hey everybody I'm Ethan James with the
honest carpenter comm in this video I'm
gonna give you some important tips about
ball catch latches these things you see
on top of closet doors and some interior
double doors
the reason these ball catches exists is
because most double doors don't have
anything to latch on to exterior double
doors or French doors have this thing
called an astragal it's a t-shaped piece
that lets the doors overlap each other
this way one door can lock into the top
jamb and the threshold below then the
other door can hit the a through like a
stop and the rest more or less secure
but closet doors don't have an astragal
they have a gap between them so you need
something else to keep them closed and
what the hardware industry has come up
with is these ball catches the ball
rides up and down on a spring which
forces it into a depression in the
strike plate in theory that's how it
works supposed to keep the door closed
but here's the truth these things fail
constantly I've never been in a house
where at least half of them didn't work
the closet doors either didn't stay shut
or they went fully closed because these
latches were malfunctioning now I'm
gonna show you how to fix these things
because people always want to know and
it's really not that hard but after that
I'm gonna show you a better way of
keeping your door shut which makes these
latches unnecessary here's how the
problem typically develops as you can
see the hardware sits in the top edge of
the door sometimes when the house
settles over time the ball won't reach
the strike plate anymore because it's
too low or the ball may wind up sitting
too high and it prevents the door from
shutting it just bangs against the frame
I see both time and time again but these
latches are actually adjustable which
lets us fix both of these scenarios you
can either leave them in the door to
adjust them if you want to or take them
out I'll take this one out for a better
view with a five in one or a screwdriver
I can just easily pry the hardware out
it's just a cylinder that sits down in
another cylinder typically if you look
close you can see these two notches
around the ball they make a little pick
wrench that fits into these slots but
you don't really need it a pair of
needlenose pliers works just as well I
just poked the plier tips into these
holes and squeeze lightly now I can
rotate the ball counterclockwise turning
makes the ball rise clockwise turning
makes it descend so if it's low you just
raise it until it reaches the strike
plate or if it's too high you lower it
until it provides
clearance for the door simple as that
the other thing that also happens is
that the ball latches sometimes get
frozen in place and they won't retract
this is either due to a broken spring or
metal corrosion if you spin the ball all
the way out you'll see the spring
underneath if the spring has been out of
shape you may need to buy a whole new
ball latch or if the ball is sticking
you can sometimes just spray some wd-40
on a rag lightly lubricate it and under
usually come back to life that's it
those are all the fixes for a ball latch
nothing complicated but my problem with
these latches is that before long
they're usually just going to
malfunction again the ball keeps getting
stuck or they'll gradually turn
themselves up or down due to friction
also dust from the HVAC system gets into
the hardware and Gunks it up and you
have to keep cleaning them my question
is why waste your time constantly
addressing the same problem instead
here's a one dollar fix that you'll
never have to worry about again just use
a magnet catch these little magnet
catches typically cost about 99 cents
they make more expensive ones you can
see the variety of them here but the
simple white plastic ones do the trick
just fine and it only takes about five
minutes to install them so here here's
how it's done and I'm gonna include one
majorly important tip to save headaches
as you can see the units are very simple
I've actually got two different kinds
here but they're almost the same and
they install in a similar fashion
they each just have a few pieces the
magnet Tower a little metal plate and a
few screws so to start I go ahead and
snap the metal plate onto the magnet but
I make sure that the little spurs on the
plate are facing outward and now here
comes the most important trick I cut a
little piece of double-sided tape and
stick it to the back of the magnet Tower
I carefully pull the backside of the
tape off notice how it doesn't overhang
the sides at all it's going to be
permanently attached in here so I want
it hidden I go to the door pull it shut
and I position the magnet catch about
one inch from the edge of the door I'm
attaching the catch to the underside of
the stop trim where it can directly
touch the door this whole thing will be
slightly adjustable but you want to
position pretty close from the start the
double-sided tape lets me press it into
place and let it go which will be
extremely convenient in a moment now I
pull the door all the way in
brace the magnet catch with my finger
and force the Spurs on the plate into
the surface of the door when I pull the
doorway you can see that the Spurs have
left little impressions that's the exact
desired location for our metal plate
I can now separate the metal plate from
the magnet push it into these and
indentations and it will usually just
stay put but I marked the center with
the pencil in case it falls off which it
does and I use a small drill bit to
drill a pilot hole there then put the
metal plate back on and attach it with a
flat top screw I then do the same thing
to the magnet tower I pre-drill holes in
the center of the screw slots then I
drive a screw into each slot until they
lightly fasten because the screw holes
are slot shaped the unit is still
adjustable now so I pull the door shut
and see if it's sitting where I want it
if it looks a little too far out I can
loosen the screws and scoot the magnet
catch in or out a bit the magnets
themselves have just a little travel in
them so don't draw themselves toward the
metal plate and you'll hear them click
when engaged I don't even take the old
strike plates off because they were
there to begin with I just make sure the
ball is out of the door but if you want
to remove your strike plates and fill in
the mortise slots they leave behind
check out my video on how to do that
here you probably be surprised at how
well you can hide them otherwise you're
all done with this project because these
magnet catches are inside the closet
they're almost always hidden you'll
never really see them unless the doors
open but keep in mind you can use these
catches in a lot of places like cabinets
and display cases they keep doors shut
and they function for a long time
without a fuss I think they're just way
more reliable than the ball catches and
you only have to spend a few bucks on on
so thanks for watching the video as
always please put any questions thoughts
or opinions down in the comments I
always try to respond to them otherwise
be sure to check out our other videos
and visit us at the honest carpenter
comm thanks everybody
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