How do I adjust the shootbolts on French doors?
How the slave leaf is actually held, where the adjustment on each type of shootbolt is, and the order that stops you chasing the same few millimetres round the door all afternoon.
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Time
- 45 min
- Read
- 4 min
Short answer
Get the slave leaf plumb and correctly gapped first — shootbolts cannot correct geometry. Then adjust the sockets in the frame head and threshold so each rod drops in cleanly, and adjust the rod length where the design allows. Top socket first, because it is where a sagging leaf misses first.
The slave leaf of a pair of French doors has no handle and no lock of its own. It is held top and bottom by shootbolts — long rods that run into sockets in the frame — and the master leaf then locks into keeps on the slave's edge. If the shootbolts are not properly seated, the master has nothing solid to lock into and the whole pair feels loose.
What you'll need
- Hex keys and Pozidriv screwdrivers
- A long spirit level
- Chalk or a marker
- Dry PTFE spray or light machine oil
Step by step
- Identify which type you have.An espagnolette shootbolt is worked by a small lever or a cranked handle on the inside edge of the slave leaf and drives both rods at once. Separate flush lever bolts are let into the leaf edge at top and bottom and are worked individually. The adjustment differs.
- Get the leaf right before the bolts.Close the slave leaf alone and check its gap to the frame all round and its plumb. Shootbolts are a locking device, not an alignment device. A leaf that is out of plumb will never be held properly no matter how the bolts are set.
- Mark where each rod lands.Chalk or a marker on the end of each rod, then close the leaf and throw the bolts as far as they will go. Open and look at the mark on the frame head and on the threshold. That shows exactly how far out each is and in which direction.
- Start with the top socket.It is where a leaf that has sagged misses first, and correcting the top often brings the bottom into range at the same time. Many sockets are slotted or have an adjustable insert; where they are not, they can be repositioned with new fixings and the old holes filled.
- Clear the bottom socket.The socket in the threshold collects grit, leaves and sand, and a rod that cannot reach the bottom of a full socket looks exactly like a rod that is too short. Vacuum it out and probe the depth before adjusting anything.
- Adjust the rod length if the design allows.Many shootbolt rods are adjustable at the end, either by a threaded tip or by a set screw and a slotted rod. A rod that is too long jams before the lever is fully home; one that is too short does not seat.
- Check the throw against the lever position.With the lever fully in the locked position, both rods should be fully engaged and the leaf should be immovable when you push it at the top and at the bottom. Any movement means one rod is not doing its job.
- Set the master's keeps last.Only when the slave leaf is solid do you adjust the keeps on its edge that the master's hooks lock into. Doing it in the other order means resetting them again.
- Lubricate the rods and sockets.Light machine oil on the rods where they run in their guides, dry PTFE in the sockets. Shootbolt rods run in long channels inside the leaf and they seize if neglected.
- Test with the door under load.Lock everything, then push and pull the pair firmly at the centre joint. It should feel like one solid unit. Anything that flexes is a bolt or a keep that is not seated.
If it doesn't work
The top bolt will not enter its socket
Cause: The leaf has sagged, or the frame head has deflected — Fix: Raise the leaf at the hinges first. If it is already at the top of its adjustment, reposition the socket downwards, filling the old fixing holes properly.
The bottom bolt goes in but the leaf still moves
Cause: The socket is full of debris so the rod is only partly engaged — Fix: Clear the socket and check its full depth with a rod or a wire. This is the single most common shootbolt fault.
The lever will not go fully into the locked position
Cause: A rod is too long, or a rod is fouling in its guide — Fix: Check the rod ends for adjustment. If neither is adjustable, look for a bent rod or a guide that has come loose inside the leaf.
Bolts are fine but the master leaf rattles
Cause: The master's keeps on the slave leaf's edge are set too far out — Fix: Adjust those keeps in a millimetre at a time until the seal compresses and the handle still lifts easily.