I just moved into a rental that has double doors (french door style) to the bedroom with handles but no latch or lock. It looks like past tenants have installed locks at the top of the door but it's a pain to lock it every time I walk in or out and it's hard to reach. I need to be able to keep the cat in the room and the doors are light so he can just push them open now or they just swing open on their own. Does anyone have suggestions for something I can install with minimal skills and tools that will latch when I go in and out of the room without locking it? It just has to be something so a cat can't open the door. Ideally it would be a latch that automatically latches. It's ok if it's not a permanent improvement, I just need something I can set up quickly. Thanks for reading!!
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A picture of the doors along with some dimensions would be helpful. Do you need to be able to latch/unlatch it from both sides (like a normal door handle), or just latch from one side only, or...?– FreeManCommented Nov 13, 2023 at 22:23
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Put a laundry basket in the way. I have french doors that open into my bedroom, and the top lock is also finicky. I plop a basket in the way when I want privacy, and that's usually enough to stop my kids, so it will probably stop your cat. Unless the direction of entry is not in your favor.– user177013Commented Nov 13, 2023 at 22:40
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Can you include a picture of the top of both doors? There might be something there already that just needs adjusting.– Aloysius DefenestrateCommented Nov 14, 2023 at 0:09
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@user177013 how do you put a laundry basket when you're on the outswing side of the doors?– HuesmannCommented Nov 14, 2023 at 14:14
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OP, without seeing what kind of knobs/handles you have (assuming the doors swing into the bedroom), would simply tying the handles together after you exit be suitable? Get a giant rubber band or clamp of some sort.– HuesmannCommented Nov 14, 2023 at 14:15
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2 Answers
Sounds like a good magnetic latch would do the trick. They can be gotten that are fairly strong where the cat should not be able to open the door but you could without much trouble.
In the absence of more details about whether this needs to be accessed from inside the room, outside the room or both, here are a couple of options for keeping the two doors together.
Barrel bolt
Images courtesy of Lowes.com. Click to embiggen
Gate latch
This has the advantage of auto latching when the door closes. There are several different styles, one of which should accommodate the OP's situation.
Hook and eye latch
