Lockless Door Knobs on garage door?

Question

I have attached garages on my units that come with garage door openers and everything. I currently have keyed entry door knobs on the garage door from the house to garage and was thinking of replacing them with regular door handles that don't have locks. This way I don't have to change as many sets of locks when a tenant moves out, just the front door. Can anyone think of why I shouldn't do this? Is this a bad idea?

Scott Sewell · Answer

Hi Sean,

I would NEVER forgo a lock from a garage entrance for the all reasons mentioned above. We've been transitioning to the keypad locks (Schlage) for our units over the last 6 months and love them. A little spendy ($125) but wish we had done this years ago. Did a lot of rehab and maintenance lately, and with the keypads I could put a temporary code on the door for workmen, then erase it as soon as they were done. Same thing at turnarounds, I can recode a lock in about 15 seconds, so no one but the current occupant (and us) has access.

Account Closed · Answer

I would never leave an entry to the house unkeyed.  The garage door is not really a security door.  If you don't want to pay to rekey, buy the Kwikset SmartKey handle sets and deadbolts that you can rekey yourself.  Super easy.  I just did a property with front and back entrance, separate garage and guesthouse and it took me 20 minutes.  The knobs and lock sets come in plenty of styles and finishes.

Jerry W. · Answer

I myself think it's a bad idea.  The cost of keying 2 door knobs compared to 3 is not very much.  If you are truly worried about cost get the keyless entry locks you can reprogram.  During the summer when folks leave their garage open to wash the car, clean the garage, take out trash, etc., anyone could enter into the garage and the house.  Would you like that setup for your house?  Just my 2 cents.

Edward Burns · Answer

The other thing to consider is that garage door openers operate on radio frequencies and while newer openers are better, a garage door can be opened by a different opener.  If the walk-thru door could not be locked, then the landlord may have to accept some liability if a breakin occurred.

Sean Kuhn · Answer

@Jerry W.

The interesting thing about that is I do have that setup at my house! I helps me from locking myself out. But I do live alone and keep my garage door closed. I would imagine someone with kids might not like that.

Sean Kuhn · Answer

@Jerry W.

That's kind of what I was thinking as well.

Lockless Door Knobs on garage door?

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