My house has cylindrical locks on all the internal doors. These are the ones with one keyed side and one knob/toggle side to lock and unlock a door without the key.
I live in South Africa, and for security purposes I would like to lock the internal doors for the rooms I am not using. (This is legal here). Here mortise locks are ubiquitous and cheap.
I have been researching my options and it seems they are:
- Leave the existing knob and install a cylindrical deadbolt. (More expensive, but easier)
- Remove the existing lock and replace with a mortise lockset. (Cheaper but more difficult)
I want to go with the mortise locks because they are cheap, easy to come by, and I like the look of a handle rather than a knob, and the existing doorknobs need to be replaced (some of them are simply old and broken). However, I'm not experienced at woodwork/DIY and don't know how easy this is to do. I could drill a hole, but am not so sure about being able to get the square mortise lock cut-out correct. Additionally, I am concerned about the existing cylindrical cutout being too large for the mortise lock handle-plate.
Is there a clear winner here, and am I overlooking anything? I would be willing to go with the cylindrical deadbolt option if it is significantly simpler to install.