Several options for locking interior doors

Interior doorknobs that lock are usually used on bathroom doors.

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

FRESNO, Calif. — Deadbolts and locks that require keys are must-haves for front, back and side doors. But what if you want to lock your doors inside?

Some interior doors don’t usually require locks, such as a hallway closet. But others do, such as bathrooms. Often, if you want a door that locks, it’s because you want to keep people out, such as nosy children.

“People will put [lockable doorknobs] on closet doors during Christmas,” says Mike Grill, the hardware department manager at Fresno Ag Hardware in Fresno, Calif.

If you’re in search of different ways to lock interior doors, you have a couple of options that might fit your situation. “You can put on pretty much any lock you want” on a door, Grill says.

The most popular style is a doorknob or lever with a depression button that locks from the inside, says Hector Amparan, hardware supervisor at The Home Depot near River Park in Fresno, Calif. “It’s very simple,” he said.

A variation on this style has a button that you turn instead to enable the lock.

In both cases, there usually is a tiny hole on the other side of the knob, allowing you to quickly unlock it from the outside with a small tool similar to a flat-head screwdriver.

Some knobs don’t have the emergency-unlocking hole. In its place is a button with a channel. To unlock the door from the hallway, you can use a flat-head screwdriver, the edge of a key or a penny. Insert it into the channel, and turn to open.

More security

Doorknobs or levers that require keys to open from the outside also are options. “If [people] have several roommates, they’ll put a keyed lock in,” Amparan said.

Deadbolts that are typically for entry doors also can be used.

If you do use one, you also may want to install a doorknob of some sort so you can have something to hold onto.

“If you want higher security, you can use a keyed lock or a deadbolt,” says Mike Slack, director of product and marketing communications at Reading, Pa.-based Baldwin Hardware Corp.

Doorknobs or levers come in a wide variety of decorative styles and finishes.

Those that lock can start at $8 to $9 at hardware and home-improvement stores.