that builders use and major hardware retailers sell will have this type of concealed mounting style so many of us have these in our home. They are pretty simple to install and uninstall once you understand how they work. Have a different kind of knobset and still having problems removing it? Contact us and we'd be happy to help in any way we can.