We bought our house used; it’s over 20 years old. The door handles are looking dated, so I want to swap them.
I started by searching online for “door handle replacement”. Apparently, if you just buy a handle that looks nice without checking specs, it’ll often refuse to fit.
The dimensions to verify:
・Door thickness
・Backset
・Front-plate size
Measured my existing door handle:
Door thickness 35 mm, Backset 51 mm, Front plate 100 × 25 mm. Manufacturer: Tostem (now LIXIL).
First Try: Just Replace the Handle
The current door handle. Generic-looking and the finish is starting to peel — so I want a swap.
Door thickness is 35 mm, so I want a handle compatible with that.
Wait — actually, maybe I can just swap the lever portion?
The “backset” affects the latch mechanism inside the door — but if I only swap the lever that operates that mechanism, the backset shouldn’t matter.
With that logic, I bought a KAWAJUN T7L-GQ — a lever-only product. ¥4,752 + shipping.
(Different manufacturer, so it might not fit, but I couldn’t tell exactly what would be the bottleneck. I just bought it on instinct. Spoiler: it didn’t fit.)
Removing the existing lever:
One screw — undo it and the lever pops off.
“Now I just push the new lever onto the spindle…” — except the new lever doesn’t fit!
Reason: the square spindle on the new lever is a different thickness than the existing one.
So the “just swap the lever” plan didn’t work.
Plan B: Replace the Latch Mechanism Too
OK — also bought the matching KAWAJUN latch (LJ Case Lock R6 type), ¥792 + shipping.
Has to match the original 51 mm backset. This unit’s backset is also 51 mm — good.
Removing the existing latch:
Two screws — undo them and the latch slides out.
Slide the new latch in… and it doesn’t fit.
This time the issue: the new latch body is physically larger.
Photo: new latch (left), original latch (right). New is bigger, won’t sit in the existing pocket.
Too far in to give up.
Plan C: Modify the Door to Accept the Latch
Time to enlarge the latch pocket in the door.
Used a drill and a chisel to remove the plastic frame inside the door pocket.
The “no turning back” feeling is real now 😅
If I screw this up, I can’t even reinstall the original handle. Bridge burned.
Got the pocket large enough for the new latch. Now I need a mounting base for the latch screws.
Glue a wood block inside the door pocket as the mounting base. Used heavy-duty adhesive.
Screw the new latch into the new wood block. It’s in!
Install Lever / Repaint the Rosette
Install the lever. Looks slightly off.
Hard to see in photos, but: the lever is near-black, while the rose / rosette around it is gold. Visual mismatch.
So I’m going to repaint the gold rose black.
Primer (Mitchakuron) first, then high-durability lacquer spray.
Spray the primer, let it dry, then lacquer (two coats with drying between).
Reinstall the lever with the now-black rose.
Filling the Damaged Door Edge with Wood Putty
One last issue: the side of the door (where I cut into it) is rough and ugly. Patch it with wood putty.
Using “Wood Epoxy” 2-part wood-repair putty. Mix the two parts to create the putty. (Wear gloves — it’s irritating to skin.)
Spread the putty over the rough edge with a putty knife. A little water on the knife makes spreading easier.
The color isn’t a perfect match, but this side isn’t normally visible — good enough.
This time, really done.
Long way around — but the new handle is in.
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