No matter what the reason, having one of the doorknobs in your home broken can be quite frustrating. While you can call a professional to do the job for you, a broken doorknob needs some immediate fixing especially if it is the one in your main door. Fortunately, replacing a broken doorknob is something that can be done by any homeowner. It wouldn’t take you half an hour to get the job done so save your $10 and fix the problem yourself. Refer to this step by step guide for help:


Step 1. There are several tools you will need in order to fix a broken doorknob. The tools may include one small and one large flat head screwdriver, a Phillips head screwdriver, some Allen wrenches, and of course your replacement doorknob. You can either use a doorknob that’s the same model as the old one or a different model of your choice. Either way, just make sure you purchase a doorknob with the right size as the hole in your door.

Step 2. While whacking the doorknob to remove it may seem to be the faster way, disassembling it is still the best option. To disassemble, remove the doorknob handle first. Using your small flat head screwdriver, push the opening that will activate the spring to release the handle. If it doesn’t work, use the Allen wrench instead. See to it that you remove the handles from both sides.

Step 3. Next, pry off the ring located in the base of the stem of the doorknob. This ring is referred to as the doorknob trim. Again, remove the trim on both sides of your door. After removing the trim, use a screwdriver to remove the long screws that hold the doorknob mechanism. You should take note of how these two long screws fit so that you’ll have no difficulty figuring it out later on when it’s time to install the new doorknob.

Step 4. At this time, the doorknob mechanism should be fully exposed so pull it out of the doorframe. What’s should be left afterwards is the strike bolt being held by two screws. Remove the strike bolt as well by unscrewing it.

Step 5. Since you’re going to replace the whole doorknob, you might as well remove the strike plates. The strike plates are located on each side of the door where the doorknob goes in. You can actually leave the old strike plates since they do not interfere as to how the doorknob works, but if they do not match with your new doorknob, you can get rid of them. Doorknob kits always come with strike plates so there should be no problem with that.

Step 6. Now that the old doorknob is out of the way, all you have left is an empty hole. Installing the new doorknob is as easy as disassembling it. Take out your new doorknob kit and follow the instructions carefully.