Every house, apartment, and condo I’ve called home has had at least one problem door--one that would close but wouldn’t latch.

Unless it was to a bathroom door, I lived with the problem as long as I could before, eventually, breaking out the screwdriver, hammer, chisel, wood filler, paint, sandpaper and drill. I’d then spend the better part of an hour chiseling a new mortise and remounting the strike plate before patching, painting, and cleaning up my mess.

My last move into a 20-year old home changed everything. I discovered six problem doors that wouldn’t latch. After six repairs, I knew there had to be a better way. and I set out to find it.

I began by understanding how this common problem develops. Though we typically attribute it to “settling,” the real culprit is torque (that twisting force you studied in physics). As gravity pulls down on the unsupported swinging edge of the door, it exerts torquing pressure on the hinged edge of the door. Over time, the door torques (or twists) in the frame. This causes the door latch to swing on a lower plane. As a result, the latch and strike plate hole eventually become so misaligned that the latch won’t catch in the strike plate hole.

With an understanding of the problem, my next step was to design a simple product solution that anyone could use. So, I read a book and taught myself computer aided design (CAD) and started designing. Eventually, I developed a prototype solution. With testing, the design evolved, the prototypes morphed, and the product improved. Eventually, I had exactly what consumers needed: a simple product solution that required no special tools, no special skills, and repaired the problem in three minutes or less.

I have lived and worked all over the world. So, outsourcing the manufacture  of our product to China, for example, would have been easy to accomplish. But, I’m committed to building our product here at home. Our Fix-A-Latch products are designed, assembled, and packed here in the U.S. in our own facility in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

David Magee

Inventor