Despite recent events at the White House the security of my greenhouse shed just won’t ever be as good as that of the Secret service. Since it is also a shed and will be housing my lawnmowers, weedeater, various garden tools, hoses, and all the plants I hope to propagate I need something to keep people out. Tools don’t walk out by themselves do they? Our neighborhood is a very safe one but you never know when something could happen. My goal is to make sure the greenhouse shed is easily accessible through our own house key which means I may have to visit a locksmith at some point.
My biggest issue right now is the front door deadbolt lock. It came with the set of French doors that I put on the front of the greenhouse and it’s extremely corroded due to age and the weather. Ideally I would simply remove the deadbolt make a new door hole for a more modern style deadbolt and install one. I have several leftover from changing the locks on our house but don’t have keys for them. The problem with simply removing the lock is that the screws are stripped and rusted which makes any attempt at removing them very difficult! Any ideas?
On the left front door I installed a sliding latch to keep it stationary. I improvised a metal brace for the latch to lock into by taking two receiving plates and reversing them against each other so that the smooth ends are facing opposite directions. My goal was to reduce a tripping hazard without creating a new hole where water could collect on the threshold.
The back door has one side that will be disguised as part of the wall but can be opened like a standard gate. To hold it closed I adapted two gate latches that I picked up from the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store.
The picture quality isn’t great since it was another cloudy and rainy day, but you can get the point! The doors are held closed with the top and bottom latches and can easily be opened whenever I need both back doors opened. Which will only be when the mowers are needed.
